Bill Lear wrote:
Again, this is not in any way inconsistent with what he wrote.
I don't see how his reported conclusions are incorrect based
on what you claim, even if true, which I implicitly stipulated.
So, Palast could have written this, adding irrelevant detail
and ungainly grammar:
"The Alaskan oil was destined for the California market (where it
would have been refined under strict CAL-EPA safeguards) which now
faces a supply crisis at the very height of the summer travel season."
So what? How is he wrong?
Bill
On Tuesday, August 8, 2006 at 11:43:02 (-0700) Leigh Meyers writes:
Bill Lear wrote:
How is this in any way inconsistent with what Palast wrote? Oil,destined for
the California market and to be refined under strict CAL-EPA safeguards, is now
shut off.
"The Alaskan oil was destined for the California market which now faces a supply
crisis at the very height of the summer travel season."
Whose gonna drive their factory down highway 1 on vacation this year?
Are you implying that I'm taking that 'graph out of context?
You say his grammatical feint with a consumer panicking statement is
irrelevant?
I say it isn't.
Those words are there on purpose, and IMHO, it's a disingenous attempt
at "headline grabbing".
Hi Geraldo! I mean Gregg...
He's supposed to be reporting.
Reporters report facts, and quote other people's (preferably "expert")
speculation liberally.
That's where he *truly* goes wrong, with a crude attempt at framing
it... all... by... himself.
Bill, what do you know about bunker oil? Reefer fuel? Home heating fuel oil?
They are the high-sulfur oil products produced in California.
(Heven help the truck driver caught with red-dyed reefer fuel in their
truck when the CHP 'sticks' their fuel tank. You may as well buy a new
truck by the time you got done paying the fines and flushing,
re-certifying your truck to operate in California again.)
The average person reading Palast's piece probably knows less than I
just mentioned in one paragraph, and the phrasing he chooses to use is
instantly perceived by most readers as threatening the "...summer travel
season." That's gasoline, baby! There *IS* no doubt.
A few might be thinking about heating costs, especially in the Northern
California, but mostly, the wording is intended to indicate direct large
scale impact on the consumers of California in the summertime... That's
gasoline, nothing else fits... I've already said that.
I'd rather go after him for the reason he framed it grammatically in
such a manner to be perceived as an indicator that somehow, the summer
travel season (you know, it blows someone's happy vacation down the
dumper) being affected.
How is THAT so? Why DID he word it that way.
We'll never know. But I keep typing his name... which means "presence"
in the internet world.
It's similar to the kind of attention Geraldo got when there was nothing
in Capone's safe.
But lets not be distracted by red herrings disguised a factoids.
Prudhoe Bay's shutdown may or may not swing the price of gasoline in
California more than the rest of the US, but if it does, there are many
other truly *critical* factors that Mr. Palast doesn't mention (see
cite below) besides Prudhoe OR sulfur that affect the outcome, and
Prudhoe is really NOT going to be the reason Californians pay more for
whatever falls out, in any way.
California's laws require special formulation, (aside from a source of
low-sulphur crude oil if "cracked" in Ca.) that have kept the cost of
automotive gasoline higher than the rest of the nation literally since
the very first smog pump went on California cars (1967, 8?), then came
MTBE at one point, causing a differential, but there are other factors
still.
Further readings:
.CALIFORNIA STRATEGIC FUELS RESERVE
CALIFORNIA ENERGY COMMISSION
With inventories on hand that average only 10 days of supplies, and
with long supply routes
requiring lead times of 6 to 8 weeks for imports, the effect of supply
disruptions is to cause
temporary shortages that in turn result in market driven price spikes,
with prices running up
until demand will be reduced to a level that corresponds with the
reduced supplies. Given the
very un-elastic price/demand behavior of gasoline, even small
shortfalls in supply can cause
very significant price swings.
http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:J5WuLNxpRs8J:www.energy.ca.gov/reports/2002-03-11_600-02-004CR.PDF+percent+of+california+gasoline+%22cracked%22+in+california&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=2
