the market free-for-all wouldnt be such a big problem if it werent for the federal reserve and overpowered banks. nothing has really been right in the economy since 1913. the creature from jekyll's island has turned into a real hyde monster.
> Date: Tue, 22 Apr 2008 14:19:13 -0700 > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > To: Biofuel@sustainablelists.org > Subject: [Biofuel] Fwd: [LittleHouses] There Is No Gas Shortage > > Bush is an oilman. What do you expect? > Kirk > > sail4free wrote: > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > From: sail4free > Date: Tue, 22 Apr 2008 13:20:44 -0700 (PDT) > Subject: [LittleHouses] There Is No Gas Shortage > > ========== > It's rare that I would post a complete article -- especially one that is > arguably OT -- but this one strikes to the heart of what is going on with our > rapidly escalating fuel prices (with no end in sight). FWIW, we here in Idaho > (on average) have reduced our demand nearly 10% from one year ago -- no doubt > as a direct result of high prices. If you read only one article about the WHY > of gas prices this year, this needs to be that article: > ========== > Viewpoint April 1, 2008 > ========== > There is No Gas Shortage, but Washington, Wall Street, and ethanol and oil > and gas companies want you to think there is, says automotive expert Ed > Wallace: > ========== > "They see speculation in the market, I see decline in global inventories. I > don't think this is a big surprise, that we've had a jump in price when there > has been a decrease in crude inventories."— Energy Secretary Sam Bodman, > Bloomberg News, Mar. 5, 2008 > ========== > "It should be obvious to you all that the [gasoline] demand is outstripping > supply, which causes prices to go up." — President George W. Bush, Associated > Press, Mar. 5, 2008 > ========== > One wonders if verifiable facts ever get in the way of this administration's > statements on issues that are critical to the average American's wellbeing. > After all, last time I checked, when politicians are elected to public > office, or appointed, as is Energy Secretary Samuel W. Bodman, they must take > an oath to the American people before assuming their new positions. How can > they forget a sacred oath so quickly? Were they daydreaming when they took > it, so it never meant anything to begin with? Maybe it's just another promise > you have to make to get into office: When you're securely incumbent you can > ignore even solemn oaths you took. > ========== > Obviously, the two quotes that led this article came from discussions > concerning the current high price for oil on the futures market. Bodman > appears to be protecting the speculators in oil, as opposed to looking after > the interests of all Americans. President Bush, apparently, has never talked > to the Energy Dept.'s Energy Information Agency to see whether gasoline > demand is actually up. More troubling, the writer of that particular > Associated Press article obviously didn't look up the EIA's numbers to verify > the President's assertions. They weren't accurate. > ========== > 1. There Is No Shortage > ========== > Gasoline reserves on hand are at the highest levels since the early 1990s, > which is remarkable considering the nation's refineries have been cutting > back on the production of gasoline because their margins have declined. In > fact, average gasoline reserves on hand have risen since this past October, > while oil reserves in this country have gone up virtually every week this > year—and only fog in the Houston Ship Channel that kept oil tankers from > unloading their crude one week kept it from being every week. > ========== > In the same Bloomberg article that quotes from Bodman's CNBC appearance on > Mar. 4, he also said that it was thanks to ethanol that the gasoline problem > isn't even worse. He then added that the fact that making ethanol is forcing > up prices of other farm commodities, including hog and chicken feed, is > "nowhere near as important as trying to relieve pressure on [gasoline] > supplies." > ========== > Of course, there is no pressure on gasoline supplies in this country as of > today, but Bodman's statement must have made eyes roll among the executives > at Pilgrim's Pride PPC; the Pittsburg, (Tex.) poultry producer announced > 1,100 layoffs on Mar. 13, closing one processing plant and 6 of their 13 > distribution centers because their company's outlay for chicken feed went up > $600 million last fiscal year and was on track to increase by another $700 > million this year. > ========== > Here's the scorecard, in case you missed it. There's no shortage of gasoline > or oil in the U.S. today, and we have near-record reserves on hand. Meanwhile > the Congressional mandate for ethanol has jacked up the price of chicken feed > for Pilgrim's Pride, which is the U.S.'s largest processor of chickens and > turkeys—by $1.3 billion. And that's for just one company processing chicken. > This is what passes for acceptable to our Energy Secretary? > ========== > 2. Demand Is DOWN, Yet Prices Are UP > ========== > Just so we can all get on the same page, here are the verifiable facts on oil > supplies, production, and gasoline demand. > ========== > In January of this year, the U.S. used 4% less petroleum than we did a year > ago. (Oil demand was down 3.2% in February.) Furthermore, demand has been > falling slowly since July of last year. Ronald Bailey of Reason Online has > pointed out that worldwide production of oil has risen 2.5% in the first > quarter, while worldwide demand has grown by only 2%. > ========== > Production is expected to increase by 3.3% in the second quarter, and by as > much as 4.1% by the third quarter. The net result is that the U.S. daily > buffer for oil production against demand, which was a paltry 1.5 million > barrels as recently as 2005, is now up to 3 million barrels in excess > capacity today. > ========== > So what is going on here? Why would our Energy Secretary say there's a supply > and demand problem when none exists? Why would he say that speculators have > little or nothing to do with the incredibly high price of oil and gasoline, > when it's clear they do? President Bush—a former oilman—gives the > ever-growing demand for gasoline as the primary reason prices are so high, > yet that notion can be dispelled with one minute of research. That's the > problem with rhetoric; it rarely matches the facts. > ========== > 3. Speculation is Up, and the Dollar Is Down > ========== > On the same day the President and our Energy Secretary made those foolish > comments, no less an authority than ExxonMobil (XOM) Chief Executive Officer > Rex Tillerson was quoted by Marketwatch as saying, "The record run in oil > prices is related more to speculation and a weakening dollar than supply and > demand in the market." He added, "In terms of fundamentals, fear of supply > reliability is overblown." > ========== > As for the speculators, in 2000 approximately $9 billion was invested in oil > futures, while today that number has gone up to $250 billion. Now, if any > publicly traded company had an additional $241 billion put into its stock in > the same period, its stock would rise out of sight too—even if the company > was not worth anywhere near that amount of market capitalization. > ========== > Moving on to the weak U.S. dollar as a primary cause for skyrocketing oil > prices—there is "some" truth in that statement. But consider this: The dollar > has depreciated 30% against the world's currencies since 2002, while the > price of oil has gone up 500%. So is it the weak dollar that has caused a > 500% increase in the price of oil, or is it the extra $241 billion worth of > speculation? You can make the call on that one. > ========== > Possibly just to ensure oil prices don't respond to real-world market > conditions, Goldman Sachs (GS) forecast on Mar. 7 that turbulence in the oil > market could cause oil to spike as high as $200 a barrel. This flies in the > face of all known information—but then again, Goldman Sachs is the world's > biggest trader of energy derivatives, and its Goldman Sachs Commodities Index > is a widely watched barometer of energy and commodities prices. > ========== > What Is Washington Thinking? > ========== > Rounding out the list of experts discussing our oil and gasoline situation is > Bill Klesse, head of San Antonio (Tex.) Valero Energy (VLO). He spoke in San > Diego a week after those comments from Goldman Sachs, the President, and > Secretary Bodman. Believe it or not, Klesse said poor margins may cause > Valero to sell one-third of its refinery operations; he stated that poor > margins in recent months had caused planned refinery expansions—which would > have produced 500,000 more barrels per day—to be canceled. Moreover, > according to a report from Reuters on Mar. 11, 2008, Klesse recently released > the information that gasoline production has been curtailed in response to > slowing demand. > ========== > Imagine that: Refiners cut gasoline production, yet gasoline reserves have > grown to their largest since late 1992. So much for "surging demand." > ========== > Klesse also called for the government to start imposing a tariff on imported > gasoline to protect U.S. refiners' profits. Protectionism? As famed economist > John Kenneth Galbraith correctly said, "In America, the only respectable form > of socialism is socialism for the rich." > ========== > Which takes us back to the original question: Why is Washington doing > everything it can to convince us there is a shortage when there isn't one? > After all, the only people they're protecting are those heavily invested in > oil futures—and that's to the detriment of all other Americans. > ========== > We're Paying for What? > ========== > When it became undeniable that poor decision-making by company executives had > put a respected 85-year-old U.S. institution in financial peril, why did the > Federal Reserve rush in to save investment bank Bear Stearns (BSC)? Of > course, we need to restore confidence in our financial institutions, but why > protect the personal assets of those who were responsible for the mess? Both > the corporation's officers and its board members should contribute their > personal assets toward saving the bank they put in the ditch—the bank all of > us are going to pay to bail out. > ========== > Instead, the Bush administration is protecting those responsible for creating > yet another speculative bubble in oil futures, and is protecting investors in > the ethanol industry—much to the detriment of food-processing companies such > as Pilgrim's Pride. And the net result of all this is that the prices of > crude and gasoline rise ever higher thanks to a "shortage" that does not > exist, while food costs are soaring thanks in part to the ethanol mandate. > ========== > The Federal Reserve lowers interest rates, but the cost of mortgages goes up > six weeks in a row—and last month Bank of America (BAC) credit-card holders > started being charged more than 24% interest on new purchases. > ========== > This is what they call "Republican Prosperity?" Ronald Reagan was both right > and wrong when he said, "Government is not the solution, government is the > problem." And government is still the problem. Instead of a fair and open > market they gave us a free-for-all marketplace with no regulations at all, > which lately these "bubble boys" have sent south for all of us. > ========== > One would guess that Washington missed the obvious: Protect all U.S. > consumers and you're also protecting business expansion. > ========== > http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/apr2008/bw2008041_945564_page_3.htm > > ========== > sail4free > ========== > > > --------------------------------- > Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > ------------------------------------ > > Yahoo! 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