Pump gas, Newt? No thanks

[jrenaut]

Maybe WABA can set up at another gas station to sell $7 gas to show what an actually reasonable gas policy would look like. If you look at this graph from Greater Greater Washington, it’s pretty clear that our tax on gas is way too low (and that Newt is full of it, but I suspect we all knew that already).

[TwoWheelsDC]

The group has been critical of the Obama administration and, in September, connected the “anti-American uprising in the Middle East” to “our nation’s destructive energy policies…”we need to begin tapping America’s enormous energy resources now. We have the resources at hand to produce all the energy we need. Vast amounts of oil and gas are right under our feet. Energy independence is a practical and viable goal.”

Ooooooh, I love false dichotomies! Drill overseas and incite anti-US sentiment, or drill on our own soil and have “energy independence.” It’s so simple!! I guess it’s un-American to say “how about we just use less of that sh*t”?

/politics

[dasgeh]

@baiskeli 34871 wrote:

I’ll ride past if I get the chance.

You can call it the Ride to Pass Gas and [on?] Newt.

[baiskeli]

If I do have time to get over there, and figure out a route in time, I might bring a sign that says “0.00 0/10ths per gallon” with a pic of a bike and stick it on my back. Taunt Newt and the drivers a little. Ride around them in circles a little while.

I was serious about this – hope some of you can make it too.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@baiskeli 34881 wrote:

If I do have time to get over there, and figure out a route in time, I might bring a sign that says “0.00 0/10ths per gallon” with a pic of a bike and stick it on my back. Taunt Newt and the drivers a little. Ride around them in circles a little while.

I was serious about this – hope some of you can make it too.

I’ve got a zeropergallon patch on my pannier…sadly, this is waaaaaay outta my way.

[OneEighth]

You are officially an Arlingtonian now. Bob and Edith’s is never out-of-the-way.

[creadinger]

Did anyone go down there today? I’d love to hear how it went.

Seeing all the mess up in NJ/NY with gas lines, closed stations and other stations rationing gas you’d think that Newt might actually cancel this political publicity stunt and actually help people but I guess that wouldn’t be in his character.

[baiskeli]

I decided I couldn’t be late for work or leave early, so I didn’t make it. Heard it caused a traffic jam though, so maybe it made some people mad at Newt and the oil companies, which is always good.

[Terpfan]

@baiskeli 34871 wrote:

Maybe some of us can ride our bikes past Newt Gingrich tomorrow morning (Friday, Nov. 2) as he flaks for a pro-drilling super PAC funded by the oil industry. Tell him you don’t need any gas, thanks! I’ll ride past if I get the chance.

Liberty Gas
2300 Columbia Pike (next to Bob & Edith’s Diner)
7:00 to 9:00 a.m.

http://www.arlnow.com/2012/11/01/newt-gingrich-to-give-away-cheap-gas-on-columbia-pike/

I ride my bike because I enjoy it, like the workout and like saving money, but I actually like the idea of moving toward energy independence and as much I would like to own my own farm, be totally self sufficient and able to survive in the zombie apolocalypse scenario–I tend to think a lot more of the products I buy are byproducts of the oil industry in some fashion or another. It’s not that I don’t support pursuing more renewables and trying to move to a world with abundant clean energy, it’s just in the meantime I don’t have a problem of using what we have. I guess I’m out politically on a limb here, haha.

[baiskeli]

@Terpfan 34927 wrote:

I ride my bike because I enjoy it, like the workout and like saving money, but I actually like the idea of moving toward energy independence and as much I would like to own my own farm, be totally self sufficient and able to survive in the zombie apolocalypse scenario–I tend to think a lot more of the products I buy are byproducts of the oil industry in some fashion or another. It’s not that I don’t support pursuing more renewables and trying to move to a world with abundant clean energy, it’s just in the meantime I don’t have a problem of using what we have. I guess I’m out politically on a limb here, haha.

Well, to be clear, I have no problem with oil. I own a car and pump gas in it myself. My problem is specifically Newt and this group he’s working for that claims that “energy independence” is possible simply by drilling more oil.

The U.S. simply doesn’t have enough oil to accomplish anything by drilling more of it. We have 3 percent of world reserves. We consume 26 percent of world production. There’s no way we can produce enough oil to replace imports. And why should we? It will still cost the same! Oil prices are set on worldwide market. And 3 percent isn’t going to bring those world prices down for any length of time either. Heck, one conference call by OPEC could wipe out any price drop we try to create. It’s like declaring our independence from foreign coffee or bananas – impossible, and pointless anyway.

We can, and should, expand our other sources of energy. But oil? No point. In fact, we should hold onto what little oil we have for emergencies, not eagerly drill ourselves dry. That just means we’ll be out of oil sooner, and makes us wait longer to develop other energy sources. Then we’ll have to do it in a panic someday instead of in an orderly process.

So that’s my problem with Newt and the oil companies behind this group he’s working for. Not with oil, not with changing our energy needs, but with them.

[Terpfan]

@baiskeli 34959 wrote:

Well, to be clear, I have no problem with oil. I own a car and pump gas in it myself. My problem is specifically Newt and this group he’s working for that claims that “energy independence” is possible simply by drilling more oil.

The U.S. simply doesn’t have enough oil to accomplish anything by drilling more of it. We have 3 percent of world reserves. We consume 26 percent of world production. There’s no way we can produce enough oil to replace imports. And why should we? It will still cost the same! Oil prices are set on worldwide market. And 3 percent isn’t going to bring those world prices down for any length of time either. Heck, one conference call by OPEC could wipe out any price drop we try to create. It’s like declaring our independence from foreign coffee or bananas – impossible, and pointless anyway.

We can, and should, expand our other sources of energy. But oil? No point. In fact, we should hold onto what little oil we have for emergencies, not eagerly drill ourselves dry. That just means we’ll be out of oil sooner, and makes us wait longer to develop other energy sources. Then we’ll have to do it in a panic someday instead of in an orderly process.

So that’s my problem with Newt and the oil companies behind this group he’s working for. Not with oil, not with changing our energy needs, but with them.

Ah, ok- I was presuming he meant more of natural gas.

[DismalScientist]

@baiskeli 34959 wrote:

The U.S. simply doesn’t have enough oil to accomplish anything by drilling more of it. We have 3 percent of world reserves. We consume 26 percent of world production. There’s no way we can produce enough oil to replace imports. And why should we? It will still cost the same! Oil prices are set on worldwide market. And 3 percent isn’t going to bring those world prices down for any length of time either. Heck, one conference call by OPEC could wipe out any price drop we try to create. It’s like declaring our independence from foreign coffee or bananas – impossible, and pointless anyway.

I think your reserve figures are out-of-date with new drilling technology. You are, of course, right about prices being set on a world market and thus the concept of energy independence doesn’t make much sense. The higher price of gas probably has more to do with the value of the dollar falling due to monetary policy (and thus higher crude prices) and regulations increasing the spread between gasoline and crude prices than with domestic or Canadian drilling.

What we really must worry about is bicycle independence before the Chinese have us by the short hairs. :rolleyes:

[baiskeli]

@DismalScientist 34963 wrote:

I think your reserve figures are out-of-date with new drilling technology.

Perhaps – my figure is proved reserves. I think that includes more than technically feasible and/or economically feasible extraction, but I could be wrong.

But remember, that new drilling technology is available worldwide, so if our extractable reserves grow, so can other countrys’, so our total share may not rise much. Even if we did find more oil, its still not much. Suppose we miraculously doubled our reserves! Great, that’s about 6 percent. Still wouldn’t last us more than 6 years if we only consumed domestic oil.

The “oil independence” idea is a myth left over from the oil crises of the 1970s, when we felt vulnerable to foreign control of oil. But foreigners will always control the oil supply and the price no matter what we do. Best to become independent of ALL oil instead.

[baiskeli]

@Terpfan 34960 wrote:

Ah, ok- I was presuming he meant more of natural gas.

Ah, okay. Nope, that would make some sense. This is Newt Gingrich, no sense is involved.

[Certifried]

We need to take over Venezuela, since taking over Iraq didn’t pan out.

[Author]

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