Sigh.....
So I get a link to a post in my daily media alerts. It contains the usual snarky rhetoric displayed by those who deny the realities of Econ 101...supply and demand...
Sigh.....here is the pristine wilderness that is 10-02 area of the ANWR.
and here...
Now, let's take a look at a map of the area where the drilling is proposed to take place.
Click the map in order to see a large detail of the drilling area. Do you see that little red square? In the northwest portion of the green "coastal plain" area? THAT little red square marks the 2,000 acres (3.13 sq miles) where the proposed new drilling will take place. Now, do you see the red arrows? The ones pointing to various other spots along the coastal plain? Those areas represent areas of this so called "pristine wilderness" that have already been opened up for drilling! This tiny portion of the 19.6 MILLION ACRES of land is what we are talking about "despoiling" here. This tiny portion of the larger refuge contains enough oil for 436.8 BILLION gallons of gasoline - enough for roughly 12.6 BILLION TANKS (at 16 gallons per tank) of gasoline!
Lastly, the coastal plain is not part of the "refuge". It is in an area that was set aside FOR FUTURE OIL DRILLING by President Jimmy Carter in 1980.
The facts of the matter are that the DEMOCRATS in Congress and the DEMOCRATS in the Senate are doing everything in their power today to block votes on additional domestic drilling. The DEMOCRATS are more than happy to send $70 million a year to the Middle East. The facts are that the 10-02 area is not part of the Arctic REFUGE - it is outside of the area.
Can you honestly and truly say that 436.8 billion gallons will not make a difference in the price of a gallon of gasoline? If so, then you really need to take a refresher course in Economics because every theory of economics acknowledges that very basic fact.
Jason Chaffetz recently visited Alaska, looked solemnly at the beauty that surrounded him, and declared we could end the $4.00 a gallon prices at the pump by drilling away into the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. To his credit, he mentions our need to pursue alternative energy sources, including the renewable source of wind power.
Sigh.....here is the pristine wilderness that is 10-02 area of the ANWR.
and here...
Now, let's take a look at a map of the area where the drilling is proposed to take place.
Click the map in order to see a large detail of the drilling area. Do you see that little red square? In the northwest portion of the green "coastal plain" area? THAT little red square marks the 2,000 acres (3.13 sq miles) where the proposed new drilling will take place. Now, do you see the red arrows? The ones pointing to various other spots along the coastal plain? Those areas represent areas of this so called "pristine wilderness" that have already been opened up for drilling! This tiny portion of the 19.6 MILLION ACRES of land is what we are talking about "despoiling" here. This tiny portion of the larger refuge contains enough oil for 436.8 BILLION gallons of gasoline - enough for roughly 12.6 BILLION TANKS (at 16 gallons per tank) of gasoline!Lastly, the coastal plain is not part of the "refuge". It is in an area that was set aside FOR FUTURE OIL DRILLING by President Jimmy Carter in 1980.
The facts of the matter are that the DEMOCRATS in Congress and the DEMOCRATS in the Senate are doing everything in their power today to block votes on additional domestic drilling. The DEMOCRATS are more than happy to send $70 million a year to the Middle East. The facts are that the 10-02 area is not part of the Arctic REFUGE - it is outside of the area.
Can you honestly and truly say that 436.8 billion gallons will not make a difference in the price of a gallon of gasoline? If so, then you really need to take a refresher course in Economics because every theory of economics acknowledges that very basic fact.
Labels: ANWR, Drill Here, Energy Policy, Jason Chaffetz
posted by The Lady Logician at
4:35 PM
7 Comments:
Well said Ladies Logic,
This snarky analysis also misses a huge point:
While it is true that ANWR is a "small portion of world production" and "offset by lower production outside the U.S.", what is forgotten is that OIL is not normal supply and demand:
The price of oil is mostly set by OPEC countries that don't publish their production stats...and they can and do price it up or down and/or raise and lower production at their whim.
Back in the 70's when Gas and oil was more expensive than it is now...after adjusting for inflation...JImmy Carter announced his funding for Synthetic fuels and that "in 10 years we would be totally energy independent".
Result? OPEC magically upped production and dropped the price to make synfuels non-competitive and we forgot about our plan to be energy independent.
So, start drilling an ANWR and watch the OPEC countries magically drop the price just because of the threat to their customer base...and that's good for us right now...and if we then don't "forget" this time and keep working on energy independence it will be good for us in the long run.
PLus, every penny we spend on ANWR oil is a penny we dont give to people who want to kill us.
THAT'S the part that is most important.
Frank
(www.ourcaucus.com)
By
Frankie Ray, at 11:12 PM
Frank - what your snarky analysis misses is that OPEC is engaging in a little thing called SUPPLY AND DEMAND. It is an economic principle whereby the seller of a scarce product can set the rates as high or as low as they choose. It does not matter if the scarcity is real or contrived - as long as it is there the seller can set the price wherever he wants. It's called the FREE MARKET and it is supposedly something that conservatives are in favor of.
Don't blame OPEC for taking advantage of a contrived scarcity of product - blame those who are responsible FOR the scarcity....the environmentalist movement and their minions (on the right and on the left) in office.
LL
By
The Lady Logician, at 11:03 AM
I think Frank's analysis gives OPEC a bit more power than they really have, but he is nonetheless correct. To the degree they can increase production and force down the world price, our announcement of intent to drill will prompt them to do so, in an attempt to keep us "out of the market." Heck, any company would do exactly the same thing to a potential competitor, to the degree it could.
The point we need to get to is to force the decision down to its essential: that it is a choice between drilling in ANWR, the OCS and the Western oil shales, or not drilling in ANWR, the OCS and the Western oil shales. There are no environmental concerns here, with modern technology and existing regulations, worth worrying about unless you are a special interest group needing an "issue" for fundraising purposes.
J. Ewing
By
Anonymous, at 11:35 AM
"Heck, any company would do exactly the same thing to a potential competitor, to the degree it could. "
Which is exactly the point I was making J. As someone who has worked in "regulated" industry for as long as I have, I have watched the dominant service providers do what they needed to do to keep both the regulators and the competition at bay. While my work has been primarily with the competition, I have never railed about how unfair it was that the predominant player had control over the playing field...I've just worked harder to make sure that my employer was able to compete in an "unfair" environment...but then again that is the conservative in me!
Having said that, you hit the nail on the head squarely old friend. The CHOICE is ours to make. We can either stay with Legislative leadership whose choice is to make it harder for us to get that fuel or we can vote them out. It's that simple....
And that also applies to certain Republican governors who seem to be wed to the ideal that burning food (instead of drilling for more oil) for fuel.
LL
By
The Lady Logician, at 12:01 PM
Good morning m'Lady Logician,
We are in complete agreement. The "Snarky analysis" I was referring to was not your comment. It was referring to the original article you were citing as snarky and that made you sigh.
Like you, I do not blame OPEC for their little games...they do play them and they can do whatever they please...I was only trying to point out that if we start drilling, OPEC will "magically" find a way to increase supply and drop the price in an attempt to get us to forget our energy independence goals like we did under Jimmy Carter back in the 70's and beyond.
Which brings me to re-iterate what I think is the most important point that the environmentalists and politicians who don't want us to drill keep missing:
I don't care if it will "take 10 years to see any impact" (which isnt true anyway) and I dont care if the "price impact will be minimal" (also not true anyway)...what I care about is every penny we spend domestically is a penny we arent sending to people who hate us and/or at best are not aligned with our national interests.
As a final note, I would reiterate the most important aspect of OPEC's game as opposed to normal supply and demand economics: They (OPEC) do NOT publish production data for the world to see. Unlike virtually every other known commodity, the World's speculators on oil commodities are always guessing as to true OPEC production and potential production...which is exactly how OPEC wants it and exactly how they can contrive surplus or shortages whenever they would like.
Frank
www.ourcaucus.com
By
Frankie Ray, at 8:40 AM
"I don't care if it will 'take 10 years to see any impact' (which isnt true anyway)..."
That's my point, roughly. It simply makes no sense to buy $150/bbl overseas when we have oodles of $50 oil just sitting here.
Back when world oil was $30/bbl it made sound business sense: buy from the low-cost supplier until their reserves are depleted and the price goes up. Then we tap our supplies and sell at whatever price we want. We could afford to humor the environutters and their fantasies because it coincided what we wanted to do anyway. Now it's time to tell the environutters to grow up and face reality. Or just tell them to go pound salt down a rathole, I don't care which. Drill! It can't hurt the environmeht one bit.
Of course, if the nutters really want to stop drilling in ANWR, I suggest they go up and hold a sit-in at the drill site. (All drilling is done in the winter, you know.)
J. Ewing
By
Anonymous, at 11:36 AM
What also needs to be said is that alternative fuels research won't give us any solutions for 10 years either! Since neither one is a solution for "now" (supposedly) why not increase output now so that we have something to cover us in the meantime!
Regarding your protest solution J. I'll help pay for their tickets. As long as we send them when the drilling is being done...IN JANUARY!
LL
By
The Lady Logician, at 2:22 PM
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