Hidden Oil Subsidies
The real price of gasoline is what people actually pay for it, not just what they pay for it at the pump. That might seem subtle, but there's a big difference.
The Cato Institute, a libertarian think-thank, did a study on the
subject.
They calculated that
the US spent between $30 to $60 billion a year
safeguarding oil supplies in the Middle East during the 1990s, even
though its imports from that region totaled only about $10 billion a
year during that period.
A more comprehensive study that includes the
Strategic Petroleum Reserve and other oil protection services (the
coast guard clearing shipping lanes, doing navigational support
to oil tankers, etc) shows that actual subsidies to Big Oil are between $78 to $158 billion per year.
Think about it: Your taxes are being given (directly and indirectly) to Big Oil. That has to stop.
If it did, oil prices would be higher, but people would
also have more money in their pockets. If they want to spend that money
on gasoline, fine. But we'ed soon see large improvements in efficiency, conservation, and renewable technologies that would come to market faster than with subsidized oil.
The real cost of gas for in the US consumer is the pump
price plus the taxes paid to subsidize the oil
industry. Add those in, and suddenly, oil is not cheap, and just like with
corn-ethanol, these taxpayers dollars are making fossil fuels
artificially more competitive and keeping cleaner alternatives down.
A lot of time and energy in spent getting small subsidies
for their renewable projects, but the big target should really be
ending these massive hidden oil subsidies to truly level the
playing field.
This would do more than all the renewable energy
subsidies in the world, because it wouldn't crush people with even more
taxes.
The question is: do we keep oil subsidies and just add renewable subsidies on top? That's paying for both sides at the same time.
Or can oil subsidies be eliminated/re-channeled to renewables?
"Nearly 2,100 households and a handful of businesses could face much
higher electricity bills after a fifth retail provider decided to get
out of the business in Texas.
The Electric Reliability Council of
Texas said Tuesday that is switching customers of Blu Power of Texas to
default providers, which typically charge much more.
"This is a voluntary
mass transition," ERCOT spokeswoman Dottie Roark said. "They have not
defaulted on any obligations to ERCOT."
Four other retail
providers shut down in recent weeks as short-term wholesale electricity
rates have risen sharply, in the wake of higher costs for oil and
natural gas.
Michael Anderson, chief executive of Atlanta-based
Blu Power, said the company simply couldn’t afford to buy electricity
to supply customers who had already paid for service at lower rates.
"Our cost was much higher than w
e could get back from our customers,"
Anderson said."
"The price of
retail gasoline could fall by half, to around $2 a gallon, within 30
days of passage of a law to limit speculation in energy-futures
markets, four energy analysts told Congress on Monday.
Testifying to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Michael Masters
of Masters Capital Management said that the price of oil would quickly
drop closer to its marginal cost of around $65 to $75 a barrel, about
half the current $135.
"Record oil
prices are inflated by speculation and not justified by market
fundamentals," according to Gheit. "Based on supply and demand
fundamentals, crude-oil prices should not be above $60 per barrel."
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/gas-could-fall-2-if/story.aspx?guid={2673C102-68E0-41D9-9C9A-10EE2E723948}&dist=msr_13
--We're all wearing the blue dress, now.
--Enron imploded in 2001, but not before illegally stealing over $13 Billion, from CA alone, by speculating and Keeping! electricity from the markets.
--Bush chose to do nothing to relieve western utility customers, which he could have done through FERC (fed energy reg comm).
--Worse, this 'enron' loophole was allowed by the gop controlled house
and senate to remain on the books, festering until the whole nat'n is
now suffering from oil speculation.
--Last may, the dem congress sought to end the enron-loophole, to which much of the recent oil/gas spike can be attributed to.
--(Fortunately, congressional dem's eliminated the loophole, in the bush-vetoed farm-bill.)
Let's compare:
*mccain's solution to high gas is to temp. drop the 18.4 cent/gallon gas tax and to allow more drilling. That'd save folks less than a quarter per 4buck gallon, which'd req higher income taxes to pay for road construction funds. The drilling would lower gas prices something like 7 cents a gallong......10 yrs from now.
*obama'd end the secret oil speculation which'd drop gas to 2 bucks/gallon. Within weeks.
Tough choice, there.
(hopefully, obama and the dem congress can get oil/gas prices down.......so the gop can go back to painting him as 'weak' on terror; how ELSE can they get to attack iran, which would spike oil to 200-250/barrel....y'know, $7-8/gallon gas? Or would iran pay for the US to attack it like iraq was supposed to?)
Btw, does anyone know how to "un-bold" type yet? Instructions greatly appreciated.
"Some optimists on the agriculture front, such as Nobel prize winning
economist Gary Becker, have argued that increasing the productivity of
farming would solve the problem of skyrocketing grain and food
commodity prices. Only roughly 30% of crop-raising is done according to
advanced techniques; if much of the rest of the land under cultivation
was brought to this level of output, the ag commodities crunch would be
a thing of the past.
There's a crucial flaw in this reasoning,
however. Modern farming is sorely dependent on phosphorous-based
fertilizers. And phosphorus is starting to run out."
From the Times Online:
"Battered
by soaring fertiliser prices and rioting rice farmers, the global food
industry may also have to deal with a potentially catastrophic future
shortage of phosphorus, scientists say.
Massive inefficiencies in the
“farm-to-fork” processing of food and the soaring appetite for meat and
dairy produce across Asia is stoking demand for phosphorus faster and
further than anyone had predicted. “Peak phosphorus”, say scientists,
could hit the world in just 30 years."
--I think the articles' quote: "“Phosphorus is as critical for all modern economies as water," sums up how dangerous the sit'n is.
This is ominous, as the US has yet to grapple w/ the coming water shortages, outside of the affected SW yet. A phosphorous loss, and it's effects on farming yields will be catastrophe for consumers; we're just getting a taste of heightened food prices, b/c of energy costs. There aren't any alternatives for replacing phosphorous....just old-fashioned, organic crop rotation (which can't even come close to providing the same yields).
Leave a Message
Leave a Comment
Request a Friend
