American Dependence On Oil

[Guest Thomas_*]

I believe that 'farming' the wind holds great promise for rural economic development. These environmentally friendly projects are the world's fastest growing form of power generation. There are great benefits for the local tax base, local employment, local subcontracting, local purchasing, and particularly for landowners where the wind turbines will be located.

[Guest Daniella Leger]

Consumers will eventually have to cut spending on other consumption items. When this happens, already weak retail sales growth will further decrease, and the economy will find itself in a deeper rut than it is right now since consumer spending makes up more than two-thirds of the economy.

 

Over the past 12 months, gasoline prices have risen by 23.3 percent, and they could very well keep on going higher. Oil prices have risen by 80.3 percent—or almost four times as fast as gasoline prices. That is, gasoline prices may still go up substantially higher to catch up with the rise in oil prices.

[Guest Mike_*]

China's Sinopec has established a strategic alliance with Saudi Aramco, the nationalized giant once owned by Chevron and Exxon Mobil, to explore for natural gas in Saudi Arabia and market Saudi crude oil in China. Likewise, the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) will collaborate with Gazprom, the massive state-controlled Russian natural gas monopoly, to build pipelines and deliver Russian gas to China. Several of these state-owned firms, including CNPC and India's Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, are now set to collaborate with Petroleos de Venezuela SA in developing the extra-heavy crude of the Orinoco belt once controlled by Chevron. In this new stage of energy competition, the advantages long enjoyed by Western energy majors has been eroded by vigorous, state-backed upstarts from the developing world.

[Guest human_*]

Either way, we best git cookin on this, and fast cause if we were to have an oil disruption? and considering that we import 65% of our oil!!!

 

We in bad,big, deep trouble with only a 22.5 day supply of oil.

[Guest LESTER]

You are right. This is a market wake up call. I am sorry but the prices are not going down folks. We are close to the time when oil production is not be enough to supply the world economy. Oil is a finate resource Arjun Murti, the analyst at Goldman Sachs who predicted three years ago the price could top $100 a barrel, said the “superspike” could would shoot prices up $150 or $200. Over the past three decades our business and government leaders have taken virtually no steps to develop alternative fuels or alternatives. We need to be putting troops in Nigeria to stabilize the oil production. This is really causing market prices to raise at an even faster rate.

 

Move over governments, the real superpowers in the world are ExxonMobil, PetroChina, and Gazprom.

[Guest Senator Jeff Bingaman]

The high price of oil and the gasoline and diesel refined from that oil is creating a substantial economic burden on the American consumer and on the U.S. economy. At the close of business Friday, the price of oil stood at $126 per barrel and the average price of gasoline was around $4 per gallon. This reflects a dramatic increase over prices a year ago. The increased cost is difficult for many Americans to avoid because many commute to work or otherwise need to travel substantial distances with no ready alternative to the use of their private vehicles. To the extent that Congress and the Administration can take action to reduce the burden of this increased cost, we should do so.

 

Unfortunately, there has been no effort by the President to sit with the leaders of Congress and work out a consensus on constructive actions that might actually help, either with the high price of gas or with the high price of food. The Republican leader’s amendment which will come up for a vote tomorrow continues the same old “blame the other guy” approach.

 

So let’s talk about the facts of why oil and gasoline prices are so high. In my view there are supply and demand issues in world oil market, that explain some of what we have seen and some of those factors are outside our control in the short term.

 

The simple fact is that the market for oil is a global market and the price of oil is reflected on that market. The United States is the largest purchaser of oil in that market, but China is rapidly gaining on us in that regard. We are not even close to being the largest seller of oil. In fact, we import about 60 percent of the oil we consume.

 

So if we want to affect the price of oil either by reducing world demand or by increasing world supply our ability to do so is limited.

 

By far the most significant step we can take to reduce demand in the short and medium term is to improve vehicle fuel efficiency of the cars and trucks, which we drive. Last fall, we did just that. Many of us believe the increase in required miles per gallon was too modest, but it was a substantial improvement over what had prevailed for the 3 previous decades. On the supply side our ability to affect world prices is even more limited. That is because of our limited reserves (we have about 3 percent of the world’s reserves) and because most experts believe that US production in coming years will do well to maintain its current level. We can affect that production somewhat by adopting enlightened policies, but its impact on world markets and consequences on the world price of oil will be limited.

[Guest Bill Harold]

The high number of Americans traveling this weekend and the perpetual gridlock of our freeways suggests that $4 per gallon gasoline prices aren't changing their behavior. The complacency of the American public and their inability to alter their habits is great news for those who stand to make a fortune during peak oil.

[Guest Fed Up]

The high number of Americans traveling this weekend and the perpetual gridlock of our freeways suggests that $4 per gallon gasoline prices aren't changing their behavior. The complacency of the American public and their inability to alter their habits is great news for those who stand to make a fortune during peak oil.

 

Did you know that keeping your car's tires at the correct pressure and using air conditioning less can cut fuel consumption by 10 per cent. Try to anticipate the flow of traffic ahead and keeping engine revolutions down can add further savings. If you can walk, bike, take a bus, or metro to work.

[Guest human_*]

One of my neighbors did a completely self sustaining house "I think that I will try to catch him and talk to him for awhile".

The guy is in such hot demand that it might take me a while "But I don't give up easy".

 

One neighberhood at a time, one community at a time, and as for the rest? It's all yours.

[Guest Intellpuke]

" Ridiculous. The high gas prices are because of the greed of the CEO's of the oil companies for profits and high salaries and perks. I read a study on MSN two years ago that showed the price of gas didn't need to go over $2/gal until the price of oil went over $100/barrel. The obscene profits of the oil companies show this to be true. It has nothing to do with some farm land being used differently. "

 

In the beginning of the 1970s, when a barrel of black gold cost less than $2, no one imagined that one day an American president would be reduced to begging the king of Saudi Arabia for an increase in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' (OPEC's) production to bring down prices. Yet the West has reached that point. After an initial rebuff in mid-January, George W. Bush was at it again on Friday, May 16, during his meeting with King Abdullah in Riyadh. With no more success than the first time, unless one counts a limited and temporary increase.

 

he time is long gone when Standard Oil of New Jersey, Anglo-Persian, Gulf Oil and their four other "sisters" dominated the world market. When President Roosevelt got King Ibn Saud to open Saudi wells to foreign companies in exchange for American military protection (1945). When Iranian Prime Minister Mossadegh - guilty of nationalizing hydrocarbons - could be overthrown with impunity (1953). When one could pretend to believe that oil is an inexhaustible cornucopia.

 

Market power has changed sides. It has slipped away from consuming countries and from Big Oil (Exxon, Chevron, Shell, BP ...). The development of the price per barrel ($128), is being determined behind the scenes in the Kremlin and in the meanders of the Iranian government, in Nigerian mangroves and on the banks of the Venezuelan Orinoco, in OPEC's Viennese corridors and in the halls of the New York Mercantile Exchange. And, above all, in Saudi palaces.

 

The world is experiencing a third oil shock - slower than those of 1973 and 1980. The barrel, the price of which has increased six times in as many years, is more expensive in constant dollars than it was in the beginning of 1981. Its price may ebb by some $10 or $20 in coming months, but nothing is less certain. Analysts as respected as those of investment bank Goldman Sachs see the price going to an average of $141 in the second half of 2008 and to $148 in 2009. OPEC no longer rules out $200.

 

he Wahabite kingdom, the only country able to put a million additional barrels on the market, balks at that idea. It even stiffened its tone recently, when it announced that between 2009 and 2020 it would limit daily production to 12.5 million barrels a day to preserve its reserves and the interests of future generations along with them. "Every time there are new discoveries, leave them in the ground, for our children will need them," the king has resolved.

 

Nothing induces the Saudis to open the spigots. They consider the market to be well-supplied and stocks of crude and gas to be at good levels. They are especially worried about the United States' energy policy, which aims to reduce U.S. "dependency" on Middle Eastern oil - a watchword launched by Bush and re-echoed in a single voice by presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama. All that's necessary to understand the stakes is to hear the Saudi energy minister's denunciations of the bio-carburants being developed on the other side of the Atlantic. On top of that, comes certain American congresspeople's desire to submit the oil market to the anti-cartel rules of international trade, even to suspend arms sales if Riyadh doesn't increase its oil production. These initiatives worry and exasperate OPEC. The strategy of the Vienna cartel - which has given up setting a price range since 2003 - seems simple: supply the market to avoid any break, reduce the "security cushion" to a minimum (2 million barrels a day) and thus maintain the highest prices possible without compromising economic growth. With three-quarters of global reserves, the thirteen OPEC member states have the means to enforce their policy.

 

Spiking Prices

 

Consumer countries' dependence is linked to the fragility of the multinational companies. Oil states and their national public companies share 85 percent of the world's reserves. The majors no longer hold more than 15 percent and are having trouble reconstituting that percentage to the extent they draw those reserves down. What weight does "giant" ExxonMobil - the biggest listed company in the world - carry compared to Gazprom or Saudi Aramco? The great Western companies' access to oil fields - closed in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Mexico, ever more difficult in Russia, Venezuela and Algeria - would involve "returning to the period before the 1970s' nationalizations," believes Nicolas Sarkis, director of the "Arab Oil and Gas Review."

 

Will it be necessary to make war for the precious liquid? Unimaginable, even if the thirst for oil was one motive for the American invasion of Iraq in 2003, as acknowledged by former Fed boss Alan Greenspan. What was the payoff? By increasing tensions in the Middle East and reducing supply, the war contributed to the spike in prices. Taking possession of these reserves by force would be a "rear-guard battle," with the oil-producing countries in "a position of strength" today, Sarkis notes. "They can sell their enormous dollar reserves and deprive the warmongers of oil by offering it to more pacific countries. To China, rather than America!

 

A number of industrialized countries learned their lesson from the 1973 and 1980 crises and reduced their dependence. They need less oil to create the same amount of wealth. In the United States, successive administrations have resolved the issue the same way: "the American way of life is not negotiable." A policy that has led to U.S. dependence on imported oil moving from 60 percent to 80 percent.

 

In the immediate future, the problem is geopolitical: access to the resource is contracting. Longer term, the problem is geological. One trillion two hundred billion barrels of oil remain, or forty years' worth of consumption at the current rate of extraction. The most optimistic multiply that number by three, adding in the so-called "unconventional" crudes (heavy oils, bituminous shales). Unfortunately, they are very costly to extract. Fields are diminishing in Saudi Arabia, Russia, Norway, Mexico, Indonesia ...

 

The only answer resides in a reduction in consumption. Now, the spike in prices has reduced demand at the margin only, since transportation operates at 97 percent, thanks to crude derivatives. Such a reduction is vital to reinforce energy security and fight global climate change. The least expensive, cleanest oil is oil that isn't burned.

[Guest benlando]

Exxon proposes two-year deals to produce 200,000 barrels more Iraq oil per day…

 

After several months of negotiations and pressure from the Iraqi government, Exxon Mobil Corp. has finally submitted proposals to the Iraqi oil ministry on technical services contracts to boost production at Iraq’s prized oil fields, sources close to the Iraqi ministry said, Hassan Hafidh reports for Dow Jones Newswires. Other oil majors, which have been negotiating similar deals with Baghdad, haven’t yet submitted their plans, but they would follow suit.

 

Other oil majors, which have been negotiating similar deals with Baghdad, haven't yet submitted their plans, but they would follow suit, according to these sources. Iraq's Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani has threatened to cancel these technical services contracts, or TSC, if they are not signed in June. The TSCs are designed to boost Iraq's crude oil production in producing oil fields.

[Guest Dreams Unlived]

America's gas prices are outrageous and is causing the cost of everything to rise through the roof. Well we are asking you to help us spread the word to boycott this rediculous prices and to ask everyone not to pull up to the pumps on July the fourth or the fifth. This worked in the seventies so it should work today. We understand this is a national holiday, though we as well understand what this day is about. It's about the independance not the fire works. Hopefully were not the only one's that believe in this and with a wish we hope that you guys in D.C. will find it in your hearts to help in the fight to gain our freedom from these outrageous prices. Thank you very much for taking the time to read this and we would appreciate it even more if you would participate and as well help us spread the word!

[Guest LAW_*]

US Vice President Dick Cheney has rejected a suspension of federal gas tax proposed by his Republican party's nominee John McCain.

 

Cheney said during a Q&A session at the Gerald R. Ford Journalism Prize luncheon on Monday, "I think it's a false notion, in the sense that you're not going to have much of an impact, given the size of the gasoline tax on the total cost of the gallon of gas. You might buy a little bit of relief there, but it's minimal."

 

According to a survey of stations by the American Automobile Association (AAA) , and the oil Price Information Service, the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline on Monday was $3.98, with the total federal tax at 18.4 cents per gallon.

 

Both McCain and Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton have proposed suspending the tax, which is the main source of revenue for the Highway Trust Fund that provides grants for highway and bridge construction and repair.

 

Believing that the gas tax would offer little help to consumers coping with gas prices around $4 a gallon, Cheney said the broader solution is to expand the exploration of energy sources in the US.

[Guest Nadeam Elshami]

Speaker Nancy Pelosi released the following statement as the price of oil by the barrel reached $139, an $11 increase from yesterday – the largest one-day increase in history:

 

“With crude oil prices reaching another record high today, Democrats in Congress are fighting to reverse seven years of Bush-Cheney energy policies that have driven up the price at the pump for Americans struggling to make ends meet.

 

“Democrats are working to reduce our dependence on foreign oil and reduce gas prices, launch a cleaner, smarter energy future for America that creates hundreds of thousands of green jobs and helps save our planet.

 

“The bipartisan Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, now law, includes an increase in vehicle fuel efficiency to 35 miles per gallon in 2020 – the first congressionally-mandated increase in more than three decades – and promotes the use of more advanced American biofuels. This legislation is a critical first step toward addressing our nation’s energy independence and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

 

“In just the last few months, Congress successfully pressed the Bush Administration into investigating oil market price manipulation, passed a Farm Bill that boosts home-grown, advanced biofuels production, halted deliveries to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to increase oil supply in the market, and passed legislation that invests in clean, renewable, and efficient energy technologies, including tax incentives for plug-in hybrid cars, energy efficient homes and appliances.

 

“By July 4th, we will work to develop other innovative energy independence legislation that addresses high energy costs and continues to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and we will look into speculation in the energy futures market.”

[Guest Rep. Adam Putnam]

This is sure to be a day that Congressional Democrats will soon want to forget. On their watch, America has become a nation of $4 gasoline. This expensive milestone arrives two years removed from an endless stream of assurances by Democrat leaders that they had their hands on a ‘commonsense plan’ to lower gas prices.

 

“Empty promises are really all that this out-of-touch Democrat-led Congress has offered to an American public that is all talked out at this point. What they want now are real solutions that will invest in American resources, create American jobs, and lower prices for American consumers.

 

“As we have for weeks now, House Republicans will continue to offer the Democrat majority every opportunity to join us in putting an end to this broken status quo so we can begin producing more energy here at home.”

[Guest Always Red]

When it comes to energy production, while our global competitors are pursuing 21st Century technologies, America is stuck in the 1970s. On electricity production alone, for example, just to keep up with new demand, by 2030, the United States must build 747 NEW coal plants, 52 NEW nuclear plants, 2,000 NEW hydroelectric generators, and add 13,000 NEW megawatts of renewable power. The dire need to increase domestic oil and gas production is no different. Yet, the Democratic Majority refuses to lead.

 

How Washington is Broken:

 

The Democratic Majority’s “Just Say No” Energy Policy Darkens America’s Energy Future:

 

No production of American energy resources, which increases reliance on unstable foreign sources such as Venezuela, Iran, and Saudi Arabia.

No new oil refineries built, which increases gas prices and reliance on imported fuel.

No new transmission lines, which hinders renewable electricity getting to consumers and reduces reliability.

No new coal power plants, which increases electricity prices and stifles the economy.

No new advanced zero-emission nuclear plants, which blocks one of the cleanest, most reliable energy sources available.

No new zero-emission hydro-electric plants, which blocks reliable clean energy.

No liquefied natural gas terminals, which increases prices and ships jobs overseas.

Democrats’ prohibitions on producing American energy resources have made the U.S. more reliant on imported oil and natural gas.

Democrats’ roadblocks on the utilization of energy from our North American neighbors, have made the U.S. more reliant on the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

Democrats’ unfavorable tax rules have sent energy investment and production abroad.

Democrats’ unnecessary red-tape and bureaucracy have made it nearly impossible to move forward on new clean power generation.

Democrats’ 1970s-era energy policies have canceled dozens of power plants, reducing electricity supplies and increasing electricity costs to consumers.

Democrats’ refusal to provide incentives for individuals and businesses has made it difficult to invest in efficient technologies.

[Guest Senator Barack Obama]

Senate Republicans turned a blind eye to the plight of America's working families and our nation's worsening dependence on foreign oil. At a time when Americans are struggling with skyrocketing energy prices, including paying over $4.00 a gallon for gasoline, Senate Republicans blocked debate on important legislation that would have provided tax relief for low-income families and spurred on investments in job-creating research and development and alternative energy.

 

Senate Republicans also refused to extend critical investments in renewable energy, such as solar, wind, and cellulosic ethanol. I am particularly disappointed that the tax credit for the installation of biofuels pumps at gas stations, a provision I helped enact in 2005, is among the provisions that were blocked.

 

"These proposals alone would not have solved our serious energy problems, but they would have provided American families with some much-needed relief from record high gas prices. They also would have put America on track to having real alternatives to foreign oil and helped make our economy less vulnerable. We must stand with American families and not with those that are taking advantage of them, and I am committed to working with my colleagues to pass these important measures.

[Guest Brenda W]

I just go to the gas station now and ask for a certain amount, (40.00 worth please) and pay in cash. If it don't last two weeks, well sucks to be me. It's all I've got. Prices can get raised into oblivion. My pockets only go so deep.

 

I refuse to go into debt to make them rich! maybe if we all worked that way, they'd get the message.

[Guest Hold on a moment]

6% of the world's population uses 24% of the world's oil. That's the problem in a nutshell.

 

The steep rise in prices has had benefits too, in that at these rates shale oil is worth recovering, and the US has no shortage of that.

 

But the top five importers to the US are Canada, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Nigeria and Venezuela. The only other Middle Eastern countries on the list of top importers are Iraq and Kuwait, and together they export less than Venezuela to the US.

 

The US will lose its reserve currency status shortly, and with it the ability to make other countries pay in increasingly worthless USD. So Dick 'Duck' Cheney and his coterie of neocons and profiteers pick the one solution that is bound to aggravate prices - by fomenting mortal strife in the Middle East.

 

Whilst these people simply aren't smart enough to be responsible for a lot of stuff the conspiracy theorists accuse them of, it would be a mistake to think of them as stupid. When it comes to enlightened self-interest there is nobody to touch them.

 

Stop the speculation and forward-buying of oil, except for airlines and shipping companies, and most of the problem will go away. Confine the Zionists to their borders and it gets better still.

 

It's not such a mystery. There is NO shortage of oil, and you can't blame the OPEC members for increasing prices when they are losing money with the rapid depreciation of the USD.

[Guest Australasian Investment Review]

Oil prices edged a touch higher on Friday in New York, but news of an official investigation into the way some investors are using the markets (especially so-called Index-Long funds) by American regulators has sent tremors through the huge $US50 trillion a year market.

 

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has been conducting an investigation of oil trading for much of the past six months.

 

And the Commission is also expected to reveal new rules this week to tighten up on trading in futures on US exchanges that will be designed to make it tougher for speculators.

 

Both the oil probe and the new rules are responses to pressure from US politicians nervous about the impact of higher prices for oil and foodstuffs in an election year. (They are not worried about higher prices for gold, steel, coal, platinum or copper: just those commodities used extensively by voters).

 

Both responses are likely to be more along the lines of new 'rules' rather than sweeping changes to who can trade.

 

New financial investors in specialist funds are widely blamed in the US for pushing the likes of oil, wheat, soybeans and rice higher: but these funds only total some $US250 billion at most and total trading value in commodity exchanges in the US and London would be well over $US100 trillion (the oil market is the largest).

 

These new funds are financial investors in that they do not take delivery of the commodities: they sell their expiring contracts to oil refiners, wheat or corn processors and the like every day.

 

Financial investors or speculator shave a bigger impact in the huge US bond markets than they do in commodities and yet there is no move against them in these areas.

 

Friday saw oil in New York edge higher to close up 73c at $US127.35 a barrel for July crude on Nymex while in London, Brent North Sea July crude added 89c to settle at $US127.78.

 

Prices fell heavily earlier last week in the wake of the surge past $US135 the week before.

 

Oil is now a sort of catalyst for re-awakening fears of inflation in Australia, Asia, Europe, the US and everywhere.

 

And for some more thoughtful commentators, it's also now being factored in as a growing negative for economic growth in every region of the world: a sort of 'tax on growth' that will not only force inflation and interest rates higher, but force consumers to cut their consumption in retailing, housing, autos, petrol itself, travel and a host of activities.

 

The longer crude remains between $US100 a barrel to $US130 a barrel, the greater the possibility of corporate earnings being hurt by margin compression (airlines, transport and even retailing).

 

Concerns about the global credit crunch and the US housing slump seem to have been supplanted by worries about global inflation.

 

This is now plain to see in bond yields which rose further over the last week with the US 10 year bond yield back above 4% for the first time since January and the Australian ten year bond yield rising to 6.6%, its highest level in eight years.

 

The AMP's Dr Shane Oliver warns:" It's hard to see this going too much further though: leading indicators point to a further weakening in global and Australian growth, this is likely to take pressure off inflation and commodity prices seem to be coming of the boil.

 

"Apart from signs that the oil price may be topping out for now, it's worth noting that average global agricultural prices have fallen about 22% from their high earlier this year. From their recent high wheat prices are off 45% and rice prices are down 22% both on better news regarding this year's crops.

 

"While further increases in the oil price in the short term are possible there is increasing evidence that it has gone too far for now.

 

"Vehicle miles travelled in the US are running 4.6% below year ago levels, UK petrol consumption is down 7% on a year ago, Australian unleaded petrol sales fell 4.4% in the March quarter and several Asian countries are now reviewing the fuel price caps and subsidies which have been underpinning oil demand to some degree.

 

"At some point over the next six months the oil price is likely to fall back sharply, maybe to around $US100 a barrel in response to weaker oil demand, which has been partly caused by the rise in the oil price itself. That said the reality of rapid industrialisation in countries such as China driving strong long term growth in oil demand and constrained supply indicate that the long term trend in the oil price will remain up.

 

"The political debate in Australia about petrol prices has become a bit of a comedy.

 

"Neither a "fuel watch" scheme nor knocking 5 cents a litre off petrol excise will make much difference to motorists who are used to seeing petrol prices move 20 cents a litre in the space of a few days. Australian fuel taxes are already very low compared to other developed countries.

 

"We should really be debating ways to cut oil consumption over time – better public transport, flex fuel vehicles, manufacturing hybrid cars locally, etc," Dr Oliver said in his weekly market commentary on Friday..

[Guest csjohn]

High oil prices are a result of the following factors: Bankrupt republican tax policy. Phony war that we are piling up national debt to pay for. Fiscal policy that is destroying the global stock market and driving speculators that lost a bundle in the .com boom, then the real estate boom and now are seeking to get rich is the oil speculation boom. The real house of cards is the narrow sight of the Republican Revolution of the 90's. Don't be fooled by those who would divert your attention to phony excuses, you should be smart enough to understand the true issues.

[BlackSun]

Here is a map of the oil flow from producer to consumer.

 

[Guest Newt Gingrich]

Americans want action now because we are deeply worried by all the indicators of breakdown and stress we see around us.

 

Americans are first and foremost worried about the impact of high energy prices on our own lives and our family budgets.

 

But we are also worried about the increasingly stressed airline industry and the very real threat of it collapsing under the pressure of high aviation fuel prices.

 

We are worried that the ripple effect of high prices for trucking, travel, and petroleum and natural gas based manufacturing may be the forerunner of a big jump in inflation.

 

Americans are watching the stock market slide into bear market levels as the combination of the subprime mess, the shaky financial system and the high price of oil all pound on the values of our savings, our pension plans, and our retirement hopes.

[Guest FactCheck.org]

Obama released a national ad saying he has "fast-track alternatives" to imported oil. On closer examination, those turn out to be his proposal to spend $150 billion over the coming decade on energy research. Ten years doesn't sound all that "fast" to us, and there's no guarantee that the research will result in less oil being imported.

[Guest John Kam]

We've spent the last 50 years abandoning the District and committing centrifugal suicide, moving farther and farther out, becoming more and more dependent on the automobile and overextended municipal utilities. Even in a down economy we are chewing up prodigious quantities of irreplaceable farmland for McMansions.

 

This news actually gives me some hope for our inner cities, as well as for farmland preservation.