Tuesday
May062008
How to drive less: you can't afford the gas
Tuesday, May 6, 2008 at 1:41PM
People are driving like a bunch of idiots, and they're driving a million miles an hour. That was the statement of Representative Don Young (R-AK), at the House Subcommittee Transportation and Infrastructure hearing on "Rising Diesel Fuel Costs in the Trucking Industry." His overall sentiment was the United States can never drill the way into total independence, but we can drill our way into more stability. However, Young said, it doesn’t solve the problem. He said that all Congress was doing was sitting around and talking, while we're misusing the fossil fuels we have left. Congress, Young said as he stabbed his finger into the air, needs to stop pandering to the general public because they're not looking at solutions. He said he had a solution to make people change their driving habits: he's going to promote a tax of one dollar on every gallon of gasoline.
The overall message of the hearing is that supplies need to increase, and demands need to change. It’s nice when people are talking about windmills, John Mica (R-FL) said, but we need a long term and short term policy to help this issue. The short term policy: you don’t need to be a Harvard PhD to figure out that we need a short term increase in supply. To do that, we’ll need to tap some of our domestic resources. At some point, Mica said, people are going to say “we’ve got to do something about these costs,” and the only solution is to increase our supply. The people demanding change are going to end up right outside the building, voicing their concerns.
Mr. Tyson Slocum, Director, Public Citizen’s Energy Program, said there are some areas that remain immune, such as the financial companies. There are several variables the influence supply and demand, but there is no question that Congress can take steps to provide relief. Everyone talks about oil industry profits, he said, but in addition, by far the oil companies largest expenditure was buying back their own stock. Comparatively low expenditures were on providing consumers with long term relief, such as exploration.
The "Enron loophole," as it is reffered to, was brought up repeatedly and eventually Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-OR) expressed an interest in regulating the market. Can we do away with the Enron loophole, he asked, adding that speculation seemed a likely culprit in the high costs of gas and diesel prices. He suggested taking the excess costs from the CEO's pensions.
The overall message of the hearing is that supplies need to increase, and demands need to change. It’s nice when people are talking about windmills, John Mica (R-FL) said, but we need a long term and short term policy to help this issue. The short term policy: you don’t need to be a Harvard PhD to figure out that we need a short term increase in supply. To do that, we’ll need to tap some of our domestic resources. At some point, Mica said, people are going to say “we’ve got to do something about these costs,” and the only solution is to increase our supply. The people demanding change are going to end up right outside the building, voicing their concerns.
Mr. Tyson Slocum, Director, Public Citizen’s Energy Program, said there are some areas that remain immune, such as the financial companies. There are several variables the influence supply and demand, but there is no question that Congress can take steps to provide relief. Everyone talks about oil industry profits, he said, but in addition, by far the oil companies largest expenditure was buying back their own stock. Comparatively low expenditures were on providing consumers with long term relief, such as exploration.
The "Enron loophole," as it is reffered to, was brought up repeatedly and eventually Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-OR) expressed an interest in regulating the market. Can we do away with the Enron loophole, he asked, adding that speculation seemed a likely culprit in the high costs of gas and diesel prices. He suggested taking the excess costs from the CEO's pensions.
Mock Citizens Arrest Of BP President Tony Hayward Planned For Friday
By Robert Hune-Kalter - Talk Radio News Service
Public Citizen, a non-profit consumer advocacy group, along with many other organizations are planning a protest outside of BP’s Washington Headquarters Friday afternoon. The Research Director for the Energy Program at Public Citizen, Tyson Slocum, wants to evoke the message that BP’s actions are unacceptable.
“We are seeking a citizens arrest of BP’s CEO, Tony Hayward,” Slocum said on an interview with Talk Radio News on Thursday. Slocum has been the Director of the Energy Program since 2000 at Public Citizen.
Public Citizen is urging consumers to boycott BP gas stations across the country as an effort to send a clear message to BP Management about the damages they’ve caused to the Gulf of Mexico.
“The boycott is not designed to hurt the local stations, and it’s not going to…it’s really going after trying to tarnish the brand,” Slocum said in defense of the boycott.
Slocum commented that BP needs to refocus their goals in order to emerge from this disaster successfully.
“They’re going to have to radically change their focus, the company has consistently over the years prioritized short term profits over worker safety and protecting the environment.”
The protest begins Friday, June 4 at 12 p.m.