[Battle_Scarred_Galactico]

I think it's pretty clear the US will just keep on trucking until they phyically can't do it any more, which might not be that long.

[Trab]

Our leaders have publicly stated that "The American way of life is non-negotiable." Asking a consumer-driven economy to reduce their consumption is more or less asking Wall Street to cut its own throat, and I doubt that would happen without it being forced by outside circumstances.

Sounds like Q4 2005 should start the US (and the world) on the process of reducing demand whether they like it or not. This whole process right now is more and more about brinksmanship, I think.

[SD_Scott]

I've thought for some time that this issue will be a major sticking point for the US. It's a totally valid criticism.

[MD]

What if the US is not given a choice? Once the world buys into PO, could it possibly become the one rallying point that could bring the entire world into consensus against the US?

I can hear the chant "6% for 6%, no more glut, 6% for 6%, no more glut".

It is the 6%-25% glaring statistic that could possibly unify the world into defiantly telling the US "no more", once the trusth of depletion is evident to all.

What could the US possibly do in reponse? Load tankers at gunpoint? My fear is that the US government just might try, since there is NO other leverage available

[DomusAlbion]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('lorenzo', 'B')y the way, I wouldn't call Brazil, China and Russia "ineffectual" countries. You'll be surprized to see how powerfull they'll be in the coming few years.

[katkinkate]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('DomusAlbion', '.')..It's all a bunch of political posturing by weak and ineffectual countries and amounts to a fart in the wind.

[DomusAlbion]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('katkinkate', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('DomusAlbion', '.')..It's all a bunch of political posturing by weak and ineffectual countries and amounts to a fart in the wind.

[TS]

As to the world calling upon America to reduce consumption, in a word: interdependence. America requires about $2.8 billion a day in T-bond sales to keep itself going and the world readily provides.

I am wondering if Chavez (who is in the habit of threatening to cut off oil to America if he is assassinated, saying Venezuelan oil is being sabotaged, upping the tax, training a new civilian army, etc.) is trying to drive up the price of oil simply by being erratic?

If the world is serious about halting consumption it will stop buying T-bonds but then it would have its own people to answer to when exports to America drop.

Interdependence. That's America's ace in the hole.

[eric_b]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('DomusAlbion', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('katkinkate', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('DomusAlbion', '.')..It's all a bunch of political posturing by weak and ineffectual countries and amounts to a fart in the wind.

[DomusAlbion]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('eric_b', 'H')eh, seems to have hit a nerve with you.

Have to admit Chavez does have a point about the US consuming
a grossly disproportionate share of the global oil pie.

[ArimoDave]

Oh great. Foriegn calls to the US to reduce its oil consumption.

That's not unlike telling a child not to steal cookies from the cookie jar.

It's a guaranteed way to get the US to increase its use -- not reduce it.

ArimoDave

[MD]

I doubt the United States controls its own destiny with regard to oil supply.

The notion that we are just a bunch of children with our hands in the cookie jar may be true, but I submit the rest of the world has the ability to put the jar out of reach.

The only question is when will it find the will to do so?

[ArimoDave]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('MD', 'I') doubt the United States controls its own destiny with regard to oil supply.

The notion that we are just a bunch of children with our hands in the cookie jar may be true, but I submit the rest of the world has the ability to put the jar out of reach.

The only question is when will it find the will to do so?

[Tanada]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('MD', 'W')hat if the US is not given a choice? Once the world buys into PO, could it possibly become the one rallying point that could bring the entire world into consensus against the US?

I can hear the chant "6% for 6%, no more glut, 6% for 6%, no more glut".

It is the 6%-25% glaring statistic that could possibly unify the world into defiantly telling the US "no more", once the trusth of depletion is evident to all.

What could the US possibly do in reponse? Load tankers at gunpoint? My fear is that the US government just might try, since there is NO other leverage available

[MD]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'W')hat could the USA possibly do in response? How about total import ban on all Chinese trade goods? Without American dollars flowing into Chinese factories they grind quickly to a hault, and they are very well aware of that fact. Any open threat like your 6% for 6% statement would lead directly to economic warefare and instant recession, soon followed by world wide depression. It is in everyone's best interst to make PO as peaceful and non-disruptive as humanly possible, we are like a family of 108 siamese children attached at the heart. Kill one economy and you kill them all.

[eric_b]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('DomusAlbion', '
')
Chavez is correct that the US consumes much more than other countries (though on a per capita basis the US and Canada are about tied). But oil is a fungible commodity traded on the open market. If the US can pay for that commodity then it can get as much as it can pay for. There's no such thing as equity, so forget that; we aren't the Socialist States of the World and never will be.

[jimmydean]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('eric_b', '
')Sure, you can call Chavez a hypocrite, but the US certainly is too. Afraid
the US does not have the high ground on this issue. And as an aside,
look at the recent (20th century) history of the US in central/south
America. Not pretty. For a country that likes to talk about spreading
'freedom and democracy' we were busy propping up puppet dictatorships,
petty regimes and socialist states (in latin america) to further our
economic interests.

[fossil_fuel]

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid={1cd4f4e1-a06a-4d46-93bb-4c7f3f828598}&siteid=myyahoo&dist=SignInArchive&archive=true&param=archive&garden=&minisite=

free registration required, but i'll give you the important part:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I')f the provision becomes law, the president would have one year to propose and implement a plan to cut petroleum use by 1 million barrels a day, or 4%, from projected 2015 levels.

[turmoil]

I realize that this question is easy to answer, but i'd like to see how many people will figure it out, and comment on the use of this non-renewable resource that we BURN all day and all night.

[turmoil]

come on guys do the math. bad math is the reason we are in this mess now.

ill give you a hit: there are 60 * 60 *24 seconds in one day