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Are high gasoline prices un-American? Maybe not
Len LaCara, Coshocton Tribune
..If you’re doing the math at home, you know a bigger chunk of your paycheck is going toward fuel costs. There are a fair number of people in our town who can’t afford gas at $2 a gallon, let alone $3. So it wasn’t surprising that the “gas-out” e-mail raced across the Internet, calling for a boycott on May 15.
It didn’t work. I saw plenty of cars fuelling up that day. By late Tuesday, prices had increased 20 cents a gallon in some parts of our area, not decreased.
I’ve been writing about this topic a lot in my blog, and there are no easy solutions. Mass transit is unavailable in Coshocton. Z-Bus vehicles are rarely, if ever, full. ..
I suspect even-higher gasoline taxes would be as popular here as Michigan football. But is someone driving an SUV with a “Support the Troops” magnet on the tailgate helping the terrorists more than our armed forces?
After the Twin Towers fell, Americans were ready to sacrifice in order to defeat our enemies. But the only sacrifice came from the families of our brave men and women killed in the War on Terror.
Here’s a question for you: If $5 gasoline would help bring our troops home from Iraq, would you pay it?
Len LeCara is Managing Editor of the Coshocton Tribune.
(20 May 2007)
California Assembly Speaker proposes legislation to get prices and oil companies under control
Judy Dugan, California Progress Report
I went to a freeway-adjacent Chevron Station in LA ($3.49 a gallon for regular) this morning to hear Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez talk very tough about the oil and refining industries: “Skyrocketing gas prices are hurting California families and jeopardizing our economy. During the electricity crisis a few years ago California adopted … measures to keep energy companies from using these convenient shutdowns to amp up their profits and today we’re going to make sure oil companies can’t use Enron-like tactics on California consumers.”
Nunez said at this press conference that he’s proposing legislation to get prices and these profiteering companies under control. Nunez accurately noted that “refineries shut down, prices go up, and profits go through the roof.” He accused oil companies of “cashing in” on suspicious refinery outages.
The solutions I heard are good—a start at regulating refineries, a plan to get much more information about refinery operations and profits, and a more nebulous plan to “study” and maybe act on “hot fuel” (the fact that we pay for more gasoline than we get when the gasoline temperature rises above 60 degrees—which is most of the time in this state.)..
Judy Dugan is the Research Director of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights
(20 May 2007)
Making a farce of five-star
Royce Millar and Liz Minchin
McMANSIONS lit up like Christmas trees are making a farce of the State Government’s green building rules, with new houses guzzling more energy and producing more greenhouse pollution than existing homes.
A damning Government report leaked to The Age has recommended replacing Victoria’s five-star energy standard with a new benchmark, capping greenhouse emissions and penalising large houses and apartments.
Other leaked documents reveal the Government is seriously considering an overhaul of the five-star rules, starting with making solar panels and rainwater tanks (or equivalent measures) compulsory.
Such a revamp is likely to meet resistance from the building industry but would increase pressure for a review of national “green” home regulations.
First introduced in Victoria in 2004, five-star standards aimed at cutting energy use and greenhouse emissions have since been adopted nationally in the Building Code of Australia.
Before they came into force, Premier Steve Bracks promised the new standards would make homes 50 per cent more energy efficient.
But Dr George Wilkenfeld, one of the country’s foremost experts on residential energy efficiency, has found that new Victorian homes use more power and produce more greenhouse emissions than before the five-star rules were introduced. ..
(21 May 2007)
See also Bright appearance puts green dream in the shade.
Fears over looming energy crisis in UK
Grant Ringshaw, Times Online
..”The idea of the lights going out is not a fantasy. People seem to accept that security of energy supply is a right. It is not. The industry will have to work hard to maintain supply and for that we need a clear framework,” said Simon Skillings, director of strategy and energy policy at Eon UK, Britain’s largest integrated energy company.
This Wednesday, the government’s delayed energy white paper will attempt to provide some answers. It is a crucial document that will determine whether Britain can deliver on its pledge to slash carbon emissions by 20% from 1990 levels by 2020. The white paper will seek to tackle a host of tough issues – from nuclear power to energy efficiency, renewable power sources and clean-fuel projects. A planning white paper, due tomorrow, is also seen as crucial after a number of energy projects have been delayed for years or slapped down by local authorities.
The scale of the challenge is immense. By 2015, Britain’s generating capacity could be cut by a third as ageing coal and nuclear power stations are closed. Britain is also moving from being self-sufficient in oil and gas as North Sea production declines. In 2005, the UK became a net importer of gas. By 2010, imports could account for 40% of British gas needs; by 2020, 80% to 90%. ..
Already controversial, the government’s commitment to building new nuclear power stations became even more sensitive when the High Court agreed with the environmental lobby group Greenpeace that the consultation process was “seriously flawed”. ..
(20 May 2007)
Contributor Norman Church writes: The UK government will force through alterations in planning regulations to quicken the building of more nuclear power stations. But all this will do is generate more electricity, it will not replace oil.
