Ramblings

Let me get this straight. According to a TV spot, an old man is mad at the oil companies, for raising the price of gas and has just about had enough of them! (I think it was T Boone Pickens) He seemed to be advocating alternative energy sources like “Wind Turbines”. “Facts….nothing but the facts madam!” The average price of gas was $1.78 in 2005 and $2.28 in 2006. The average price today is approximately $2.09. Fact…..the price of gas is now lower than 2006, 2007, and 2008. The price went up in 2006 – 2008 because the price of imported oil, from foreign sources, went to $148.00 a barrel. The outcry, from the American people, to find more oil sources at home caused the price of oil from foreign countries to go down. It wasn’t the U.S. oil companies that caused the gas prices to rise. By all accounts, the United States has more than enough oil reserves to wean ourselves from the clutches of foreign countries. We could be virtually self-sufficient with our own oil……..we just have to drill for it…….and there is the rub! Congress won’t allow it.
Getting back to the wind turbines. I am for exploring all forms of alternative energy……. wind, coal, natural gas, nuclear,…..you name it. But to subtlety suggest we should start exploring wind turbines as a means to get rid of the need for big oil companies is just plain dishonest!! Fact…..Airplanes, trains, trucks, cars, SUVs, motorcycles……all need fuel derived from oil. America’s economy depends on transportation. Only 1½ % of all transportation uses something other than oil/gas. I have never seen a wind powered car or truck. Even the Hybrid cars need backup gas. The electric batteries only last for so long and then the gas engine has to kick in which runs a generator to recharge the batteries. Batteries need to be recharged. You couldn’t take a long trip with batteries alone. Batteries are big and heavy. Longer trips would require bigger batteries which would weight more which would require bigger batteries…..a vicious cycle. So……be honest…..it will be years before we have an alternate fuel source for transportation. Until then, explore for our own oil and look for ways to make transportation more fuel efficient and still safe. Quite beating up the oil companies…..they are not the bad guys!! The oil companies make 8% profit after expenses…….Microsoft makes over 25%......get mad at Microsoft and stop using your computer.
P.S. I’m sure everyone knows T Boone Pickens has invested heavily in Wind Turbines and would profit greatly from the sale of them.