Mr. H.
Diamond Member
There is no "Big Oil" in the continental lower 48 states. This is one simple fact that the general population can't seem to understand. Independents drill 95% of the wells in this country. Onshore and offshore.
Squirm? That reminds me of an alternative energy conference I attended several years ago.
We were talking to a rep from the bio-diesel industry. He asked if we (crude producers) were nervous about them pushing us out of the energy market. We just busted out laughing. That's just how fucking stupid these folks are.
No, I'm not a mouthpiece for the oil industry. But I am an advocate.
However, I spent 18 months leading an economic development team in an attempt to attract a bio-diesel facility to our community. It was ass-busting work and we were told by the site selection committee that our group of volunteers did a better job than other communities' paid professionals. We weren't chosen for the site, and I'm glad for it.
What I discovered in that 18 months was that such facilities (including ethanol) require massive amounts of electricity, natural gas, fresh water, and a waste disposal infrastructure befitting a small metropolis.
Ethanol and bio-diesel programs were never about cleaner air, reduced oil imports, or sustainability.
It always was and still is about getting that incremental bushel of grain to market.
We are currently diverting 30% of our corn crop toward ethanol production. So much ethanol is produced in the U.S. that we can't get rid of it fast enough.
So what's being done? 20% of all ethanol is exported.
This country has forever sucked the cock of the ag industry, while pummelling the oil and gas industries into submission.
So much attention is being paid to the potential adverse effects of hydraulic fracturing.
Warning bells are going off about the XL pipeline traversing Nebraska.
But nowhere is attention being paid to the decades of polluting farming practices which will continue because farmers are after all, America's sweethearts.
Those "Independent" oil companies to which I referrred are mostly made up of generational families who have fought hard to make a living over the decades. When you were paying $1 a gallon for gasoline in 1999, these people were scrapping along pumping oil at below cost because to stop doing so would have meant the ruin of their legacy.
And what did our government do back then? They allowed foreign countries to dump a cheap commodity within our borders, against international trade laws, simply to curry your vote.
You want cheap oil? Go find it. It's out there isn't it? Go find it.
Fuck you idiots.
Money from Big Ag might have something to do with it too.
