Redstate

Posted at 10:44am on Jul. 11, 2008 What ANWR Really Looks Like

By Bill Dupray

McCain could travel all the way to Alaska to see what ANWR really looks like, and after the visit he may change his mind about drilling there. Or he can save himself the trip and watch this video. Once again, if the Republicans can use this stuff to show the American people how the whack-jobs are running the Democrat Party, he may have a chance.

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Posted at 8:13pm on Jul. 9, 2008 Pond Scum for Petroleum

By jimpfaff

A July 5, 2008, Denver Post editorial, “Pond Scum to the Rescue?” touted a joint effort by ConocoPhillips and the Colorado Center for Biorefining and Biofuels to use algae (“pond scum”) as a biofuel alternative. The Post claims rather optimistically that this experimental process could “[fight] global warming and the OPEC oil cartel in one stroke,” and that we should “stop using ‘pond scum’ as an insult and start using it to save our wallets and our planet.” Such a rosy prediction is, with all due respect, overstated. To the contrary, the problem with oil is not the lack of alternatives. It is significant government restrictions on oil exploration right here at home that artificially limits supply and needlessly leads to higher prices.

While alternative fuels are largely limited to research and development, expansion of oil production in our own country would have a vastly greater effect on our national and economic security as a nation. And Colorado will become a major source of that security if we will decide to implement reasonable policies for energy exploration. The problem is some of our elected officials are putting up roadblocks which are nothing more than environmental alarmism. We need forward thinking in support of Colorado’s well-established, leadership role in the energy economy while maintaining our commitment to environmental stewardship.

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Posted at 12:53pm on Jul. 9, 2008 Winning The Battle on Drilling

D Senators Can Read Polls Too

By Dan McLaughlin

Monday:

"There's clearly a dramatic shift across the ideological divide in America in favor of producing more energy here at home," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters.

"I can't imagine that the majority (Democrats in Congress) is going to ignore that indefinitely," McConnell added.

He cited a poll released on July 1 by the Pew Research Center that found that 45 percent of respondents who identify themselves as "liberals" said they favor expanded energy exploration, mining, drilling, building more power plants. In February, the figure was just 22 percent.

Tuesday:

A top U.S. Democratic senator said in a newspaper interview published Wednesday that he would consider supporting opening up new areas for offshore oil and gas drilling.

"I'm open to drilling and responsible production," Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin told The Wall Street Journal, adding that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid could also support the move.

Your move next, Senator Obama.

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Posted at 9:07pm on Jul. 8, 2008 Energy Independence In Our Lifetime? Hell No! Energy Independence Now!

By David Hinz

This is excerted from a much longer piece by the same name at The Minority Report It occurs to me that this is a good time, with the energy discussion going on today, to bring it over here.

(First of two parts -- Part One Fuel)

From time to time we hear politicians paying lip service to American Energy Independence, and whether it can be achieved in our lifetime. The time has come to put our money where our politician's mouths are, and achieve energy independence NOW!

The lifeblood of the world economy is oil. Politicians will demagogue the situation with such statements as, "The United State is addicted to oil." This is on the same par as saying, "Americans are addicted to food." Take away food, and people will starve. Take away oil and the world economy will starve as well. And, if the world economy starves, so will the peoples of this world. It is a politically charged prElectric Cars and Hydrogen Fuel Cells

While the American public has been inundated with the charms and prospects of electric powered automobiles, and hydrogen fuel cells, the fact remains that either of these solutions are years away from any fruition. The problem with both is infrastructure. While an electric powered vehicle might well provide an answer for short commutes, the necessity of recharging the electric battery after even a short usage makes it prohibitive for anything longer. Hydrogen fuel cells, while promising because of their environmental strength, are decades away from common use. Again, the problem is infrastructure -- an infrastructure that cannot be built overnight.

While there is a gasoline station on every corner throughout the country, there are no hydrogen refueling stations. Entrepeneurs are unlikely to invest in the cost of building such refueling stations until the technology is proven. The technology is unlikely to gain widespread acceptance without the existence of refueling stations. As a result, even though the technology of hydrogen fuel cell powered vehicles might well be the long-term answer to our energy needs, it will be decades before such technology is widely available or accepted.oblem, long on rhetoric, that has gone largely ignored when it comes to seeking answers.

The problem is not that the world is addicted to oil; that the world runs on oil; the problem is that the world is in short supply of oil. Whenever demand for a product exceed the supply of that product, the cost is going to go up. And when that supply is tightly controlled, and kept in short supply and high demand, the price will skyrocket. Such is the case with oil.

The time has come to stop with the demagogic rhetoric, and to seek solutions, rather than point fingers and assign blame. Punitive taxes and restrictive leasing will not bring in a single additional barrel of oil. Nor will increased CAFE standards on vehicles or other conservation methods increase the world oil supply. The United States, with a growing economy cannot conserve its way out of shortage. It simply cannot be done. The answer is more complicated than that.

Because the answer to meeting out ever increasing energy needs cannot be summed up in a 10-second sound bite on the evening news, or distilled into a 30-second campaign spot during American Idol, politicians continue to dodge the hard question of just what must be done to meet our energy future.

That energy future lies not with oil alone, nor with ethanol or with Biofuels. The answer is not solar energy, nor is it wind power. All of those are pieces, some large, and some small of a larger more complicated and comprehensive energy picture. Because it is complicated, our politicians refuse to tackle the problem, chosing instead to offer sound-bite fixes, and campaign ad bandaids.

Oil

The sudden and for most Americans, shocking increase in the price of gasoline and diesel at the pump has finally stirred them to action. While their elected leaders have paid lip service to energy for the past four decades, all the while blocking any real increase in American supply, the people of this country have awakened to sticker shock at the pump, and have begun to demand of their government that oil companies be allowed to drill for more supply in this country. Areas put off limits by the Federal Government, including offshore drilling along the Continental Shelf and The Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) are suddenly receiving scrutiny from the public.

No amount of conservation is going to prevent shortages and increased prices as a result of those shortages.

Every American cannot go to their auto dealer and buy a hybrid today. While many major metropolitan centers have mass transit available, the infrastructure does not exist to dramatically increase public transportation in most areas of the country, nor is there a viable way for most Americans to use it. The Utopian dream of Americans commuting to work in their hybrid electric minicar, or riding their bikes to the train station for their daily commute, as is seen in Europe, is not going to happen in any great numbers in this country. Certainly, it is not going to happen in the foreseeable future.

The changes necessary to bring about such change would take decades to accomplish. Such a dream would require the collapse of the suburbs, as American commuters eschew the comfort of suburbia, to return to living in the cities where they work. Housing costs in cities, already inflated, would make this move prohibitively expensive, further eroding an economy that is increasingly in crisis.

Ethanol

If ever there was a case to be made for The Law of Unintended Consequences it is Ethanol. The boon to farmers who grow corn, the massive push by the Federal Government to turn corn into Ethanol for our automobiles, has been the single biggest disaster of the 21st Century.

Ethanol, as a fuel source has a number of disadvantages over other fuels. Ethanol is a particularly poor choice, as it results in at least a 15 percent decrease in mileage due to the lower BTUs availabe for energy. The cost of making Ethanol is greater than the benefit, resulting in the use of additional gasoline in the process. From the American Enterprise Institute:

Pimentel found that one acre of U.S. corn field yields about 7,110 pounds of corn, which in turn produces 328 gallons of ethanol. Setting aside the environmental implications (which are substantial), the financial costs already begin to mount. To plant, grow, and harvest the corn takes about 140 gallons of fossil fuel and costs about $347 per acre. According to Pimentel's analysis, even before the corn is converted to ethanol, the feedstock alone costs $0.69 per gallon of ethanol.

More damning, however, is that converting corn to ethanol requires about 99,119 BTUs to make one gallon, which has 77,000 BTUs of available energy. So about 29 percent more energy is required to produce a gallon of ethanol than is stored in that gallon in the first place. "That helps explain why fossil fuels (not ethanol) are used to produce ethanol," Pimentel says. "The growers and processors can't afford to burn ethanol to make ethanol. U.S. drivers couldn't afford it, either, if it weren't for government subsidies that artificially lower the price." All told, a gallon of ethanol costs $2.24 to produce, compared to $0.63 for a gallon of gasoline.

President Bush, in a recent speech, defended corn Ethanol, making the claim that the cost to the public has only been about 3 percent in rising food costs. Reports by the World Bank, however tell a different story, as estimates show Ethanol has caused food prices to skyrocket by as much as 75 percent worldwide.

Food riots in developing nations around the world punctuate the dismal failure of this policy of turning food into fuel. A national policy that promotes the American public to cause world famine is destined for disaster. The United States spends billions of dollars each year to aid developing nations economically, while this policy starves their people.

Electric Cars and Hydrogen Fuel Cells

While the American public has been inundated with the charms and prospects of electric powered automobiles, and hydrogen fuel cells, the fact remains that either of these solutions are years away from any fruition. The problem with both is infrastructure. While an electric powered vehicle might well provide an answer for short commutes, the necessity of recharging the electric battery after even a short usage makes it prohibitive for anything longer. Hydrogen fuel cells, while promising because of their environmental strength, are decades away from common use. Again, the problem is infrastructure -- an infrastructure that cannot be built overnight.

While there is a gasoline station on every corner throughout the country, there are no hydrogen refueling stations. Entrepeneurs are unlikely to invest in the cost of building such refueling stations until the technology is proven. The technology is unlikely to gain widespread acceptance without the existence of refueling stations. As a result, even though the technology of hydrogen fuel cell powered vehicles might well be the long-term answer to our energy needs, it will be decades before such technology is widely available or accepted.

Biofuels

Recent new developments in the production of biofuels, or biodiesel, have paved the way for a transition from current technology to the technologies of the future. Rapid advancements in the production of algae-based biodiesel looks to be the breakthrough necessary to propell the United States forward toward energy independence.

The American public, as a whole, has a prejudice against diesel. Large trucks run on diesel, shooting plumes of dark smoke into the air -- and it smells funny. Biodiesel, the process of creating diesel fuels from renewable based sources, has shown the most promise, even as it was rejected by a disinterested public.

Given the right conditions, algae can double its volume overnight. Unlike other biofuel feedstocks, such as soy or corn, it can be harvested day after day. Up to 50 percent of an alga’s body weight is comprised of oil, whereas oil-palm trees—currently the largest producer of oil to make biofuels—yield just about 20 percent of their weight in oil. Across the board, yields are already impressive: Soy produces some 50 gallons of oil per acre per year; canola, 150 gallons; and palm, 650 gallons. But algae is expected to produce 10,000 gallons per acre per year, and eventually even more.

New technology can now yield 100,000 gallons per acre.

The point is, there is NO SINGLE ANSWER, but an overall strategy to use all of our resources available to us. As I said before, read the entire article with links at The Minority Report

(Part Two - Electrical Power Generation)

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Posted at 8:56pm on Jul. 7, 2008 Deceptive door to door energy sales persons out in force

By Pnuka77

Today in northern Indiana I was visited by a sales person from US Energy Savings Corp promising fixed rates on our natural gas for 5 years. Something about the manner and what they were saying didn't settle right so I looked them up:

http://rogersparkbench.blogspot.com/2008/02/energy-con-artists-going-doo...

Sure enough, the state of IL attorney General is suing these guys for deceptive sales tactics. Unfortunately, I was unable to warn three of my neighbors who all signed up, and even after flagging down the sales persons refused to cancel them and told them to call the 800 number.

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Posted at 5:14pm on Jul. 6, 2008 Domestic Oil: 5 years from exploration to production

By Josh Painter

How often have you heard Democrat politicians and liberal environmentalists argue that it makes no sense to drill for oil domestically because it will take at least ten years before we will see any of that oil?

Let's put that old canard permanently to rest, shall we? According to a report from APRN, Alaska's Public Radio Network, it's been done in just half that time:

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Posted at 9:12am on Jul. 5, 2008 Biofuels Cause 75% Increase in Food Prices

By Bill Dupray

Now the environmental morons can take credit for world hunger and the destruction of worldwide economies, all in the name of the hoax of adjusting the planet's thermostat. According to the World Bank.

Biofuels have caused world food prices to increase by 75 percent, according to the findings of an unpublished World Bank report published in The Guardian newspaper on Friday.

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Posted at 9:24pm on Jul. 3, 2008 GOP House Candidate to Tour ANWR

By BrianFaughnan

Polls show support for expanded drilling here in the U.S. on the upswing -- including in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Some Americans however, remain resistant to drilling because they believe it will mar the unspoiled beauty of the Refuge. To help highlight the fact that the ANWR's Coastal Plain is... ugly, Congressional candidate Craig Williams is taking a trip to the site of the proposed drilling:

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Posted at 4:19pm on Jul. 2, 2008 Ethanol: Are We Up the (Swollen) Creek?

By grforbes

A serious reality of ethanol has come to the fore - natural disasters!

The ethanol industry is facing its greatest challenge as corn supplies are threatened by the extensive flooding across the Midwest. U.S. ethanol production relies upon Iowa corn (and Illinois corn, and Indiana corn, etc.) and when it is threatened the ethanol industry is threatened.

The U.S. is all but guaranteed to have a lower than originally projected corn yield in 2008 due to severe flooding. The USDA recently lowered the expected yield by more than three percent (390 million bushels), which will drive the price of corn higher. 2008 prices are expected to be $1.25 per bushel higher than 2007 and $2.76 more than in 2006. That translates into a nearly 91 percent increase in corn prices over the two year period. This increase is expected to have wide-ranging impact, from driving up the price of meat and other grocery items, to increasing the costs of gasoline.

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Posted at 9:54am on Jul. 2, 2008 "Even a Blind Hog Finds an Acorn Every Now and Then"

By Vladimir

Here, for your listening and viewing enjoyment, a video clip of Badger Oil Corporation owner Paul Hilliard, from his appearance on CNBC's Squawk Box show this morning.

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Posted at 8:18am on Jul. 2, 2008 Why is Obama's website (still) lying about McCain's energy policy?

By Triadsense1

Wow, you guys gave me a blog. How generous.

I know your time is precious, so I will not try to waste it.

One week ago, I was comparing the two candidates' positions on energy policy. I had just read McCain's plan, being a McCain supporter, but was interested in Obama's plan, too (It was the curious political junkie in me). I was dismayed and frustrated to find out that Obama's website lied and said McCain had no energy efficiency policy. It literally said he had no plan for energy efficiency.

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Posted at 6:41am on Jul. 2, 2008 Leftists Blame W for Gas Prices or Look for the Union Libel

By Blue Collar Muse

On a recent Sunday morning drive to church, I saw this sign. I was immediately struck by two things.

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Posted at 5:44pm on Jul. 1, 2008 "Wildcatter" Paul Hilliard

By Vladimir

Having been pre-empted by President Bush's news conference on North Korea's game of once again playing us as chumps dismantling of their nuclear program, CNBC's morning show Squawk Box has scheduled my boss, the inestimable Paul Hilliard of Badger Oil Corporation, for an interview.

The live interview is now set for tomorrow morning, Wednesday, July 2, at 7:40 a.m. ET (6:40 a.m. here in flyover country). The boss usually manages to make his comments both pithy and entertaining. I urge you to view/TiVo.

Posted at 4:58pm on Jul. 1, 2008 When Will Gas Prices Be Too High?

By RightonNJ

In a time where uncertainty and scarcity are most prevailant in today's society, New Jersey's representatives continue to oppose common sense measures that bolster American security. For decades we have known about the problem of oil. In the 60s and 70s we only imported 30% of oil and now in 2008 we can barely muster producing 30%.

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