Liberals who care about their fellow man should rethink U.S. energy policy.

[HAL 9000 96]

Wondering if maybe it would be better not to butt into Gary's monologue ... but

I read in the Financial Times (that liberal rag) a couple days ago that the biggest untapped source of oil in the USA is under Detroit -- referring to the potential of the not-as-Big-as-they-used-to-be 3 to contribute to US energy security by figuring out how to sell energy-efficient cars. GM (Opel) and Ford (Europe) don't do so badly at it in Europe but they haven't found a way to bring that expertise home -- and so they cede market share to the Japanese. Maybe Congress will finally help Detroit by forcing substantial increases in fuel economy ... in effect legislating a demand that they become competitive since they haven't figured out otherwise that they need to be. (I used to work in this industry, on the inside, and know firsthand how severely management there hasn't figure this out.) Oh, who was it who was opposing increases in fuel economy for the past 15 years? Don't think that opposition was exactly rooted in liberalism. Gary, can you help me out there in understanding that?

Maybe Gary hasn't heard of Hubble, a Shell oil analyst who correctly predicted that the USA would peak in its oil production in the late 1960s and begin an irreversible decline. (Is Shell Oil a hotbed of libaralism?) The cries on the right to open this shred of land or that parcel of ocean has been fig leaf to cover an inability to propose an energy policy that has a real, physical basis of working for the long term. You can't power the demands of this country on mined domestic liquid fuels. The resource just isn't there. Sorry Gary, its a scientific fact that you might not be able to do a good job analyzing. But the question hasn't been in serious scientific debate for nearly 40 years. Sure you can find outliers .. but not real, serious debate. The USA is in irreversible decline for oil production. Russia maybe and if it isn't, they are close. Saudi Arabia will be there soon. Iraq would be, but foreign intervention has kept their industry shut down for the last decade. If the chaos there were to magically stop, they might offer a brief reprieve. Things look bleak for a significant increase in production globally of this mined resource. Gotta try something very different. Not sure Gary understands that.

As I said in another thread lately, it is great to be working for a new energy company. I'm humping 60 hrs, 80 hrs, sometimes more a week working to create a sustainable liquid fuel industry that will improve US energy security, mitigate global warming, and help create the basis of an energy economy that will be able to go on indefinitely, rather than living, as Gary seems to advocate, on borrowed time, mining an already depleted resource. It is a very good mid-career change. I suppose if I truly didn't like people or care about the basis of western society sustaining itself energetically, I'd work in plastics and make a lot more money and have a lot more free time.

And this liberal *never* owned a SUV. Presently I own the least fuel economical car I've ever owned -- with an automatic transmission (to make easier for my immigrant wife to learn to drive) that gets only 35 mpg in the city. I've been working the demand side of the equation for decades. Looks a bit countercultural, given all the behemoths I see on the road driven by a solitary occupant.

Leaving fools paradise won't be easy. But it looks like we've been kicked out of the garden. High prices are here to stay. Bush gets only partial credit for that one. The Chinese and Indians also get partial credit, as does the wastefulness we've practiced here the past few decades. Its high time to figure out how to adapt.

thank you!

Time to turn off the FixedNews, GaryC.

to both.

[Sister Fracas 5]

yippee!

Another "Label-Festival" sponsored by Gary!

*trying to my elite bus to the tree-hugging ceremony*

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Another "Label-Festival" sponsored by Gary!

Yep. And it is getting pretty stale by now...

[HAL 9000 96]

[SteveLaura 0]

Great thread! Needs more granola and non-fat yoghurt, tho.

"Kum-ba-ya, my Lord, Kum-ba-ya..."

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Great thread! Needs more granola and non-fat yoghurt, tho.

"Kum-ba-ya, my Lord, Kum-ba-ya..."

Anything is better than Pork and Cheddar

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Interesting that the European divisions of the US automakers have done the brainwork the US headquarters refused to do. And now they'll profit from it. "Drill, drill, drill" and all it stands for is how the US is losing it's status as a leader.

GM, Ford Look to Euro Divisions for Small Cars

With fuel prices at over $4 a gallon, sales of gas-guzzling American SUVs and trucks are tanking. Now Ford and General Motors are looking to their European divisions for more efficient, smaller cars that can be quickly produced for the suddenly fuel-efficiency conscious American market.

Will General Motors' übermacho Hummer line of SUVs be the first victim

of the global energy crisis?

German carmaker Opel, owned by American automobile giant General Motors, as well as the European division of Ford could both profit from the current crisis at their mothership companies across the big pond. GM and Ford have been hit hard by falling sales of gas-guzzling pickup trucks and SUVs. With drivers having to pay an average of over $4 per gallon, sales of larger cars have slowed to a trickle, blindsiding US automakers, who have focused for years on the formerly lucrative truck and SUV market. Unable to quickly retool to develop their own fuel-efficient models, GM and Ford are both reviewing their units in Europe -- where compact and subcompact models are far more prevalent -- for possible models that could be produced for the American market.

Of course, with the euro as strong as it is against the dollar, the cars would have to be manufactured at US plants. If exported to the US from Europe, they would be immediate money losers. Still, the European R&D departments could profit from the additional work. It wouldn't be unprecedented for US automakers to introduce European-designed models in the US. GM already manufactures the Opel Astra in the United States under its Saturn brand.

The future of SUVs in the States is more uncertain than it's ever been before. Lately, carmakers are even being forced to give heavy discounts just to move somewhat more energy-efficient hybrid SUVs. GM is even considering selling off Hummer, its übermacho brand.

[Ban Hammer 13,334]

Interesting that the European divisions of the US automakers have done the brainwork the US headquarters refused to do. And now they'll profit from it. "Drill, drill, drill" and all it stands for is how the US is losing it's status as a leader.

GM, Ford Look to Euro Divisions for Small Cars

With fuel prices at over $4 a gallon, sales of gas-guzzling American SUVs and trucks are tanking. Now Ford and General Motors are looking to their European divisions for more efficient, smaller cars that can be quickly produced for the suddenly fuel-efficiency conscious American market.

Will General Motors' übermacho Hummer line of SUVs be the first victim

of the global energy crisis?

German carmaker Opel, owned by American automobile giant General Motors, as well as the European division of Ford could both profit from the current crisis at their mothership companies across the big pond. GM and Ford have been hit hard by falling sales of gas-guzzling pickup trucks and SUVs. With drivers having to pay an average of over $4 per gallon, sales of larger cars have slowed to a trickle, blindsiding US automakers, who have focused for years on the formerly lucrative truck and SUV market. Unable to quickly retool to develop their own fuel-efficient models, GM and Ford are both reviewing their units in Europe -- where compact and subcompact models are far more prevalent -- for possible models that could be produced for the American market.

Of course, with the euro as strong as it is against the dollar, the cars would have to be manufactured at US plants. If exported to the US from Europe, they would be immediate money losers. Still, the European R&D departments could profit from the additional work. It wouldn't be unprecedented for US automakers to introduce European-designed models in the US. GM already manufactures the Opel Astra in the United States under its Saturn brand.

The future of SUVs in the States is more uncertain than it's ever been before. Lately, carmakers are even being forced to give heavy discounts just to move somewhat more energy-efficient hybrid SUVs. GM is even considering selling off Hummer, its übermacho brand.

opel corsas for everyone!

[HAL 9000 96]

Great thread! Needs more granola and non-fat yoghurt, tho.

"Kum-ba-ya, my Lord, Kum-ba-ya..."

Anything is better than Pork and Cheddar

Talking about food I do have a strange craving for fish and chips.

Interesting that the European divisions of the US automakers have done the brainwork the US headquarters refused to do. And now they'll profit from it. "Drill, drill, drill" and all it stands for is how the US is losing it's status as a leader.

GM, Ford Look to Euro Divisions for Small Cars

With fuel prices at over $4 a gallon, sales of gas-guzzling American SUVs and trucks are tanking. Now Ford and General Motors are looking to their European divisions for more efficient, smaller cars that can be quickly produced for the suddenly fuel-efficiency conscious American market.

Will General Motors' übermacho Hummer line of SUVs be the first victim

of the global energy crisis?

German carmaker Opel, owned by American automobile giant General Motors, as well as the European division of Ford could both profit from the current crisis at their mothership companies across the big pond. GM and Ford have been hit hard by falling sales of gas-guzzling pickup trucks and SUVs. With drivers having to pay an average of over $4 per gallon, sales of larger cars have slowed to a trickle, blindsiding US automakers, who have focused for years on the formerly lucrative truck and SUV market. Unable to quickly retool to develop their own fuel-efficient models, GM and Ford are both reviewing their units in Europe -- where compact and subcompact models are far more prevalent -- for possible models that could be produced for the American market.

Of course, with the euro as strong as it is against the dollar, the cars would have to be manufactured at US plants. If exported to the US from Europe, they would be immediate money losers. Still, the European R&D departments could profit from the additional work. It wouldn't be unprecedented for US automakers to introduce European-designed models in the US. GM already manufactures the Opel Astra in the United States under its Saturn brand.

The future of SUVs in the States is more uncertain than it's ever been before. Lately, carmakers are even being forced to give heavy discounts just to move somewhat more energy-efficient hybrid SUVs. GM is even considering selling off Hummer, its übermacho brand.

opel corsas for everyone!

1972 Opel GT

(for the offroaders that die hard)