I know Oregon and CA are looking at this. Did not know others were so inclined.
“Gas tax revenues are going down. We need to find some way to make up for that to pay" for roads, said Joe Hummer with N.C. State University.
Hummer said he is a Triangle supporter of a nationwide study that should get under way in a few weeks. The Road User Charge Study will survey drivers in North Carolina and five other states. The idea is that instead of a gas tax, drivers would be charged a use tax by the mile.
Central to the concept would be global positioning satellite (GPS) units that would track where the vehicle was at what time of day. That data would be fed into a computer that would keep track and then ultimately send the owner of the vehicle a bill at the end of the month, according to Hummer.
In the same article a plus for those that brew their own biodiesel..
Raleigh, N.C. — People who make their own bio-diesel are now exempt from the state motor fuels tax.
Governor Easley signed the bill into law Friday. The move saves the home brewer of alternative fuel about $2,500. State law defines biodiesel as "any fuel or mixture of fuels made from agricultural products or animal fats.”
Taking it easy on alternative-fuel users is one more squeeze on road-building money, however. Gasoline revenues have declined as incentives increased and auto companies built more efficient cars.
Ok, this is to all the "Bush did it" fans out there who (mistakenly) think Dubya has something to to with oil/gas prices:
"What do you think is going to happen to oil/gas prices in 2009 and beyond? You think they are going DOWN ?????!?!?!?!?!?!?!?"
If Bush made them go up, can McCain or Obama make them go DOWN accordingly?
Interested in your thoughts on that. Would love to know what magic tricks the next Prez is going to pull out of the hat to make gas go back down to $1 a gallon.
He is going to go to Kansas, find Dorothy, wait for the next tornado going to Oz and when he gets to the Wizard’s house he is going to ask for a Brain. :P
If Bush made them go up, can McCain or Obama make them go DOWN accordingly?
The president has little control over oil prices. Just as Clinton had no control over oil going to $10 on his watch. He just happened to be in office. DO I think it could go down again. I sure do. Probably not below $30 per barrel. Depending on who needs to be brought back to reality. I also do not believe there is any kind of critical shortage of oil in the world.
TOKYO — Nissan (NSANY) said Monday that it plans to launch a "clean diesel" SUV in Japan this fall and plans to introduce a clean-diesel version of its popular Nissan Maxima passenger car in the USA in 2010.
The automaker said it will send a prototype of its X-TRAIL SUV to next month's Group of Eight leaders' summit in Toyako, in northern Japan, where climate change tops the agenda.Delegates will be able to test drive the diesel sport-utility vehicle, which is based on technology developed with French partner Renault.
The eco-friendly "M9R" engine can deliver powerful acceleration along with emissions levels low enough to meet tougher Japanese regulations slated for October 2009, Nissan said.
While diesel vehicles are popular in Europe, Japanese and U.S. drivers have largely shunned diesel-powered cars for being too dirty, smelly and loud. Diesel cars comprise less than 1% of the Japanese passenger vehicle market, according to Nissan.
But Japanese and German automakers, who have been investing heavily in clean diesel technology, are betting consumers are ready to give next-generation diesel a chance.
The rapidly widening gap between the prices of petrol and diesel has not yet had any impact on used car values, but industry analyst EurotaxGlass's has noted that a secondhand diesel may not be as sensible a purchase as it was in recent years.
Refuelling.
The company estimates that the annual fuel cost for a typical three-year old mid-sized family car running on diesel is now £1373, or 25% up on the figure calculated in May 2007. For an equivalent petrol car the bill is £1478, a rise of 15% in the same period.
According to these figures, then, diesel is still cheaper to run. But EurotaxGlass's points out that for cars of this type a diesel will cost between £600 and £800 more than its counterpart to buy. It would therefore take an average of seven years for the diesel car to pay for itself. And although it's reasonable to expect that a diesel will depreciate more slowly than a petrol car, by the time they are ten years old the difference may by then have fallen to just £100 or so.
"While there is nothing to suggest that prices of used diesels are falling faster as availability increases, clearly the broader financial argument for diesel ownership is becoming less persuasive," says Adrian Rushmore, Managing Editor at EurotaxGlass's. "For diesel cars to remain in favour, they may need to rely more upon driving characteristics rather than any compelling financial considerations."
When you put it in that context, then what is happening makes the logic visible. When folks do not buy those products (non fuel efficient engines, as this is the issue, du jour) made in US factories, then of course, it makes sense to close those factories. They just need good reasons, i.e., shrinking markets, losing money, high costs of labor and overhead etc There are well documented comparisons that a US made car has more in health care costs than the actual FINISHED(steel) raw materials used to make a car in the real world.
There is/has never been an oil crisis. I really believe the "crisis" is one competing so folks can pay less for more vs those wanting folks to pay more for less. I think it is apparent which group is winning.
For cars on lease, payment to own, PER MILE DRIVEN, cost of fuel has NEVER been a majority% percentage cost, even on an owned diesel/gasser. Now when you want to compare them side by side, then a lot of factors become apparent. We have even documented and debated a few on this august thread. :shades:
I wonder why Dick Cheney still refuses to release the oil industry execs who came to his meeting several years ago and to release info about what was discussed in that meeting
Bush does not have a clue about what is going on with oil/gas prices take it from someone whose husband has worked in oil/gas development/production for past 30+ years saying Bush is an oil man is like saying that about the Tin Man in the Wizard of Oz--- Bush got where he did in o/g business because of friends/family of his dad-- he ran Harken into the ground and Arbusto-- he is a slider--always and forever a slider....
neither McCain nor Obama can do anything about o/g prices unless they can get states like CA to agree to add oil refineries and drilling unless they will do more to add incentives for solar power and other energy retrofitting in homes and businesses than the miserly tax credits now on offer...
..."neither McCain nor Obama can do anything about o/g prices unless they can get states like CA to agree to add oil refineries and drilling unless they will do more to add incentives for solar power and other energy retrofitting in homes and businesses than the miserly tax credits now on offer... "...
There is too much to be gained from a political power point of view to so called "driven down the prices. " CA might be "Courted"(FORCED by courts) to add refineries and drilling. There is/are overwhelmingly too much to gain to make that change.
I still would get a diesel as they are better suited to our US roads. As soon as we all get used to higher RUG to PUG prices, the lemming news focus or attention deficient disorder (ADD) will charge on to other issues. The price of diesel will slip and probably be consistently cheaper than RUG to PUG. Indeed this is the ONLY year since 2003 (2008) where folks have even heard about diesel, let alone can spell D2. :lemon: When I bought the 03 TDI, VW didn't even advertise them. (if you listen to some, this is "lifetimes ago")
loves2read says, "I wonder why Dick Cheney still refuses to release the oil industry execs who came to his meeting several years ago and to release info about what was discussed in that meeting"
I guess he sees it as no one's business. Prezes and Vpees have the right to keep some meetings secret if they want to. Just because a meeting's minutes and attendees are kept secret does not make it somehow SINISTER.
I guess maybe you think they somehow talked in that meeting about some ultra-secret ways to drive the price of oil and gas through the roof? Some special, secret way which no one else in the history of the world has ever figured out? That's a good one !!!
I hope someday the secret comes out so those guys can get the credit they deserve for being such geniuses !!!!!!!!!
Nope. It's not. I'm responding to other people who brought up the subject in regard to diesel and gasoline prices. Like it or not, the political part of this situation cannot be ignored by some.
That might be true, but the fate of the alternative fuels, solar, electrical, D2, plug in, ethanol, hydrogen, nat gas, etc. can indeed be affected/effected by politics.
They also can be strange bedfellows. For years when farmers were taking a real hit economically, dems would routinely shellac repubs for ignoring the (family) farmer. Farm Subsidies (aka hand outs) have always been a staple of political legislative spending,. Indeed "pork barrel" spending derives its name from (lavish) farm subsidies. So now that farmers are doing well, those very same folks doing the shellacing vilify the repubs for the farmers doing well. You almost need a daily score card to see whose on first, whats on second..... etc. And we wonder why when Al Gore was VP that he claimed credit for inventing the internet. I guess he was practicing for his Nobel Peace prize acceptance speech for the seminal scam: global warming.
Actually, I beleive the government of Dubai SUBSADIZES the cost of fuel. (Makes it cost less for their citizens) I bet the original report did not mention that fact because it would have made the story have less impact.
Most of the civilized world is seeing cost increases for fuel. We in USA do not see those "news" stories because it would show we (world oil consumers) are all in this together.
Most of the USA news agencies want to make the cost of fuel look like it is somones "fault". In reality, we are all to blame due to our wastefulness and lack of conservation.
I find this story interesting. One source of grease that remains untapped, to a large degree, is the home owner. If people recycled their grease like we do with Al, glass, paper and the like, we might be able to double or triple the available feedstock. The grease creates a huge problem in the wastewater collection system and at the treatment plant if people pour it down the drain.
If you only use a drop of two of olive oil when frying something you will not have any waste oil. We do indulge in Bacon maybe once every 3 months. That produces a few tablespoons of grease.
The waste oil and grease that got Pacific Biodiesel going was to the tune of 40,000 lbs per month being dumped into the Maui landfill. That is a lot of deep fried food.
The city of Portland requires 5 percent of all diesel sold in the city to be biodiesel. Oregon lawmakers last year began requiring 2 percent of all diesel sold in the state to be biodiesel, accounting for 5 million gallons a year.
There in lies the problem. You start mandating something and it drives the price up. Kettle Chips of Oregon was doing fine running their fleet of VW beetles on their used cooking oil. Now they are probably bidding against themselves for fuel. Why can't state and Federal governments keep their big fat noses out of the market. Follow the ethanol market in the late 1970s and currently. Both times they drove the price of crude oil way up. Both times a direct result of the Feds sticking their nose in the fuel market.
"Ha! Funny! Revealed truth does have its burdens, but it also has the benefit of being in-arguable! "
So, since you've been unable to meet the burden of proof for even one of the claims that you've peppered this board with, does that mean that you're a liar?
"So, since you've been unable to meet the burden of proof for even one of the claims that you've peppered this board with, does that mean that you're a liar?" ============================================================ Ah, Shippo! - and you were showing good signs of improvement too - non sequiters and logical disconnects notwithstanding. Back here on the round Earth it's either Tuesday, June 10, 2008, or Wednesday, June 11th, (depending on which side of the date line you are on). What day is it there on the flat Earth?
"Prezes and Vpees have the right to keep some meetings secret if they want to." ========================================================== Actually the courts have decided what information representatives of the people can keep secret from the people who elected them; it is very little when it is in the area of public policy - like energy policy. Its called accountability - we have not seen much lately.
Who says they were setting any sort of energy policy? That's just some sort of "conspiracy theory" fronted by the Bush/CheneyBashersOfAmerica.
Bush does not have the best energy policy record in the world, true. But if Cheney says nothing sinister went on in the meeting, then I give him the benefit of the doubt as the respect he deserves as VeePee.
If there was any reason to think there was something in that meeting that Joe Public needs to know about, then the info would be public already.
Toyota at work on clean diesel to combat Big 3 New Tundra engine for 2010 Justin Couture, Canadian Auto Press
With gas prices soaring, Toyota's Tundra pickup truck and its full-size Sequoia SUV haven't been selling particularly well, to the point where they've been hit with incentives. Facing slumping sales, Toyota is planning on sweetening the deal by making these vehicles more fuel efficient without losing any of their hard-working abilities.
Congress fails to extend credits VALLEY LEADERS DECRY PARTISAN STALEMATE OVER INCENTIVES FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY, R&D By Frank Davies Mercury News Washington Bureau
+ giving state and federal rebates that are attractive to both manufacuters of gas sipping autos and to those whose homes consume less energy. building autos (at least the more costly)out of composites, making them more ergonomic, tweaking the engine, and produce more efficient plug-in electric married to both reg diesel AND biodiesel.
Bush never gave the auto makers the incentives to make gas sippers.....he in fact moved Toooooo little Toooo late in increasing MPG and then by a niave amoung. Three EPA executives quit after working 10 years to pass more strict laws protecting our envionment----after he struck those laws from the books in his first year. Many people quit , in general, after putting up with his good ole boy redneak self-absorbed boyish immature.....backward thinking.
Is he to blame for taking this Country backwards in general on all subjects?
Actually , YES. I can include everything horrible he has done. There's no space. Besides I'm trying to be tackfull.
Well I think if you put in context the links AND compare the two, Fed/State: neither in CA regardless of party has anything to gain by scaling back fuel taxes. They literally have DOUBLE to GAIN !! The good thing is they can blame BUSH! When Obama McCain gets in..... well you get the drill. The hard part of course is they will show republicans correct if they actually do raise taxes. Repubs of course have spent like drunken sailors. (no disrepect to real drunken sailors who really spend like drunken sailors)
CA has LONG been run by the democrats. Arnold is a self proclaimed "repub" (you decide). Through a stroke of luck or genius, is linked to one of the 3 gen democratic brahman families. ( literally sleeps with a Kennedy) Not to mix levels but he is so constrained in what he can do as a republican. They stop him literally in his tracks. If he goes along or agrees with the democrats, it gets spun into how "smart" the democratic agenda is. The demo power brokers have even made reference to this. they routinely disrepect the constitutional mandate to have a passed budget by a yearly date certain. So again, I think they let him get elected so they have someone to blame for the billions in dollars in yearly deficits (among other things). :lemon:
Three EPA executives quit after working 10 years to pass more strict laws protecting our envionment----after he struck those laws from the books in his first year.
If they are the ones responsible for keeping diesel cars and small PU trucks out of the USA, I say good riddance. Though I do find it hard to believe someone would give up a high paying Civil Service job because they did not get their way. Got any links confirming that allegation?
What can be wrong with a 6.5 engine in a k2500 chevy 1992 when blows smoke out of the turbo, and out of the oil filler tube. It also pushes the dip stick up enough for oil to gurgle there but it does not come out on the engine.
Remember, it is CARB not EPA that has prevented the small passenger diesels.
Here are some links: link titleDrafts of the report have been circulating for months, but a heavy round of rewriting and cutting by White House officials in late April raised protest among E.P.A. officials working on the report. link title Local environmental regulators involved in the negotiations say, however, that they pulled out in protest last November when it became clear that the agency was moving ahead with the industry proposal. link title Three top enforcement officials at the Environmental Protection Agency have resigned or retired in the last two weeks, including two lawyers who were architects of the agency's litigation strategy against coal-burning power plants.
The timing of the departures and comments by at least one of the officials who is leaving suggest that some have left out of frustration with the Bush administration's policy toward enforcement of the Clean Air Act.
And a little more partisan...
link title Johnson’s injection of President Bush’s politics into science is notorious. Earlier this year, he censored documents with white duct tape on the EPA’s decision-making process on the California waiver. Asked whether global warming was “a major crisis” facing the world, Johnson replied, “I don’t know what you mean by major crisis.” Johnson being the current (former energy lobbyist) now running the EPA.
Let's not forget that the only job of the EPA is Environmental Protection. Taking care of industry is not their mandate.
There are laws against yelling fire in a theater. Maybe there should be laws against terrorizing our citizens with global and environmental theories. I would imagine that Bush acted on advice from others. Can we trust either side to be honest and forthright?
I think that denying CA the right to over regulate is proper. If let to their own devices Sacramento will regulate this state into a deep depression. If they have not already done so. I thought Gray Davis was a total loser pissing away our $38 billion surplus. Ahnold is following in his foot steps.
PS Since when is getting rid of a lawyer a bad thing?
The Diesel Brochure from the EIA was due in May. Here is what they sent me when I asked when it would be published.
"Thank you for your inquiry to the Energy Information Administration. This brochure is currently being updated and we hope to have it posted to the web site by the end of June if not sooner. "
I find it interesting that they claim Diesel requires over 2x the "refining" that gasoline does. (cost-based derivitive)
I still recall the stories my dad told about the crude-oil they were getting out the ground in Saudi Arabia from an area known as the Rub al-Khali (the Empty Quarter). Right from the ground, that "sweet crude" was used straight into the diesel trucks. (zero refining)
Now, 35 years later, I expect that noone on earth has crude which is that "sweet".
There are fields in the Arctic with very light sweet crude. The Meltwater field being produced currently is usable right out of the ground. I think the additional refining now is to remove all the sulfur. Some crude like from Iran has very high sulfur content. 15 PPM is virtually sulfur free. You do not get any sulfur smell from the exhaust.
My folks lived in Ashland and I attended the Festival back in the late 1960s. I bought property in Talent as l liked that area so much.. Last time I was there I bought the diesel Passat in Portland and spent the night in Medford.
Of course I take the Mark Twain view of Shakespeare. I think he stole the material from another writer... :shades:
Have you read that they are making a killing selling sulfur?
http://www.purchasing.com/article/CA6564115.html "Even higher prices coming; farmers group accuses producers of price gouging By Tom Stundza -- Purchasing, 5/27/2008 7:31:00 AM In only a year the price of sulfur has risen more than tenfold from $50/metric ton to $500, .."
Soooo, due to the fact that sulfur is going for a much higher price and that of course increases the oil companies bottom line and they are taking most of the sulfur out of diesel then the price of diesel should come down.
Well, because selling price is determined by peoples willingness to pay, not by the absence or presence of profit to the seller. Granted, no one will sell at a loss for very long, and that everyone will sell at the maximum price for as long as possible.
Demand for sulfur, long an ugly yellow waste product of petroleum refining, is surging because it's needed to make sulfuric acid, which in turn is essential to the production of fertilizer
Needed to increase the Corn crop for ethanol. Part of the extra cash that comes from each barrel of oil. So getting the sulfur out of gas and diesel is a big winner for the oil companies. No wonder they like corn ethanol so much.
Comments
No good deed goes unpunished!!! :lemon: :shades:
“Gas tax revenues are going down. We need to find some way to make up for that to pay" for roads, said Joe Hummer with N.C. State University.
Hummer said he is a Triangle supporter of a nationwide study that should get under way in a few weeks. The Road User Charge Study will survey drivers in North Carolina and five other states. The idea is that instead of a gas tax, drivers would be charged a use tax by the mile.
Central to the concept would be global positioning satellite (GPS) units that would track where the vehicle was at what time of day. That data would be fed into a computer that would keep track and then ultimately send the owner of the vehicle a bill at the end of the month, according to Hummer.
http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/1767203/
Raleigh, N.C. — People who make their own bio-diesel are now exempt from the state motor fuels tax.
Governor Easley signed the bill into law Friday. The move saves the home brewer of alternative fuel about $2,500. State law defines biodiesel as "any fuel or mixture of fuels made from agricultural products or animal fats.”
Taking it easy on alternative-fuel users is one more squeeze on road-building money, however. Gasoline revenues have declined as incentives increased and auto companies built more efficient cars.
2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460
"What do you think is going to happen to oil/gas prices in 2009 and beyond? You think they are going DOWN ?????!?!?!?!?!?!?!?"
If Bush made them go up, can McCain or Obama make them go DOWN accordingly?
Interested in your thoughts on that. Would love to know what magic tricks the next Prez is going to pull out of the hat to make gas go back down to $1 a gallon.
Ideas?
He is going to go to Kansas, find Dorothy, wait for the next tornado going to Oz and when he gets to the Wizard’s house he is going to ask for a Brain. :P
The president has little control over oil prices. Just as Clinton had no control over oil going to $10 on his watch. He just happened to be in office. DO I think it could go down again. I sure do. Probably not below $30 per barrel. Depending on who needs to be brought back to reality. I also do not believe there is any kind of critical shortage of oil in the world.
link title
TOKYO — Nissan (NSANY) said Monday that it plans to launch a "clean diesel" SUV in Japan this fall and plans to introduce a clean-diesel version of its popular Nissan Maxima passenger car in the USA in 2010.
The automaker said it will send a prototype of its X-TRAIL SUV to next month's Group of Eight leaders' summit in Toyako, in northern Japan, where climate change tops the agenda.Delegates will be able to test drive the diesel sport-utility vehicle, which is based on technology developed with French partner Renault.
The eco-friendly "M9R" engine can deliver powerful acceleration along with emissions levels low enough to meet tougher Japanese regulations slated for October 2009, Nissan said.
While diesel vehicles are popular in Europe, Japanese and U.S. drivers have largely shunned diesel-powered cars for being too dirty, smelly and loud. Diesel cars comprise less than 1% of the Japanese passenger vehicle market, according to Nissan.
But Japanese and German automakers, who have been investing heavily in clean diesel technology, are betting consumers are ready to give next-generation diesel a chance.
Oh No - Not you too Brits ?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
Does Diesel Still Make Sense?
(Wed 04 Jun 08)
The rapidly widening gap between the prices of petrol and diesel has not yet had any impact on used car values, but industry analyst EurotaxGlass's has noted that a secondhand diesel may not be as sensible a purchase as it was in recent years.
Refuelling.
The company estimates that the annual fuel cost for a typical three-year old mid-sized family car running on diesel is now £1373, or 25% up on the figure calculated in May 2007. For an equivalent petrol car the bill is £1478, a rise of 15% in the same period.
According to these figures, then, diesel is still cheaper to run. But EurotaxGlass's points out that for cars of this type a diesel will cost between £600 and £800 more than its counterpart to buy. It would therefore take an average of seven years for the diesel car to pay for itself. And although it's reasonable to expect that a diesel will depreciate more slowly than a petrol car, by the time they are ten years old the difference may by then have fallen to just £100 or so.
"While there is nothing to suggest that prices of used diesels are falling faster as availability increases, clearly the broader financial argument for diesel ownership is becoming less persuasive," says Adrian Rushmore, Managing Editor at EurotaxGlass's. "For diesel cars to remain in favour, they may need to rely more upon driving characteristics rather than any compelling financial considerations."
I imagine it is still much shorter Payback than a hybrid in the UK. :shades:
There is/has never been an oil crisis. I really believe the "crisis" is one competing so folks can pay less for more vs those wanting folks to pay more for less. I think it is apparent which group is winning.
For cars on lease, payment to own, PER MILE DRIVEN, cost of fuel has NEVER been a majority% percentage cost, even on an owned diesel/gasser. Now when you want to compare them side by side, then a lot of factors become apparent. We have even documented and debated a few on this august thread. :shades:
Bush does not have a clue about what is going on with oil/gas prices
take it from someone whose husband has worked in oil/gas development/production for past 30+ years saying Bush is an oil man is like saying that about the Tin Man in the Wizard of Oz---
Bush got where he did in o/g business because of friends/family of his dad--
he ran Harken into the ground and Arbusto--
he is a slider--always and forever a slider....
neither McCain nor Obama can do anything about o/g prices unless they can get states like CA to agree to add oil refineries and drilling
unless they will do more to add incentives for solar power and other energy retrofitting in homes and businesses than the miserly tax credits now on offer...
unless they will do more to add incentives for solar power and other energy retrofitting in homes and businesses than the miserly tax credits now on offer... "...
There is too much to be gained from a political power point of view to so called "driven down the prices. " CA might be "Courted"(FORCED by courts) to add refineries and drilling. There is/are overwhelmingly too much to gain to make that change.
I still would get a diesel as they are better suited to our US roads. As soon as we all get used to higher RUG to PUG prices, the lemming news focus or attention deficient disorder (ADD) will charge on to other issues. The price of diesel will slip and probably be consistently cheaper than RUG to PUG. Indeed this is the ONLY year since 2003 (2008) where folks have even heard about diesel, let alone can spell D2. :lemon: When I bought the 03 TDI, VW didn't even advertise them. (if you listen to some, this is "lifetimes ago")
I guess he sees it as no one's business. Prezes and Vpees have the right to keep some meetings secret if they want to. Just because a meeting's minutes and attendees are kept secret does not make it somehow SINISTER.
I guess maybe you think they somehow talked in that meeting about some ultra-secret ways to drive the price of oil and gas through the roof? Some special, secret way which no one else in the history of the world has ever figured out? That's a good one !!!
I hope someday the secret comes out so those guys can get the credit they deserve for being such geniuses !!!!!!!!!
http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/direct/view/.f146c1e/2205
They also can be strange bedfellows. For years when farmers were taking a real hit economically, dems would routinely shellac repubs for ignoring the (family) farmer. Farm Subsidies (aka hand outs) have always been a staple of political legislative spending,. Indeed "pork barrel" spending derives its name from (lavish) farm subsidies. So now that farmers are doing well, those very same folks doing the shellacing vilify the repubs for the farmers doing well. You almost need a daily score card to see whose on first, whats on second..... etc. And we wonder why when Al Gore was VP that he claimed credit for inventing the internet. I guess he was practicing for his Nobel Peace prize acceptance speech for the seminal scam: global warming.
Most of the civilized world is seeing cost increases for fuel. We in USA do not see those "news" stories because it would show we (world oil consumers) are all in this together.
Most of the USA news agencies want to make the cost of fuel look like it is somones "fault". In reality, we are all to blame due to our wastefulness and lack of conservation.
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/business/1212805520- 261970.xml&coll=7
I find this story interesting. One source of grease that remains untapped, to a large degree, is the home owner. If people recycled their grease like we do with Al, glass, paper and the like, we might be able to double or triple the available feedstock. The grease creates a huge problem in the wastewater collection system and at the treatment plant if people pour it down the drain.
http://www.bismarck.org/city_departments/department/services.asp?divisionID=98&d- ID=18#how_to_fight_the_grease_menace
Who would have thought people would be fighting over grease.
The waste oil and grease that got Pacific Biodiesel going was to the tune of 40,000 lbs per month being dumped into the Maui landfill. That is a lot of deep fried food.
There in lies the problem. You start mandating something and it drives the price up. Kettle Chips of Oregon was doing fine running their fleet of VW beetles on their used cooking oil. Now they are probably bidding against themselves for fuel. Why can't state and Federal governments keep their big fat noses out of the market. Follow the ethanol market in the late 1970s and currently. Both times they drove the price of crude oil way up. Both times a direct result of the Feds sticking their nose in the fuel market.
So, since you've been unable to meet the burden of proof for even one of the claims that you've peppered this board with, does that mean that you're a liar?
2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460
============================================================
Ah, Shippo! - and you were showing good signs of improvement too - non sequiters and logical disconnects notwithstanding. Back here on the round Earth it's either Tuesday, June 10, 2008, or Wednesday, June 11th, (depending on which side of the date line you are on). What day is it there on the flat Earth?
==========================================================
Actually the courts have decided what information representatives of the people can keep secret from the people who elected them; it is very little when it is in the area of public policy - like energy policy. Its called accountability - we have not seen much lately.
I agree with your post.
Bush does not have the best energy policy record in the world, true. But if Cheney says nothing sinister went on in the meeting, then I give him the benefit of the doubt as the respect he deserves as VeePee.
If there was any reason to think there was something in that meeting that Joe Public needs to know about, then the info would be public already.
BACK TO DIESEL NEWS:
'Yota finally seeing the diesel light?
link title
Toyota at work on clean diesel to combat Big 3
New Tundra engine for 2010
Justin Couture, Canadian Auto Press
With gas prices soaring, Toyota's Tundra pickup truck and its full-size Sequoia SUV haven't been selling particularly well, to the point where they've been hit with incentives. Facing slumping sales, Toyota is planning on sweetening the deal by making these vehicles more fuel efficient without losing any of their hard-working abilities.
I stop pulling my fith wheel with my diesel truck
Traded my mini van in for a Passat TDI
You can blame Bush, Big Oil and maybe your grandmother, but nothing will help until we stop using so much oil.
You could become a congressman and get a free car, free gas and free insurance to cover the car.
Get up and do something about it.
VALLEY LEADERS DECRY PARTISAN STALEMATE OVER INCENTIVES FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY, R&D
By Frank Davies
Mercury News Washington Bureau
link title
building autos (at least the more costly)out of composites, making them more ergonomic, tweaking the engine, and produce more efficient plug-in electric married to both reg diesel AND biodiesel.
Bush never gave the auto makers the incentives to make gas sippers.....he in fact moved Toooooo little Toooo late in increasing MPG and then by a niave amoung. Three EPA executives quit after working 10 years to pass more strict laws protecting our envionment----after he struck those laws from the books in his first year. Many people quit , in general, after putting up with his good ole boy redneak self-absorbed boyish immature.....backward thinking.
Is he to blame for taking this Country backwards in general on all subjects?
Actually , YES.
I can include everything horrible he has done. There's no space. Besides I'm trying to be tackfull.
CA has LONG been run by the democrats. Arnold is a self proclaimed "repub" (you decide). Through a stroke of luck or genius, is linked to one of the 3 gen democratic brahman families. ( literally sleeps with a Kennedy) Not to mix levels but he is so constrained in what he can do as a republican. They stop him literally in his tracks. If he goes along or agrees with the democrats, it gets spun into how "smart" the democratic agenda is. The demo power brokers have even made reference to this. they routinely disrepect the constitutional mandate to have a passed budget by a yearly date certain. So again, I think they let him get elected so they have someone to blame for the billions in dollars in yearly deficits (among other things). :lemon:
If they are the ones responsible for keeping diesel cars and small PU trucks out of the USA, I say good riddance. Though I do find it hard to believe someone would give up a high paying Civil Service job because they did not get their way. Got any links confirming that allegation?
I hope you were trying to be tactful not tackfull
Here are some links:
link titleDrafts of the report have been circulating for months, but a heavy round of rewriting and cutting by White House officials in late April raised protest among E.P.A. officials working on the report.
link title
Local environmental regulators involved in the negotiations say, however, that they pulled out in protest last November when it became clear that the agency was moving ahead with the industry proposal.
link title
Three top enforcement officials at the Environmental Protection Agency have resigned or retired in the last two weeks, including two lawyers who were architects of the agency's litigation strategy against coal-burning power plants.
The timing of the departures and comments by at least one of the officials who is leaving suggest that some have left out of frustration with the Bush administration's policy toward enforcement of the Clean Air Act.
And a little more partisan...
link title
Johnson’s injection of President Bush’s politics into science is notorious. Earlier this year, he censored documents with white duct tape on the EPA’s decision-making process on the California waiver. Asked whether global warming was “a major crisis” facing the world, Johnson replied, “I don’t know what you mean by major crisis.”
Johnson being the current (former energy lobbyist) now running the EPA.
Let's not forget that the only job of the EPA is Environmental Protection. Taking care of industry is not their mandate.
I think that denying CA the right to over regulate is proper. If let to their own devices Sacramento will regulate this state into a deep depression. If they have not already done so. I thought Gray Davis was a total loser pissing away our $38 billion surplus. Ahnold is following in his foot steps.
PS
Since when is getting rid of a lawyer a bad thing?
"Thank you for your inquiry to the Energy Information Administration. This brochure is currently being updated and we hope to have it posted to the web site by the end of June if not sooner. "
http://www.eia.doe.gov/bookshelf/brochures/diesel/index.html
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/gdu/gasdiesel.asp
I find it interesting that they claim Diesel requires over 2x the "refining" that gasoline does. (cost-based derivitive)
I still recall the stories my dad told about the crude-oil they were getting out the ground in Saudi Arabia from an area known as the Rub al-Khali (the Empty Quarter). Right from the ground, that "sweet crude" was used straight into the diesel trucks. (zero refining)
Now, 35 years later, I expect that noone on earth has crude which is that "sweet".
Ahem, if you want to be William Shakespeare, you will have to write a little more eloquent than that...:):):):):)
("The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers")
Banning of his works will be a disappointment to the Ashland Oregon economy!!?? :lemon:
Of course I take the Mark Twain view of Shakespeare. I think he stole the material from another writer... :shades:
http://www.purchasing.com/article/CA6564115.html
"Even higher prices coming; farmers group accuses producers of price gouging By Tom Stundza -- Purchasing, 5/27/2008 7:31:00 AM
In only a year the price of sulfur has risen more than tenfold from $50/metric ton to $500, .."
http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/columnists/story.html?id=180f7446-5e77-4db5-- a5cd-4a1129ed973d
"A year ago, (10 years ago, too) sulphur sold for US$60/ tonne. Today, it is US$650. It's simple supply and demand: there used to be more sulphur produced than needed. There is now a worldwide shortage of about two million tonnes."
Hey, why is everyone laughing. :mad:
:P
Well, because selling price is determined by peoples willingness to pay, not by the absence or presence of profit to the seller. Granted, no one will sell at a loss for very long, and that everyone will sell at the maximum price for as long as possible.
Needed to increase the Corn crop for ethanol. Part of the extra cash that comes from each barrel of oil. So getting the sulfur out of gas and diesel is a big winner for the oil companies. No wonder they like corn ethanol so much.