Picking winners and losers in the Energy business

The EPA, for whatever reason but I assume it is due to their ever growing need for control, classifies Nat Gas being used as a transportation fuel differently than it does gasoline and diesel being used as a transportation fuel. They require every engine plant to be inspected by them before the engine can be approved for use in vehicles. This takes approximately 6 months per engine submitted and costs approximately 250K. So, if I am a vehicle manufacturer with 4 different engines, I have to submit one of each, pay a million dollars and wait six months to see if they will be approved for use. Next comes the emissions module, it must be modified and approved as well, because it is a federal crime to modify the emissions module in vehicles without EPA approval.

So, now, next year comes along and the engineers change the angle of the plenum chamber or modify the fuel injectors to better disperse the Nat Gas molecules, the engine becomes more efficient, but the change forces the manufacturer to go through the approval process again.

Bottom line, this is not necessary with oil base fueled engines and shouldn't be necessary with Nat Gas based engines. This is just another example of the FED choosing the winners and losers in their game of social engineering. The EPA should do nothing more than develop emissions output standards and leave it up to industry to develop the fuels and protocols which meet their standards. As far as I'm concerned, the EPA shouldn't even be allowed to force fuel economy standards on the auto industry. The consumer should have the right to choose what type of vehicle they want to drive and how much fuel the vehicle consumes, provided the exhaust emissions fall below set standards.

Let the EPA set the tail pipe emissions standards for the different classes of vehicle powerplants and let industry develop and sell the products which meet those standards. There should not be different standards for different classes of fuel because this is extremely discriminatory and inhibits innovation. And stop the bullshit subsidization of various classes of fuel. Ethanol is NOT a competitive fuel and shouldn't be subsidized. Neither should there be depletion allowances for the oil and gas companies. They know that the fuel they recover is available in finite amounts and that is calculated into the cost of doing business. It should not be subsidized by the government any more than the Solar, wind or Algae to biofuel industry should be subsidized by the FED.

THE PRESIDENTS “LONG VIEW” OF GAS PRICING

On Thursday the President flew down to deliver a speech on why gas prices have been rising so much. The jist of his comments can be boiled down to two words spoken by the President -- “it’s complicated”. Well, yes Mr. President it actually is complicated. It is complicated by this administration and the Federal Government in general. Mr. President, the economics of oil and gas are not a relationship status on the Facebook, they are a real life issue which is having a truly negative affect on the pocketbooks of every American citizen.

The President then made the statement that the price of gas and oil was not controlled by the United States, but by the world market. Well hell yes, sure took long enough to figure this out. Seems funny that the President is finally getting around to recognizing and speaking out about this when for the past three SOTU speeches, as oil prices rose, he claimed it was the fault of others such as the big oil companies and anyone else he could vilify.

The President made an effort to blunt his failings in this area by making the statement that we should all be prepared for the Republicans coming comments that they have the solution and it is based on three words - Drill, Drill and Drill. He said anyone saying that we can see “immediate lower gas prices are either uninformed or dishonest”. Yes he actually said those who say that we have to drill more are being dishonest. Of course in the next sentence he stated that we were in fact drilling more today than we were before the Gulf Oil disaster in April of 2010 because of the policies of his administration. I’ll leave it to the readers to decide who is being dishonest.

Here’s what he didn’t say, the increased drilling and production is not coming from public lands, but from private lands where the Federal government cannot stop the recovery process. What he did not say is that the EPA in conjunction with the Department of Energy and the Executive branch are not issuing permits for the recovery of oil and Natural Gas on public lands. So the increased production the President takes credit for and that he claims isn’t really solving the problem is actually occurring in spite of, not because of the Federal Government.

The President barely mentioned the fact that he turned down the Keystone XL pipeline, but in the few statements made, he defended his position. The President knows as well as anyone who studies the situation, or at least he should, that with increased oil production coming from the Bakken fields of N. Dakota and Montana, the Keystone XL is a necessary step to get the oil to the refineries expeditiously and at the most reasonable cost. He knows that the Keystone XL has been approved by ALL the states over which it will cross. He knows that there are literally hundreds of pipelines already crossing the “environmentally sensitive” Nebraska aquifers and that the Keystone XL will be the best designed and built pipeline in the history of the world. Further, he knows that turning down the construction of the pipeline is one of the causes of gas price increases. Yet he still feels the need, even in spite of the rising gas prices, to defend this failing on his part.

The President, didn’t mention Natural Gas in his speech yesterday in spite of how he made it a major part of his SOTU address in January. I assume the reason he didn’t mention it on Thursday is because the EPA hasn’t actually lessened the regulatory restrictions on its development and use that the President promised. Let me make a point here, there has been growing criticism about the use of the drilling technique called “fracking” in the recovery of Natural Gas. This may be the reason the EPA isn’t moving very fast, but the fact is, the fracking process has been used for more than 40 years in more than 1 MILLION, yes over a MILLION wells without one incident of underground water contamination due to the fracking process. Above ground disposal problems have occurred on rare occasions, but they can be eliminated with enhanced monitoring.

As he began to speak about his “Long View” of the President claimed that energy is “one of the major challenges of your generation” and that "anyone who tells you we can drill our way out of this problem doesn't know what they're talking about -- or just isn't telling you the truth." I will tell you the truth, we do need to drill, the economic life of our nation depends on it and we can drill our way out of it. I agree with the President that we can’t drill our way out of the looming crisis with oil, but we can drill our way out with Natural Gas. Natural Gas is the bridge to our future. Our immediately recoverable Natural Gas resources exceed the needs of our country for the next 10 generations. Far longer than it will take to commercially develop alternative sources of energy. Natural Gas can be used as it comes out of the ground. There are no requirements to refine it so the gas is more economical to use. There are currently existent, natural gas pipelines under more than 50% of all the roads in America so accessibility is not an issue. Personal use vehicles (cars and trucks) are very easily and cost effectively convertible to the use of Natural Gas and it burns much cleaner than gasoline or diesel fuel. Converting 35% of the personal transportation vehicles to the use of Natural Gas over the next 5 years will eliminate our need to import any oil or gasoline from sources outside the North America and at the same time cut the demand for oil so dramatically that gasoline prices will drop substantially. The President knows this, yet he chose not to make mention of it because it will shed light on the failings of the EPPA and this administration. So I have to ask, who is being dishonest when they say we can’t drill our way out of the rising gas price crisis?

The President then went on to make comments about his holistic approach to energy development and barely mentioned the solar alternative or the Solyndra and Fiskars fiascos except to say "Some technologies don't pan out, and some companies will fail," Obama said. "But as long as I'm president, I will not walk away from the promise of clean energy”. It is very wise to promote the development of all forms of alternative energy, I have been doing so for many years, but the development of such technology should not be at a cost to the American taxpayer, especially when the companies receiving the funds are “friends of the administration”. The Federal government SHOULD NOT pick and choose which companies should be promoted. This is not the responsibility of the Federal Government.

President Obama went on to promote the development of Algae as a fuel source. This is a very responsible suggestion and one which I have been actively involved for the past 5 years. I wonder if the President and his advisors are aware that algae has more than 5000 distinctly different and identifiable strains and that more than 70% of these strains produce very little oil. I wonder as well if the President and Department of Energy Secretary Lu know that the microscopic spore of these algae strains fly throught eh air and easily invade the strains being used to produce oil rendering them unproductive. Many studies have been undertaken to determine the viability of the use of Algae as a feed stock for use as a biofuel. Almost all the studies have concluded that capital cost, labor cost and operational costs make the use of algae too expensive to be competitive with conventional fuels. Unless new, more efficient methods of growing and refining algae into biofuel are developed, their use may never be realized. This is not an area which the Federal Government should be investing money. I have been asking myself if the President and Secretary Lu have another crony company they either have or are preparing to provide development funding for.

He stated that "It's the easiest thing in the world to make phony election-year promises about lower gas prices". "What's harder is to make a serious, sustained commitment to tackle a problem. And it won't be solved in one year, it won't be solved in one term, it may not be solved in one decade. But that's the kind of commitment we need right now." I fully agree with the President on this and applaud him for making the statement so I am going to offer a solution which will solve the problem of rising gasoline prices in the near as well as the long term.

First, approve the Keystone XL pipeline. There is no environmental or economic reason for the delay. Denying approval is absolutely nothing more than a political move which is 180 degrees opposite his statement Thursday that "It's the easiest thing in the world to make phony election-year promises about lower gas prices,"

Second, issue permits for the recovery of oil from public land. ANWR should be the first place permits are issued, Off shore permits immediately following and the Barnett and Williston fields to come at the same time or shortly thereafter. The EPA should allow the permits on a bid basis with the only restriction being that 80% of the recovered oil must be refined and sold in the American marketplace.

Third, reduce the regulatory burden on the construction of new oil refineries. The regulatory hurdles are so enormous that the development and construction of refineries is almost impossible forcing the refining US recovered oil to off shore locations and driving up the cost of the finished product.

Fourth, eliminate all EPA restrictions on the use of Natural Gas as a fuel in personal use vehicles except one, that the exhaust emissions meet the same standards as gasoline and diesel fueled vehicles of the same class. If this is approved, the market will take over and you will see Nat Gas fueled vehicles invade the market immediately and as a result, the price of oil decrease in short order.

Finally, stay out of the energy business. It is fine to support and promote innovation, but it is not good to offer enhancements to preferred companies. Let the market develop paradigm shifting innovations at their own pace without governmental assistance or interference. The innovators will do a much better job this way. If this is not possible by the administration, it should at the very least, make the financial assistance be in the form of a post development success fee which is earned on a competitive basis rather than a handout to politically connected companies.

If the President is going to be honest during this election cycle, and really interested in long term solutions, he will follow this advice.

Recently I was asked to state my reasons why I "hated" president Obama so much. This was, of course, after I had been labeled a racist for objecting to the Federal mandate to provide contraception as part of all health insurance plans. I of course, don't "hate" our president, I just don't agree with his ideology and policy initiatives.

So, I started thinking about it and have responded as follows:

I will provide specifics for concern about President Obama from my perspective. While I'm sure many will consider this to be either hate speech or a racist comment, it is actually all true. If you don't agree, provide specifics of any statements which are not accurate.

Barack Obama says throughout his two autobiographies that at college he was drawn to and identified with the Marxist Professors and students. He identifies strongly with his father who was an openly and unbowed communist economist from Harvard in spite of the fact that he only met his father on one occasion when he was a pre teen. His mother was a radical hippie from the 60s who rejected America -- Obama's own writings.

This is not in the books but from other writings, we know that his grandparents were radical progressives who had him mentored in high school by a member of the US Communist Party, Franklin Marshal Davis.

He became a long time member of the Trinity whatever Church in Chicago which is dedicated to Marxist Black Liberation Theology and whose leader, repeatedly damned America in his sermons. Of course Obama denies that he ever heard those sermons, in spite of the fact that he sat in the front row for 17 years and was so close to the Reverend Wright that the Pastor officiated at the Obamas wedding.

He was an instructor for ACORN in the social manipulation methods of Marxist radical Saul Alinsky.

After becoming President, he in conjunction with Reid and (earlier) Pelosi, manipulated the legislative process to enable "continuing spending resolutions" without budgetary oversight which has resulted in more than 5 TRILLION dollars of increase in the debt.

Ultraliberal doesn't even begin to cut it. This is why I can't support the President for reelection. Comments anyone?

Obama "Changes his mind" on birth control

Well, it seems like Obama is flip flopping again, or as a liberal friend is forever claiming, Obama is just changing his mind again and that is fne. Of course in doing so, he is forcing the insurance companies into giving away freebies in the form of contraception and morning after pills. So out of the fire of opposition comes another government forced handout. Give me a freaking break! Will we never see an end to the hypocrisy? This administration would be comical if it weren't so tragic.

This isn't a catholic issue. It isn't a religious issue and it isn't a health care issue This is a freedom issue and another example of Obama's duplicitous self serving nature. The problem as I see it is the fact that there are many more instances like this to come as we get deeper into the "obama Cares Act" if it isn't repealed. Never forget the immortal words of that paragon of intellect Nancy Pelosi -- "we have to pass it so you can see what's in it". Well, we're beginning to see what is actually in it and what we see is even worse than what was envisioned.

I certainly hope the Catholic Bishops don't consider this appeasement justification for stopping any campaign against a president who will so transparently attempt to undermine their principles. They should increase their efforts now that they understand the true position of Obama and the nefarious nature of his health care plan.

2012 ELECTION

Recently I have been asked to gauge the electability of the Republicrat candidates. I do keep my finger on the pulse somewhat and I also know that presidential politics is different than statewide legislative politics. I personally think a flying monkey should be able to beat Obama in November, but then I also believe in the inherent intellect of the American people and their ability to do the right thing. That hasn't done so well for me of late.

Our current political system, a system of symbiotic relationships between government and BIG business, totally screws "we the people". Today’s Democratic Republic, more closely resembles an Oligarchy than a democracy. Business promotes its interest by spending money on the politicians and the politicians accept the money agreeing to “go along to get along”. We the People, get screwed because we aren’t allowed into the game.

So, how do we solve this problem? In the past “we the people” used ingenuity and were part of a society which was willing to pull itself up through a strong work ethic and the value of a good education. Not everyone was treated fairly, but everyone still understood these core values and strived to attain them.

Unfortunately, in an attempt to right perceived wrongs and offer a helping hand in the name of benevolence, the evolving professional political class went overboard with the notion of equality for everyone. Unfortunately, this resulted in a lower standard for everyone rather than a higher standard. Attempting to right this mistake meant that the political class would just throw money at the problem in the dual hope that it would buy votes and then go away, at least as long as they were in office.

So, here we are, a national education system which is a disgrace, creating a middle class with a surprising percentage of people who don't understand how to write properly or add without a calculator. We have enabled a governing class which has stepped in to over regulate our lives to the extent that we are extremely limited in our capacity to effect any change. The scales of justice have tilted towards the “empowered” class of politicians and big business which panders to each other while trampling on the everyday American.

Back on point, here is my assessment of the Republicrat campaign:

1) The Republicrat nomination process will go through to at least the second ballot at the convention and probably longer before the nominee is decided. In my opinion this is a good thing because it will air the dirty laundry of all the candidates to the point it will be old news.

2) The debates will continue which will keep the Republicrat candidates in the limelight and enable them to outline their views of America, highlighting their differences from the Obama view in an unfettered manner.

3) The extended Republicrat campaign will shorten the time Obama will have to unleash a directed hate campaign against any of the candidates individually. This will undoubtedly occur and it will be biased, personal and fraught with half truths, accusations of racism and some downright lies, but it will be diminished the longer the Republicrat primaries continue.

4) Each and every one of the candidates on the Republicrat side has value to add to the country in a manner much improved over the Obama model so whoever wins the nomination will have a well prepared story to counter any of Obama's arguments.

5) There are about 8 swing states which went for Obama in 2008 and are in play during this cycle. The outcome of the election in these states will determine who are next president will be. These states are Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, Iowa, Colorado and Nevada.

6) It will not be the Demopublicans or the Republicrats in these states who determine the outcome of this election but the growing body of independent voters. These voters, thoroughly disgusted with the professional political class, are looking for a solid plan which acknowledges the middle class and is willing to stand on principle to shake up the status quo within the Washington power structure.

7) From the indications I get, the independent voters across Pennsylvania, Virginia, Nevada and North Carolina harbor a real resentment towards Obama. Yet to date there is no consensus of interest in any of the Republicrat candidates. If the Republicrat candidate, regardless of who he may be, can reach them with a legitimate vision and a sense of passion, they will choose this candidate over Obama without reservation.

8) Finally, there is a true sense of malaise in the Demopublican core voter contingent this cycle. In 2008 there was real, palpable energy within the ranks of the Demopublicans. They were excited with the over the top Obama Rhetoric, they were excited about the concept of actually electing a black president and they were excited about the change he promised to bring. Today, this excitement has diminished to the point that the core Demopublican voter, while not willing to vote against Obama, will stay home rather than vote. This will have a real effect on the vote outcome of the election. I think Governor Perry had the best definition of these folk when he asked the question, "Are you better off today, with an additional 4 TRILLION DOLLARS of debt than you were when Obama was elected?"

This is why I so strongly support the TEA Party movement. Setting aside what the unknowing chattering class has to say, the TEA Party, although suffering from some understandable growing pains, really does have the best interests of the country as their highest priority and understands the need for financial and political reform at the core level. This is what America needs in order to go forward as a true light of Democracy for the Country and for the world.

Lately I have been asked to recharge the blog and comment on the state of our country. there is much wrong with our political system and the two parties which are supposed to represent us, in my opinion.

I make the case that the problem creating party is both the Republicrats increasing the military industrial complex and the Demopublicans increasing the scope of the entitlement programs.

Now, we can go back and forth forever over which is worse. But I will posit that the wars lst for much shorter periods and are easier to stop than the ever growing and encroaching entitlement programs once they are enacted.

We can both list the problems with the continuing number of wars and their cost and we can also easily list the number of major entitlement programs and their cost. It is very easy to quantify both and when you do so, it is easy to see that the current Oligarchical political structure of the two parties no longer represents the citizens of this country. but until we are abler to install a legitimate third party of Patriotic Americans who believe that government service should be a civic duty rather than a profession and that the best help the government can offer is to encourage the self determination of the citizens, we will continue down the road to ruin.