Is It All That Oil That Makes Bush So Slimy?

From In Final Days, Bush Pushes for Iraq's Oil by Maya Schenwar:

As the Bush administration rumbles to an end, it is pushing with increasing urgency for a commitment to a long-term US presence in Iraq. Though the military aspect of this "commitment" has garnered substantial publicity, the administration is equally invested in the economic aspect: securing US control over Iraqi oil before Bush leaves office, according to experts in the field.

Many Iraqis fear that the Bush administration's last-ditch efforts to gain control of their oil will leave their resources in the hands of the US for decades to come.

Read the rest here.

Oily Sex

As long as Bill Clinton isn’t getting any, will any Republican care?

From Wide-Ranging Ethics Scandal Emerges at Interior Dept. by Charlie Savage:

As Congress prepares to debate expansion of drilling in taxpayer-owned coastal waters, the Interior Department agency that collects oil and gas royalties has been caught up in a wide-ranging ethics scandal — including allegations of financial self-dealing, accepting gifts from energy companies, cocaine use and sexual misconduct.

In three reports delivered to Congress on Wednesday, the department’s inspector general, Earl E. Devaney, found wrongdoing by a dozen current and former employees of the Minerals Management Service, which collects about $10 billion in royalties annually and is one of the government’s largest sources of revenue other than taxes.

“A culture of ethical failure” besets the agency, Mr. Devaney wrote in a cover memo.

The reports portray a dysfunctional organization that has been riddled with conflicts of interest, unprofessional behavior and a free-for-all atmosphere for much of the Bush administration’s watch.

Read the rest here.

That Was Then And This Is Now

Then:

Jimmy Carter put solar panels on the White House roof, and offered tax credits to anyone who purchased solar energy systems. When Ronald Reagan took office, one of the first things he did was remove the solar panels from the White House and terminate the tax credits. Many people in the solar industry went out of business. The country was convinced that solar doesn't work.

The Time Between Then And Now:

Wasted years and bad leadership as far as energy is concerned. Ronald Reagan helped convince nearly everyone that solar doesn't work. The consensus was that Jimmy Carter was a doofus. Politicians talk a lot about taxes. Ronald Reagan is anointed to sainthood by the Right Wing. Oil consumption and more oil consumption. Rush Limbaugh inexplicably becomes a power-house media figure and further elevates Reagan (into godhood I suppose) while denouncing Carter, and talks a lot about taxes. Politicians talk some more about taxes. GM kills the EV1. Politicians keep talking about taxes. Wars and more wars fought over oil.

Now:

U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman inaugurated a solar energy system Tuesday at the department's headquarters in Washington.

The new system involves a 205 kilowatt photovoltaic solar array placed on the roof of the building. The photovoltaic system is 40- to 50 times the size of a typical residential PV system and is one of the largest in the Washington area, officials said. It is expected to save as much as $26,000 in utility costs during its first year of operation.

"As America's largest energy consumer, the U.S. government has the responsibility and the opportunity to lead the way to a cleaner, more efficient, more affordable and more secure energy future," Bodman said in prepared remarks. "I determined the Department of Energy should -- and would -- lead by example."

Bodman said the significance of the solar array is both practical and symbolic: "It improves the way the department consumes energy. And it is a symbol of America's commitment to using the best available new technologies to confront the energy challenges we face today and will face tomorrow."

Politicians are still talking about taxes.

Meanwhile I’m thinking that “affordable solar power for all” would be a good campaign slogan.

Oil Money Flows

From The Corrupting Influence Of Oil Money:

Since 2001, gasoline prices have more than doubled, and oil companies have made more than half a trillion dollars in profits. The price of oil has surged from below $30 a barrel to over $125, a fourfold increase. The Big Five oil companies could make a "projected $168 billion in profits" this year alone. The United States has only two percent of the world's oil reserves but consumes 25 percent of the world's oil. "At current oil prices," conservative oil man T. Boone Pickens argued, "we will send $700 billion dollars out of the country this year alone." If we continue on the same path for the next ten years, "the cost will be $10 trillion -- it will be the greatest transfer of wealth in the history of mankind," he added.

The Robber Barrons Are Back

Let’s put two oil men in the White House for eight years and see what happens.

From Exxon posts new profit record by Steve Hargreaves:

Exxon Mobil once again reported the largest quarterly profit in U.S. history Thursday, posting net income of $11.68 billion on revenue of $138 billion in the second quarter.

That profit works out to $1,485.55 a second.

The company returned $10.1 billion to shareholders in the form of dividends and stock buybacks, 12% more than last year.

The big international oil companies have been criticized for plowing much of their profits back into stock buybacks and other programs to benefit shareholders, as opposed to exploring for more oil which could bring down the price of crude for everyone.

Critics charge the oil companies with deliberately restricting production in an attempt to keep prices high.

The Oracle Of Oil

For years Warren Buffett has been referred to as the Oracle of Omaha. Now it appears that many would like to crown Arjun Murti as the Oracle of Oil.

From What Mr. Crude Oil Sees Ahead by Lawrence C. Strauss:

In 2004, Arjun N. Murti, a Top Energy Analyst At Goldman Sachs, published a report predicting "a potentially large upward spike in crude oil, natural gas and refining margins at some point this decade." It was a controversial call, with crude around $40 a barrel at the time. But it was right on the money.

Four years later, crude is trading around 139.

Murti sees energy in the later stages of a "super spike," in which prices rise to a point where demand drops off. In a note last month, he wrote that "the possibility of $150-to-$200-per-barrel oil seems increasingly likely over the next six to 24 months."

With supply growth constrained and global demand staying strong, prices must rise further, in Murti's view. Barron's caught up with him last week in his New York office.

The 39-year-old analyst doesn't give many interviews and keeps a low profile, preferring not to be photographed. But his strong views on energy have resonated across the financial markets.

Read the Barron’s interview here.

Dave Manuel wonders if what Mr. Murti says becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

From Arjun Murti - The Man Behind the "Super Spike" by Dave Manuel:

Are his predictions a self-fulfilling prophecy? If oil spikes and hits $200 per barrel, then surely his own words would have had a major impact on oil hitting this lofty level.

Unlike other analysts who seem to crave the spotlight, Murti prefers to remain in the shadows, out of view. According to a recent WSJ article, Murti is actually decidedly anti-oil, and believes that the "super spike" in prices will eventually lead to a significant decline in demand for oil.

Where will Murti's "Super Spike" call rank amongst the all-time greatest analyst calls ever? Time will tell. One thing is for sure though - when Murti speaks now, people will listen.

More Lies From The GOP

Round up the usual suspects: Dick Cheney, Mary Matalin, George Will, Jean Schmidt, Fred Barnes, Larry Craig, John Boehner, Roy Blunt, and many more for another round of Republican misinformation.

From Searching For The True Source Of A Bogus Story by Andrew Tilghman:

We've been trying to find the original source for that mysterious meme about China drilling for oil off the coast of Cuba and Florida.

It's flat out wrong. The AP debunked it a few days ago after Vice President Dick Cheney tried to pass it off in remarks to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce about high energy prices.

Read the rest here.

Thomas L. Friedman Scares Me

For me it is a scary thing to agree with someone I usually disagree with. Don’t get me wrong, I wish we all could be in agreement about everything. However, that is rarely the case. And in the case of Thomas Friedman, I usually disagree with him. Not this time, though.

From Mr. Bush, Lead or Leave by Thomas L. Friedman:

Two years ago, President Bush declared that America was “addicted to oil,” and, by gosh, he was going to do something about it. Well, now he has. Now we have the new Bush energy plan: “Get more addicted to oil.”

Actually, it’s more sophisticated than that: Get Saudi Arabia, our chief oil pusher, to up our dosage for a little while and bring down the oil price just enough so the renewable energy alternatives can’t totally take off. Then try to strong arm Congress into lifting the ban on drilling offshore and in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

It’s as if our addict-in-chief is saying to us: “C’mon guys, you know you want a little more of the good stuff. One more hit, baby. Just one more toke on the ole oil pipe. I promise, next year, we’ll all go straight. I’ll even put a wind turbine on my presidential library. But for now, give me one more pop from that drill, please, baby. Just one more transfusion of that sweet offshore crude.”

It is hard for me to find the words to express what a massive, fraudulent, pathetic excuse for an energy policy this is.

Read the rest here.

Why Does It Take High Gas Prices?

When we get in our cars to drive somewhere do we think of our children and grandchildren, or do we only think about how much that tank of gas is costing us?

Since oil is a finite resource you would think we would be more careful about how much of it we use. You would think that we would want to save some of it for future generations. You would think that we wouldn’t want to be so selfish. It seems that the only way for us to drive less and get rid of our SUVs is for the cost to go up high enough. Why is that?

From Americans drive 1.4 billion fewer highway miles:

Americans drove 1.4 billion fewer highway miles in April than they did in April 2007, the Department of Transportation said Wednesday.

That marks the sixth consecutive monthly drop and coincides with record gas prices and an increase in transit ridership, Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said.

Read the rest here.

Is This The Reason We Went To War?

Is this the reason why Bush was so determined to get rid of Saddam Hussein?

From Deals With Iraq Are Set to Bring Oil Giants Back by Andrew E. Kramer:

Four Western oil companies are in the final stages of negotiations this month on contracts that will return them to Iraq, 36 years after losing their oil concession to nationalization as Saddam Hussein rose to power.

Exxon Mobil, Shell, Total and BP — the original partners in the Iraq Petroleum Company — along with Chevron and a number of smaller oil companies, are in talks with Iraq’s Oil Ministry for no-bid contracts to service Iraq’s largest fields, according to ministry officials, oil company officials and an American diplomat.

The deals, expected to be announced on June 30, will lay the foundation for the first commercial work for the major companies in Iraq since the American invasion, and open a new and potentially lucrative country for their operations.

The no-bid contracts are unusual for the industry, and the offers prevailed over others by more than 40 companies, including companies in Russia, China and India.

Read the rest here.

Memo To All The Flag Pin Bozos

Action that improves the quality of life for all is more important than whether someone is wearing a flag pin or not.

Instead of invading Iraq we could be using the money wasted there to build hydrogen fuel stations all over the United States. This would lessen the impact of many of the problems that we face: global warming, dependence on Middle East oil, the question of whether we should drill in Alaska, high gasoline costs, high food costs, and basically any problem we have where oil is the root cause. Are any of the presidential candidates doing anything about this? After all, they are United States Senators, they do have considerable power. Are any of the presidential candidates talking about this? Where are the proposals?

We could have invested in hydrogen fuel stations years ago. Why didn’t we? Could the fact that the Bush administration is filled with oil men and women have anything to do with it?

Hey Washington! Stop throwing away our tax dollars in Iraq and start funding hydrogen fuel stations all across the United States of America. Let’s see less empty rhetoric and more tangible solutions for a change. That’s a change I can believe in.

The cars are here NOW, we just need the stations. NOW!

From Honda rolls out fuel cell car:

Honda's new zero-emission, hydrogen fuel cell car rolled off a Japanese production line Monday and is headed to southern California, where Hollywood is already abuzz over the latest splash in green motoring.

The FCX Clarity, which runs on hydrogen and electricity, emits only water and none of the gases believed to induce global warming. It is also two times more energy efficient than a gas-electric hybrid and three times that of a standard gasoline-powered car, the company says.

The biggest obstacles standing in the way of wider adoption of fuel cell vehicles are cost and the dearth of hydrogen fuel stations.

We need action, and we need it now.

One last thing. If Washington does get off of its huge collective ass and does what I suggest, I leave it with a suggestion. Don’t give any money to the big oil companies to do this. They don’t need or deserve any of it. Find the entrepreneurs who have been developing alternatives to oil for years and reward them.

Will The United States Be Next?

There are protests in Europe concerning high oil prices. Will the protests spread to the United States? My guess is no. We are too lazy and apathetic.

From Europe fuel protests spread wider:

Fuel protests triggered by rising oil prices have spread to more countries across Europe, with thousands of fishermen on strike.

Union leaders said Portugal's entire coastal fleet stayed in port on Friday, while in Spain, 7,000 fishermen held protests at the agriculture ministry.

French fishermen have been protesting for weeks, with Belgian and Italian colleagues also involved.

UK and Dutch lorry drivers held similar protests earlier this week.

The strike reflects anger at the rising cost of fuel, with oil prices above $130 (83.40 euros; £65.80) a barrel.

Trade unions say the cost of diesel has become prohibitively high, after rising 300% over the past five years.

Read the rest here.

Unbelievably High Gas Prices

Whenever I think about high gas prices I think of how much lower the price of oil was before George W. Bush decided to invade Iraq. I don’t think the rise in the cost of oil since then is a coincidence, but I’m no expert.

From I'm no expert, but ... by Don Kuehn:

The media and the public appear to be slow in grasping the reason behind today's unbelievably high gas prices. Now, I'm no expert but, it seems fairly simple: Oil is priced on world markets in U.S. dollars, and there hasn't been a weaker dollar in recent history.

The Bush administration's monetary policies, the seeming incompetence of Secretary Henry Paulson at the Treasury Department and the tinkering of the Federal Reserve have combined to wrench most of the buying power out of the greenback. There has even been speculation that commodity traders could consider dumping the dollar and switching to the euro as the basis for pricing crude oil. What a blow that would be to American economic supremacy and prestige around the world.

Oil cost around $3 a barrel in 1970, and the dollar was strong. Then OPEC began manipulating oil prices by controlling supply. Sure, there were spikes in prices—a peak at about $38 in the early 1980s dropped to under $10 in 1997. Oil "soared" to $30 before dropping sharply after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks ($18 a barrel), according to the Energy Information Administration.

But since then, throughout the Bush administration, oil has climbed steadily until recently going through the roof, surpassing $113 a barrel. And the dollar has slumped.

Read the rest here.

Arjun Murti

From Wall Street's crude ways by David Weidner:

The hubris and insensitivity of energy trading is best personified by Goldman Sachs. A Goldman commodities analyst famously predicted in March 2005 that oil would reach $100 a barrel. At the time, a barrel was trading about $55. The prediction led to a lot of ridicule, but it also drove up prices in the short term, and ultimately came true.

It also led to speculation that Goldman was trying to goose the market because it had a huge position in oil derivatives.

Now, Arjun Murti, the same analyst who made the earlier prediction, is back, promising $200 oil this year. Murti is again talking about demand, but again, world consumption doesn't suggest the price should double.

Bush And Oil Prices

From Skyrocketing Energy Prices by Carl Levin:

This afternoon, I’m speaking on the Senate floor about high energy prices. Unless something is done to make energy more affordable, the record-high prices will continue to reverberate throughout our economy, increasing the prices of transportation, food, manufacturing and everything in between. Skyrocketing energy prices are a threat to our economic and national security, and the time for action is long past.

One of the major causes of our energy crisis is the failed policies of the current Administration. In January 2001, when President Bush took office, the price of oil was about $30 per barrel. The average price for a gallon of gasoline was about $1.50. Since President Bush took office, crude oil prices have nearly quadrupled, natural gas prices to heat our homes have almost doubled, gasoline prices have more than doubled, and diesel fuel prices have nearly tripled.

One key factor in price spikes of energy is rampant speculation in the energy markets.

Could the Iraq War have anything to do with high oil prices? Could the fact that Bush (and his daddy too), Cheney, and Rice all used to work in the oil business have anything to do with high oil prices? Could oil lobbyists have anything to do with high oil prices? Could Cheney’s famous secret meeting have anything to do with high oil prices? Inquiring minds want to know!

When can impeachment become a reality Senator Levin?

Straight Talk

From VIDEO: McCain’s straight talk express spills the beans regarding the real reason for being in Iraq by Terry Carter:

Ooooops! Wow, just wow.