Crude: The Real Price of Oil

In just a few months, Chevron will likely be found liable for $27 billion in damages for its systematic contamination of the Ecuadorian Amazon – but they’ve already said they won’t pay and have launched an aggressive PR effort to avoid accountability.

That’s where a documentary called CRUDE comes in. Coming to theaters this September, CRUDE chronicles the epic battle to hold Chevron accountable for this “Rainforest Chernobyl”. This film could play a major role in shoring up public support for the fight to force Chevron to clean up the mess it made in the Amazon.

Check out the trailer:

From CRUDEthemovie.com:

The inside story of the infamous “Amazon Chernobyl” case, Crude is a real-life high stakes legal drama, set against a backdrop of the environmental movement, global politics, celebrity activism, human rights advocacy, the media, multinational corporate power, and rapidly-disappearing indigenous cultures. Presenting a complex situation from multiple viewpoints, the film subverts the conventions of advocacy filmmaking, exploring a complicated situation from all angles while bringing an important story of environmental peril and human suffering into focus.

The landmark case takes place in the Amazon jungle of Ecuador, pitting 30,000 indigenous and colonial rainforest dwellers against the U.S. oil giant Chevron. The plaintiffs claim that Texaco – which merged with Chevron in 2001 – spent three decades systematically contaminating one of the most biodiverse regions on Earth, poisoning the water, air and land. The plaintiffs allege that the pollution has created a “death zone” in an area the size of the Rhode Island, resulting in increased rates of cancer, leukemia, birth defects, and a multiplicity of other health ailments. They further allege that the oil operations in the region contributed to the destruction of indigenous peoples and irrevocably impacted their traditional way of life. Chevron vociferously fights the claims, charging that the case is a complete fabrication, perpetrated by “environmental con men” who are seeking to line their pockets with the company’s billions.

If you’re not already familiar with the details of what Chevron (formerly Texaco) did in the Ecuadorian Amazon, CRUDE will bring it to life in a way that will shock you and make you want to fight back.

The film opens in New York on 09/09/09 with screenings following shortly thereafter in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. Check out more details at CRUDEthemovie.com.

Link [CRUDE]

Oil About to Run Out, Leading Energy Expert Says

The age of oil is almost over, according to the chief economist at the well-respected International Energy Agency (IEA) in Paris. Dr. Fatih Birol warns of a catastrophic energy crunch that would bring any recovery from the current global economic crisis to a screeching halt.

The idea of ‘peak oil’ – the point at which the maximum rate of global petroleum extraction is reached – has been around for a while, but much of the public has dismissed it as paranoia. Indeed, despite the fact that the global economy is absolutely dependent upon oil in order to function, most of the world’s leaders have not yet taken the possibility of a major oil shortage into consideration.

Dr. Birol says that oil is running out even faster than predicted, and believes that global production will peak in about 10 years. In most of the world’s oil fields, production has already peaked, and some experts believe we’re already in a rapidly accelerating decline.

From The Independent:

In a stark warning to Britain and the other Western powers, Dr Birol said that the market power of the very few oil-producing countries that hold substantial reserves of oil – mostly in the Middle East – would increase rapidly as the oil crisis begins to grip after 2010.

“One day we will run out of oil, it is not today or tomorrow, but one day we will run out of oil and we have to leave oil before oil leaves us, and we have to prepare ourselves for that day,” Dr Birol said. “The earlier we start, the better, because all of our economic and social system is based on oil, so to change from that will take a lot of time and a lot of money and we should take this issue very seriously,” he said.

“The market power of the very few oil-producing countries, mainly in the Middle East, will increase very quickly. They already have about 40 per cent share of the oil market and this will increase much more strongly in the future,” he said.

There is now a real risk of a crunch in the oil supply after next year when demand picks up because not enough is being done to build up new supplies of oil to compensate for the rapid decline in existing fields.

There’s no longer any doubt at all that we need to move forward rapidly with clean, renewable energy before the global economy suffers a catastrophic setback. With alternatives in place, transitioning beyond dinosaur fuels will be a lot less painful.

Link [The Independent]
Photo credit: Flickr user azrainman

Toast the Earth with Exxon Mobile

Remember this classic video? Watch as ExxonMobil funds junk science, wrecks the Arctic Refuge, and spills oil on endangered wildlife.

“The globe is slowly warming, real scientists all know. But Exxon Mobile’s here to say it really isn’t so…”

Aside from a little less global warming denial, has much changed since 2006?

Kuwait & Qatar Want Funds to Protect Their Oil Rigs

Daniel Nelson of OneWorld UK breaks the news that Kuwait and Qatar plan to apply for adaptation funds to allow for the affects of climate change. But get this, their argument for receiving the funds is that rising sea levels will damage their offshore oil rigs!

The video was created by OneClimate and Virtual Poznan:

U.S. Intelligence Reports Warn of Global Warming Consequences

Global warming will help Russia gain power as the U.S. and its dollar declines, according to a new U.S. intelligence report on what the world will likely be like by the year 2025.  The report, Global Trends 2025, warns that the warming earth will extend Russia’s growing season and allow it access to northern oil fields, strengthening its economy. Canada will also benefit for the same reasons.

From MSNBC:

It also says countries in Africa and South Asia may find themselves unstable and ungoverned, as state regimes collapse or wither away under security problems and water and food shortages brought about by climate change and a population increase of 1.4 billion.

The potential for conflict will be greater in 2025 than it is now, as the world’s population competes for declining and shifting food, water and energy resources.

The report, a year in the making, also suggests the world may complete its move away from its dependence on oil, and that the U.S. dollar, while remaining important, will decline to “first among equals” among other national currencies.

U.S. global power also will likely decline, as Americans’ concerns about putting resources into solving domestic problems may cause the United States to pull resources from foreign and global problems.

Well, it’s no surprise that global warming is going to mess things up, big time. We’ve already been warned that climate shifts will cause major food and water issues across the world, and that the stability of African nations in particular will decline.

What is surprising is that the Bush administration let this one through the ol’ global-warming-isn’t-real filter. They’ve been stifling research that affirms global warming as a real and serious threat for years, and Bush has certainly proven that he’s not going to go out quietly.  January 20th can’t arrive quickly enough.

Link [MSNBC]
Image credit: Flickr user AlphaTangoBravo

Bush Admin Wants To Open Thousands Of Acres Near National Parks For Drilling

In yet another act seemingly bent on cementing the Bush Administration’s reputation as worst ever on the environment, the Bureau of Land Management is giving even more land over to oil and gas companies for drilling. And this time, it will include tens of thousands of acres on or near the boundaries of three national parks.

From The New York Times:

National Park Service officials say that the decision to open lands close to Arches National Park and Dinosaur National Monument and within eyeshot of Canyonlands National Park was made without the kind of consultation that had previously been routine.

The inclusion of the new lease tracts angered environmental groups, which were already critical of the bureau’s original lease proposal, made public this fall, because they said it could lead to industrial activity in empty areas of the state, some prized for their sweeping vistas, like Desolation Canyon, and others for their ancient petroglyphs, like Nine Mile Canyon.

The bureau’s new maps, made public on Election Day, show not just those empty areas but 40 to 45 new areas where leasing will also be allowed.

Park managers are concerned about how the proximity of industrial activity might affect the air, water and wildlife within the parks. The Park Service was not given time to comment on the leases. The tracts will be sold at auction on December 19th, the final lease sale before Bush leaves office. If any leases are sold that day and delivered to buyers before Inauguration Day, Obama’s new administration may not be able to reverse the decisions.

Bush sure does love oil, doesn’t he? We’ve been so happy about the fact that he is about to leave office, but it seems as if he’s cramming another 4 years of bad decisions into these last few months. Bush is doing all he can to give his buddies in the industry a few last favors before Obama takes over, since Obama will be unlikely to put their needs above those of the environment and the people.  Sickening, but not surprising at all.

Link [The New York Times]

What Would Happen if Oil Supplies in America Suddenly Dried Up?

Lines of cars stretch for miles waiting to fill up their tanks, some drivers inching along as the line slowly moves while others, long out of gas, have no choice but to push their vehicles down the street. People are testy, eyeing each other with suspicion, getting into physical scuffles when they think someone cut them in line. Some sleep in their cars overnight in the parking lot, waiting for the tanker to pull up so they’ll have enough gas to get to work in the morning. If this sounds like a flashback to the gas crisis of the 70s, you weren’t in the Southeast U.S. in late September and early October of 2008.

Atlanta, Asheville, Charlotte, Nashville, Raleigh, Columbia – these are just a few of the cities that were hit with a major gas shortage in the weeks after two back-to-back hurricanes shut down oil refineries in the Gulf Coast. It started off slowly; local news stories casually mentioned that due to some refineries closing down in Texas, some cities could end up with less gas than usual. Soon, more and more yellow ‘Sorry, Out of Service’ bags began appearing on pumps. People began to worry – if I can’t find gas, how am I going to get to work? That’s when the panic buying began.

Too many people started topping off their tanks, intent on making sure they were on ‘F’ at all times. Others started hoarding, filling up multiple gas cans and the tanks of cars they didn’t use on a regular basis. Of course, that just made things worse, and soon finding gas was all but impossible in cities all over the Southeast. People had to call dozens of stations ahead of time to see if they had gas, only to arrive and be told they were too late. At stations that did have gas, police were forced to control the crowds after some pulled out baseball bats, cut ahead in line and dared anyone who didn’t like it to speak up. Some people were arrested for siphoning gas from unattended vehicles.

In cities like Asheville, North Carolina, community college classes were canceled and government offices shut down. City buses were packed to the point of questionable safety. A lot of people were forced to stay home from work. The worst of the shortage lasted about two miserable weeks of yelling, pushing, waiting in absurdly long lines and paying painfully high prices to stations that capitalized on the opportunity to gouge consumers. Now that it’s nearly over, everyone is breathing a collective sigh of relief and going back to their normal everyday lives.

While many people chalk the shortage up to a temporary issue that was exacerbated by the ugly side of human nature, others see it as a taste of what could be to come. It was an eerie breakdown in normalcy, and it highlighted the extent to which our society is currently dependent on oil. Sure, better technology is on the way. But it’s not here yet. What if something major happened that disrupted oil availability for a longer period of time – a month, or even a year?

Imagine a similar gas shortage, on a nationwide or even worldwide scale. Any number of scenarios could cause this to happen. Some people cite the very real possibility that terrorists could target the oil market, but the truth is, even a much smaller, less dramatic event could cause a devastating, long-lasting shortage. We definitely seem to be marching toward ‘peak oil’, and we’re certainly not prepared for that – but we’re even less prepared for a sudden, unexpected, prolonged disruption in oil supplies.

Unfortunately, the natural reaction for most people in such a situation is to panic. Americans are already jittery because of the current state of the economy. Suddenly, life in the U.S. of A. doesn’t seem so stable anymore. This insecurity coupled with a major gas shortage would definitely be a recipe for disaster, particularly since Americans are accustomed to all of life’s necessities, conveniences and frivolities being easily accessible at all times.

You can imagine what the government would tell people at first: relax. It’s okay. Keep calm and carry on. These platitudes, however dire the situation would be in reality, would be seen by authorities as a necessary attempt to put off the inevitable chaos that would come when people realized that, well, actually, it’s not okay.

During the recent temporary 2-3 week shortage of gas in the Southeast, people were mostly reassured that there was an end in sight. Gas tankers were coming. Supply would go back up, so there was no need to bash the neighbor’s head in and take his gas can or begin looting grocery stores. But, a sudden, widespread, large-scale shortage would be different. No matter what we were told by the government, panic would set in almost immediately.

Some people reading this might think – okay, so we’ll walk. We’ll start using solar panels and electric cars. But, it’s not that easy. Those things won’t be magically available all over the country as soon as a real energy crisis hits. Sure, over an extended period of time, alternatives like these would be put into place and society would begin to go back to some semblance of ‘normal’, but in the meantime, chaos would reign. The idea that society as a whole would simply adapt and move on assumes that people would react in a rational, law-abiding way. And that’s simply not the way most humans function in a crisis.

In the short term, the government would likely ration oil-based fuel. Frightened by the fact that they couldn’t stock up on gas and heating oil, people would clear the shelves in grocery stores. Utility companies would likely initiate planned rolling blackouts to preserve supplies, adding to the sense of unrest. Without power, looting would begin. All of this would occur within days.

If public rioting became widespread, the President could declare a state of emergency and martial law would go into effect. School would be canceled. Most businesses would be forced to close. The economy would be crippled, because what little gas was available would probably be commandeered by the government for use by police, ambulances, fire trucks and the military. That means no supply trucks stocking store shelves. No USPS, UPS or Fed-Ex.

Production would stop on products made from petroleum, and that includes not just plastic and polyester but synthetic fertilizer and pesticide, too. Airports would shut down, stranding people wherever they were. Most power plants would run out of fuel. Emergency vehicles would be in conservation mode, perhaps unable to answer every request for help. People who rely on medical treatments to stay alive would start dying.

In essence, life would become suddenly, shockingly local. No longer tied together by cheap energy, society would break down into pockets. Some areas would be better off than others, especially those with mild climates, abundant and easily accessible fresh water and fertile land.

Since it’s not known what kind of plan the government has in place for such a scenario, it’s hard to predict how long food supplies would remain intact. It’s possible that emergency food supplies could be transported to some areas via coal-powered trains, but it’s difficult to say how widespread such help would be, and how long it would last – especially as a lack of cheap oil-based fertilizer cut back food production. In the meantime, people would be getting really hungry. And hunger is certainly a powerful incitement for riots.

The people who ran out of food first would start begging others for help. Getting desperate, they’d break into each other’s houses hoping to find emergency supplies. Anyone who seemed well prepared would be targeted. Urban areas would quickly become extremely unpleasant places to live, especially once the military and emergency services burned through their fuel reserves. Those with the most guns would rule the land. Gangs would grow larger and more powerful. Fires would burn unabated.

Once food supplies in urban areas were gone, people would start spreading out into the suburbs, and then into rural areas in search of food. Thousands would travel by whatever means possible to get away from densely populated areas where mayhem and lawlessness rule. They’d be taking the chance that whatever supplies they carried with them would be taken by force by modern-day highwaymen, but they’d be desperate enough to risk it, because staying behind would be even more dangerous.

After six months, thousands or even millions of people would have died from hunger and violence. Since the global economy would have been brought to a standstill, money would no longer mean anything. After all, the banking system is completely dependent upon cheap oil. Once the dust settled and the initial shock wore off, society would essentially become a strange mix of simple technology and the remaining tools and technology that still work without oil – at least temporarily. Innovation and technology would pick up again, but it would take a while for any new technology to gain commercial viability, especially with the economy in total shambles.

This scenario would also be very bad news for the environment and the fight against global warming, because it would cause a huge temporary increase in reliance on coal. Such a large increase, in fact, that emissions from coal-burning power plants would likely reverse any progress made up to that point. That makes our reliance on oil even more dangerous.

Once we hit the one-year point, life in America would be profoundly different than it was before gas ran out. Little pockets of hope would begin to appear, with many people beginning to grow food in their yards and raising animals like chickens, goats and cattle. People would barter goods and services, trading eggs and milk for herbal medicine or building supplies. Eco villages would sprout up. Life would go on, but it sure as hell would be a painful transition.

In the midst of this pre-Industrial Revolution environment would be people working on advanced alternative fuel technology, working towards getting us back on our feet. Still others would cling to oil as the center of the modern world, doing everything possible to restore supplies.

Hopefully, this sort of sudden gas shortage won’t happen. However, we’ve had plenty of warning signs that we need to make the transition to other energy sources, and we’re not moving fast enough. The end of the age of oil is coming, and we’re definitely not ready for it.

Images via USA Today, Citizen-Times, TIME, MSNBC, Risen: The Movie

State of the Economy: Problems Around the World

What’s the state of our economy? Well, let’s just say things aren’t looking so hot. This video from GOOD magazine outlines the problems facing the U.S. and the world.

From YouTube:

If we’re addicted to oil, our twelve-step program should begin with admitting that we have a problem. As the price of oil creeps higher, finding new energy sources is more important than ever. But the search for alternatives, combined with environmental disruptions, is putting new pressures on other essentials like food. There are some things that are going well in the world. Right now, the economy is not one of them.

Animation & Design by Chris Weller
Directed by Max Joseph
Music: “Genesis” by Justice

Walking, Riding Bikes – Too Wacky For Republicans

Are Republicans afraid to step out of their SUVs to take a walk or *gasp* ride a bike? It sounds like a silly stereotype but the National Republican Congressional Committee recently released a video against Democratic nominee Kathy Dahlkemper with just that message.

Dahlkemper, who is challenging U.S. Rep. Phil English to represent Pennsylvania’s 3rd District, is quoted in the video as saying Americans should “walk places” and “ride their bikes”. Apparently, that’s supposed to be a bad thing. Of course those activities seem pretty normal to us but that probably makes us “wacky” too.

John McCain is About as Green as a Barrel of Oil

John McCain has been trying to sell us the message that he’s ‘green’ for months now.  Between the false promises he spouts at every opportunity and his laughable line of ‘eco-friendly merchandise’, McCain is doing everything he can to appear just as environmentally responsible as his opponent, Barack Obama.  Too bad most of us are aware that it’s simply not true. Despite McCain’s attempts to greenwash his record and how he would run the country given the chance, his record shows that he’s about as green as a barrel of oil.

From Salon.com:

The facts are clear. All you have to do is look at his voting record. It reveals that McCain has long been one of the strongest opponents of clean energy in Congress, with a record matching that of James Inhofe, the most hardcore global-warming denier in the Senate, who comes from the heart of the oil patch in Oklahoma.

Recently the Associated Press noted that “McCain has not shown up for eight Senate votes last year and this year to extend [renewable energy] tax credits, which expire at the end of this year. The last such vote was July 30.” Yet at an Aspen Institute meeting in August, when McCain was asked about those missed votes, he simply lied to the audience.

As for McCain’s “long record of that support of alternate energy,” consider the votes on renewable energy funding and a federal “renewable portfolio standard” (RPS) that he did show up for this decade:

In every case, McCain voted against renewables, as did Sen. “Global warming is ‘the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people’” Inhofe. On the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the biggest congressional effort to push alternative energy in more than a decade, McCain voted against it along with just 11 other senators. Even Inhofe voted for it.

As Salon notes, part of the reason McCain consistently votes against renewable energy is likely the fact that he’s technologically out of touch.  He has claimed that “the truly green technologies don’t work”, saying that “most every expert” he knows believes that even if we maximized renewables in every way, the contribution they would make is “very small”.  He also disagreed with T. Boone Pickens – the noted conservative Texas oil billionaire who’s now pushing wind power – that renewable energy could meet the demand over the next 20 years, a fact that even the Bush administration admits to.  If even Bush sees the truth of green technology and McCain doesn’t, you get the idea of how much trouble we’ll be in if this guy wins.

Link [Salon]
Photo credit: EarthFirst composite/AP

8 Products You Didn’t Know Were Made From Oil

There are times when we catch posts on other blogs that make us kick ourselves saying, why didn’t we think of that? This is one of them. The Green Routine came up with a great list of 8 products you didn’t know were made from oil.  It’s almost insidious, the way petroleum has crept into the ingredients of so many items that we use on a daily basis.  Well, time to make changes – lots of them! We can’t keep using oil like it’s a never-ending resource.  Here are a few of the items on The Green Routine’s list – get the rest at TheGreenRoutine.com.

1. Paper Cups – Paper cups are coated with plastic or wax in order to make them waterproof. We know plastic is derived from oil or natural gas, but did you know most wax is too? The type of wax used to waterproof paper cups is polyolefin wax — which is a polymer derived from oil or natural gas.
2. Candles – Speaking of wax, did you know that candles are also made from polyolefin wax? A natural alternative to burning polyolefin wax candles are beeswax candles.
3. Fruits & Vegetables – That wax coating on your store bought fruits and vegetables is (you guessed it) also made from petroleum. Another good reason to shop at the local farmer’s market!
4. Reusable Shopping Bags – Many reusable shopping bags on the market today are ironically made from the same oil derived materials they are designed to replace. Reusable shopping bags are typically made from non-woven polypropylene — PP or resin ID code 5 for short. While these bags are recyclable, I would recommend purchasing a heavy duty canvas reusable bag instead. Canvas reusable bags are made from cotton, and last longer.

Link [TheGreenRoutine]
Photo credit: Flickr user nestor galina

Plastic Going Up in Price

We’ve gotten accustomed to plastic being cheap. So accustomed, that we’re now hopelessly addicted to it – we’d be hard-pressed to live without it at this point. But, all things come to an end, and the age of cheap plastic may be going out with the age of cheap oil. Of course, that’s because plastic is made from petroleum, which has gotten very expensive as of late.

From Green Car Congress:

Mitsubishi Chemical Corp., Mitsui Chemicals Inc. and Sumitomo Chemical Co. have raised the price of polyethylene, the most common synthetic resin, by 17% to levels not seen for the past 25 years. The price hike is blamed on soaring prices of naptha, a key raw material refined from crude oil.

Domestic synthetic resin prices are now at their highest level since 1983, when the market was dealing from the fallout of the second oil shock.

Meanwhile, the price of polypropylene, which is used in candy packaging and clothing storage products, was lifted around 37-40 yen per kilogram, or 18%. And polystyrene prices were raised 7-9%, or 15-20 yen per kilogram. The plastic is used in food containers.

Okay, so – plastic is polluting, has negative effects on the health of humans and animals, is made from oil – and now it’s expensive? Sounds like as good a time as any to start trying to wean ourselves off of it as much as possible. We may never stop using plastic entirely, but we can cut back our personal consumption of products packaged in plastic as much as possible.

Link [Green Car Congress]
Photo credit: Flickr user Meg and Rahul

National Speed Limit Could Save Millions of Barrels of Gas

If anything could keep speed demons from screaming down the highway at 85 mph, maybe it’s gas prices. Each 5 mph you drive over 60 is like paying an extra $0.30 per gallon for gas. Considering that slower speeds could save a sizable amount of gas, lawmakers like Senator John Warner (R-VA) and Representative Jacki Speier (D-CA) are calling for a 55-mph national speed limit, similar to the one set in the 1970’s during a previous gas crisis.

From Yahoo! News:

The National Maximum Speed Limit of 55 mph was created in 1974, when Richard Nixon signed the Emergency Energy Highway Conservation Act. Prior to that, states had been free to set their own speed limits, but the new law threatened to strip Federal highway funding from any state straying above the national standard. The ostensible purpose of this limit was to keep down gas prices, which had been driven through the roof by an OPEC embargo touched off by the 1973 Arab-Israeli war. And with gas-prices once again sky-high, Warner isn’t alone in talking up a cap on speeding.

Jackie Speier, a first-term Democratic congresswoman from California, is already on the case. Earlier this month, she introduced a bill that would cap highway speed limits at 60 mph – 65 in rural areas. It’s currently awaiting a hearing before the House Committee on Transportation. Warner says he hasn’t contacted Speier, but adds that he’d be willing to “stroll out on the floor” in favor of a speed-limit bill. He has yet to propose a similar bill in the Senate.

A congressional study showed that the1974 law resulted in a savings of 167,000 barrels of petroleum a day, and the volume would be even greater now that there millions more cars on the road.

Of course, there’s always the question of whether motorists will comply. This is a nation of people who feel entitled to doing whatever they want, regardless of the consequences. Sure, lower speed limits – if people actually followed them – could not only save gas, but make the roads safer for all of us. Unfortunately, most people just don’t care. Those of us who do, though, will happily drive 55 mph and enjoy the extra money in our pockets.

Link [Yahoo! News]
Photo credit: PhotopediaPhotos

The Truth About McCain and Big Oil

McCain, Big Oil. Big Oil, McCain. Where does one stop and the other begin? You’d be hard pressed to figure that out, considering how many of his advisors have lobbied for oil industry interests. And that’s not all. In 2008 alone, McCain has taken $485,526 from Big Oil.

From Brave New Films:

The Center for Responsive Politics finds that McCain has accepted over $1 million from the oil and gas industry. Many of McCain’s top advisers have lobbied for big oil, which is why he now acts in their best interests, opposing environmental legislation and alternative energy plans. And that’s exactly why we want everyone to know The REAL McCain.

McCain is desperate to distance himself from President Bush. But according to the Center for American Progress Action Fund, McCain has received millions in donations from the same oil, coal, nuclear, chemical, utility, and auto companies that helped the Bush administration create its energy plan—a plan that has raised gasoline to $4 a gallon.

If you know anyone who’s on the fence about McCain, forward this on to them!

Link [Brave New Films]

Cars Littering the Sides of the Road as They Run Out of Gas

$4 per gallon does suck. Don’t get me wrong, we’re happy that high gas prices are forcing people to cut back on driving, ditch their SUVs and invest in renewable energy. That’s the positive side of the coin. On the other side, people really are pinched and having a hard time coming up with the cash to fill their tanks up all the way. As a result, the streets are littered with cars as people are running out of gas more frequently.

From The Huffington Post:

Though national statistics on out-of-gas motorists don’t exist, there’s plenty of anecdotal evidence that drivers unwilling or unable to fill ‘er up are gambling by keeping their tanks extremely low on fuel.

In the Philadelphia area, where the average price for a gallon of regular broke $4 on Friday, calls from out-of-gas AAA members doubled between May 2007 and May 2008, from 81 to 161, the auto club reported.

“The number one reason is they can’t stretch their money out from week to week,” said Gary Siley, the AAA mobile technician who helped Saba.

“Some of them are embarrassed. … They say, ‘I was trying to make it till Friday,’ and they couldn’t do it,” said Siley, who has assisted numerous out-of-gas motorists.

No doubt, putting $30 worth of gas into your car only to see it barely creep out of ‘Low on Gas’ is unpleasant, and it’s a growing reality for many people in America. We’ve budgeted for driving personal vehicles to be fairly affordable, so now that it’s getting out of reach, we’re having a hard time adjusting.

It’s time to start putting pressure on our local and state governments to get better public transit programs going. Even if you can afford gas easily, or don’t personally deal with it because you don’t drive often, helping out those people who are truly hurt by gas prices is a great cause. Another option is to offer to share gas expenses with friends and family by carpooling as often as possible – to work, to the grocery store, to the movies. As cheesy and cliched as it may sound, coming together can really help as all through the transition from the age of oil into an age of sustainable forms of energy.

Link [Huffington Post]
Photo credit: Flickr user johntrainor

T. Boone Pickens Says Jump, Investors Act Like Crazed Kids on Pogo Sticks

T. Boone Pickens has gained a lot of clout lately. Let’s put aside for a moment the fact that he is one scary guy, and might become one of the people responsible for putting us into a very frightening situation with our water supply. He’s also known as being a billionaire oil tycoon and recently purchased a huge number of wind turbines. When he predicted that oil would hit $100 a barrel, investors laughed because it seemed so improbable – and then it happened. That’s why they’re now listening up to everything this guy has to say.

From Forbes:

Wall Street decided to treat T. Boone Pickens as the smartest guy in the room.

Light sweet crude prices soared 1.5%, or $1.88, to $128.93 a barrel, after the billionaire oilman said he expects it’ll hit $150 a barrel this year.

“There’s a feeling that some of these forecasts of $150 oil might be right, so why not buy it now rather than later,” Peter Beutel, president of Cameron Hanover, told Reuters.

Pickens gave more than a number though. According to TradeTheNews.com, Pickens also said that speculators have nothing to do with high energy prices, and that oil costs are not a bubble. He that he is investing long on natural gas. This kind of support from a name that holds such credibility gave other investors a renewed sense of confidence in how they played the commodity.

Pickens is positioning himself as an energy expert, and a powerful one at that (cue ‘impending doom’ music). While we’re glad that he has made some good choices in renewable energy, this guy doesn’t have the scruples to be trustworthy – it’s all about the money for him, so if he sees big bucks in an industry that could still harm the planet, he’ll likely jump on it. We’re crossing our fingers that he sticks to renewable energy and drops the creepy water privatization plans.

Link [Forbes]
Photo credit: Flickr user sfslim

Bush Isn’t the Only Leader Stupidly Stuck on Oil; UK Chancellor is, Too

The food crisis and pressure from consumers about high gas prices as led George W. Bush to once again call for drilling in what few pristine wilderness areas America has left, to the yawns and rolling eyes of thousands. I am Jack’s complete lack of surprise.

Americans are undoubtedly used to Bush pushing the oil agenda whenever possible, even when it’s totally inappropriate and mind-bogglingly stupid to do so. I mean, this is the guy who will go down in history as the worst thing that ever happened to our country, so it’s no wonder we’re not shocked when he says something dumb. Somehow, though, we expect more from Britain. Maybe it’s those accents that make them all sound like professors (except for the Cockney version, sorry) but especially in a post-Tony Blair era, we’d hope for a bit more intelligence than what our country’s leader displays.

Alas, here’s what UK Chancellor Alistair Darling told the BBC recently:

One of the big priorities has got to be for governments all over the world to try and get oil production increased, and also to tackle this problem that was pushing up food prices that was diverting corn into biofuels in a way that is not sustainable.

Meanwhile, here’s a quote about oil from Obama:

Change is an energy policy that doesn’t rely on buddying up to the Saudi royal family and then begging them for oil, an energy policy. Change is an energy policy that puts a price on pollution and makes the oil companies invest their record profits in clean, renewable sources of energy that will create millions of new jobs and leave our children a safer planet. That’s what change is, Iowa.

Is it 2009 yet?

Link [Celsias] + [Gristmill]
Photo credit: Flickr user Boris from Vienna

Old Gas Pumps Roll Over and Die as Gas Hits $4 a Gallon

Old fashioned gas pumps with rolling mechanical dials are throwing in the towel. As gas rises to $4 a gallon and beyond, these dinosaurs are admitting defeat – they only go up to $3.999 per gallon and can only count up to $99.99 for the total sale. That’s leaving owners of old gas stations out of luck, since upgrading them to new pumps isn’t an option for most of them.

From MSNBC:

As many as 8,500 of the nation’s 170,000 service stations have old-style meters that need to be fixed — about 17,000 individual pumps, said Bob Renkes, executive vice president of the Petroleum Equipment Institute of Tulsa, Okla.

At Chip Colville’s Chevron station in this eastern Washington town, where men in the family have pumped gas since 1919, three stubby, gray pumps were installed when gas was less than $1 a gallon. They top out at $3.999, only 30 cents above the price of regular gas at Colville’s station.

“In small towns, where you don’t have the volume, there’s no way you can afford to pay for the replacements for these old pumps,” Colville said. “It’s just not economically feasible.”

The problem is worse in extremely rural areas, where “this might be the only pump in town that people can access,” said Mike Rud, director of the North Dakota Petroleum Marketers Association.

The companies that make or rebuild the parts needed to update the pumps are backlogged with orders right now from stations that have enough money to retrofit their existing pumps. New pumps cost as much as $10,000 to $15,000 each, an expense that most gas station owners can’t afford considering they barely make a profit on gas despite high gas prices.

To deal with the problem, some states are allowing gas stations to charge by the half gallon and settle up the price with a calculator. Other stations will have to temporarily close down and many will likely go out of business.

All of this just contributes to the perception (and hopefully fact) that oil is on its way out. These mechanical gas pumps represent an old way that just doesn’t work anymore. Time to move on!  It’s sad for the owners of these gas stations, though – hopefully they’ll find a way to land on their feet.

Link [MSNBC]
Photo credit: Flickr user Mykl Roventine

Fsck Your Hummer, And His Hummer, and Her Hummer, and That Hummer Over by the Tree

10 Miles Per Gallon…
2 Soldiers a Day.

It’d be funny if it wasn’t so tragic. FUCKYOURHUMMER.com doesn’t mince word:

Welcome to FUCKYOURHUMMER.COM. This site is being set up as on omage to vandalized hummers. Whether it is a hard to peel off bumper sticker, slashed tires, keying, spray painted… we want to have your pictures of it! WHY you might ask? This grotesque monster of an SUV is a symbol that says “I could give a shit about the enviroment, wars over oil, global warming, energy independance, or any number of other issues.” You are the epitomy of stupid americans, and make the rest of us look like assholes. Some of us in this country actually do give a shit. Now I hope others will force you to give a shit.

While we don’t condone scratching up your neighbor’s Hummer, it’s hard for us to muster up any sympathy for the “victims” of such an act. Hummers are teh suck.

Link [FUCKYOURHUMMER]

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