[socrates1fan]

Exactly.
More consumption will just make prices go up again(if there is any affect at all by drilling here.) and we would be stuck in the same problem.
Americans are starting to realize the flaws of auto culture.
Many people here cram onto public transportation that was declining only a year ago.
If America could be like Europe in density of it's cities and it's public transportation then our issues with the gas prices would not go away but would be less severe.

[f2tornado]

Lots of talking points and sound bites but a few things to consider... The authors state the U.S. has 3% of world oil reserves but this number is much larger when factoring in unconventional sources, most notably oils shale. Next, the authors suggest keeping tires inflated along with additional vehicle maintenance will magically lower prices. This will without a doubt reduce consumption/waste but if this reduced demand in the U.S. is picked up elsewhere then the price point is moot. The authors further suggest increasing government subsidy for hybrid cars. These subsidies really only help higher wage earners purchase a more expensive automobile. I can afford payments on a $10k car but cannot afford payments on a Prius. I drive little so even if gas hit $10 it would still be cheaper for me to buy the $10k car. Further, some of these subsidies go to hybrid vehicles that get less mpg than a standard Toyota Corolla. The vehicle subsidy money would be better spent funding light rail transit. Less cars on the road will also mean less roads needed to be built in the future. The value of oil in ANWR alone is worth some $1.4 Trillion at today's $140 barrel price based on the widely circulated 10 Bbl supply. One would think the lease and royalty payments from this could be earmarked toward mass transit options and electric grid upgrades which will need a massive amount of funding over the next few decades.

I propose the U.S. is not addicted to oil. If not a fan of the term addiction in this case but if we maintain the theme then the phrase may be more properly stated, "the U.S. is addicted to cheap oil".

[Starvid]

Keeping breathing will just extend our addiction to oxygen. So let's stop breathing. After you...

[newbonic]

Energy related issues have certainly gone mainstream in the UK (and presumably Canada as it's a UK/Canadian production).

A 3 hour drama on at 9pm - 10:30 pm over 2 nights.

From the Daily Telegraph preview".....drama about the potentially disastrous consequences of the West’s dependency on oil – the price of crude was around $40 a barrel. Recently, it’s been over $140. Whatever else you end up thinking about this drama, you’ve at least got to admit that it’s timely."

It's got global warming, inuit, melting ice sheets, cynical oil industry barons spinning the news, etc. Plus the consequences of having to switch from oil "everything runs on oil...driving, flying, schools" says one of the main characters despairingly.
Lots of exposition about AGW and the impractically of running the world as it is without oil.

Dunno if you can get it anywhere else yet but descriptions are at: Burn Up: Oil on Troubled Waters (D Telegraph).

[Twilight]

Watch the trailer on the production company's page.

(Bottom row, middle button)

Looks interesting. I will get a friend to make a recording seeing as I have no TV.

I don't understand the point of loading subsonic ammunition for an undefended target in the middle of a desert though.

[mos6507]

Wow. I didn't know you could say f*ck on the BBC.

[Starvid]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mos6507', 'W')ow. I didn't know you could say f*ck on the BBC.

[Twilight]

I remember reading a newspaper interview with some American who said s*** and apologised, then was reassured it was OK. Surprised, s/he asked whether s/he was allowed to say s*** and whether it would be printed, and the interviewer assured him/her it would be. S/he was impressed. And so it was printed. Without the stars that I have to put in here.

[kokoda]

I hate it when people write s*** and f***.

The words are spelled s h i t and f u c k.

[Peleg]

It's a good thing they included some adulterous sex in there or nobody would go see it. People do not care about how the gas get's into those little pumps at the shiny little grocery stores. They are never going to care enough no matter how many movies are made about it. There is something about oil use that is in itself a denial of our humanity. That is why I suspect that many people upon finding out about peak oil and finally knowing it is real struggle with guilt, fear, rage, hopelessness.

How many of you would admit that you wish you had never known now that you do?

Peak oil is the problem and the solution. We are the cure for our own disease.

[mos6507]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('kokoda', 'I') hate it when people write s*** and f***.

The words are spelled s h i t and f u c k.

[newbonic]

Well, the final 30 mins were about the hero coming into possession of geological scans that proved that the middle east had peaked (got from a rogue geologist), and the baddies (oil industry oligarchs and neocons - the usual liberal's suspects!) chasing him for the disk because they didn't want the world to have it confirmed that 'peak oil is now'! i.e. we're all doomed 1.

Wound up with a big expansion of coal (so AGW and we're all doomed 2) and nuclear, plus cynically token renewables efforts being agreed at a 'Kyoto 2 conference'.

Worth a watch if it's on a TV near you.

[Nickel]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mos6507', 'W')ow. I didn't know you could say f*ck on the BBC.

[vaseline2008]

Are you for real?!

Government Aid to GM, Ford, Chrysler Could Preserve Old Way of Building and Selling Cars

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '"')The auto industry is the backbone of American manufacturing and a critical part of our attempt to reduce our dependence on foreign oil," Mr. Obama said Friday.

[Twilight]

Non sequitur from an official source will often pass off as truth.

[Kristjan]

It's the oil companies that should bail out the Big Three. By the way, the auto industry in the south (Toyota, Honda and the like) is doing way better - they don't need a bailout.

[Maddog78]

Preach to me, oh mighty obumalama, ding dong!

Bwahahaa, so bizarre.

[RSFB]

I saw that quote before.

Since Obama is not stupid, I assume his aim is to paint a rosy picture in which the American automakers can evolve to make fuel efficient hybrids and electric cars.

It's definitely good news that he's linking the auto companies to energy!

[Maddog78]

Yeah, I'm sure he's talking about the Volt and such but it still is kind of a strange quote.

[Twilight]

The low hanging fruit of energy security is slapping a liquidator's seal on the gates of the Big Three's US auto plants tomorrow. Unfortunately consuming that fruit will reveal Congress and Senate to have been stark naked for the last 35 years.