U.S. Is Already a Net Exporter of Oil
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I knew that the energy situation in the U.S. had been improving but I didn’t realize that it was already this good.
To be sure, part of the reason for this change is that demand for energy in the U.S. is down in the sluggish aftermath of the Great Recession, while demand for energy …
If You Must Be An Empire, Don’t Be An Incompetent Empire
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Jerry Pournelle, on foreign policy.
I was opposed to extending our Afghan adventure beyond the punishment of the Taliban for harboring out enemies; left to me we’d have been out as soon as Kabul fell to the anti-Taliban forces, with perhaps a billion dollars in bribe money squirreled away to be spent at the …
addicted to what now?
The Munchkin Wrangler had a great rant recently.
You know what I can’t stand to hear about anymore? That we Americans are addicted to oil. It’s a smarmy term that tries to couch an economic and environmental argument in pathological terms.
I’m not addicted to oil. I’m addicted to being …
The Case for Increasing Domestic Oil Production
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By increasing U.S. oil production (from off shore drilling, from natural gas fields, and from shale oil fields) we could cut our oil imports roughly in half.
Peak Oil Myths
Michael Lynch, the former director for Asian energy and security at the Center for International Studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, debunks some of the claims surrounding peak oil, in an op-ed at the New York Times. Here’s a few of the highlights:
On the claim that oil companies are extracting increasing amounts of water …
Shale Oil
I’ve heard before that shale oil was energy intensive. In fact, that’s the most frequent criticism I’ve heard. But I had no idea it was this energy intensive:
Environmental groups such as the Natural Resources Defense Council have called oil shale one of the planet’s dirtiest fuels. It can be converted into liquid petroleum, …
T. Boone Pickens Lack of a Plan
The Wall Street Journal correctly skewers T. Boone Pickens today:
Boone Pickens may be a fine man, and has played a colorful and useful role on the American stage for decades. But his ”energy plan,” which he’s spending a fortune to promote on cable TV, is not a plan.
Asserting that …
Why is Oil So Expensive?
As I’ve mentioned in the past, I enjoy reading a few economics blogs. Lately, oil prices have been a hot topic — why are they high?, are they too high?, are they too low?, are speculators driving up the price, etc. It’s been a fascinating discussion.
Yesterday, Arnold Kling suggested that it’s more likely that oil …
Not Using Oil, to Relieve Poverty
How to relieve poverty in oil-rich third-world countries.
Invade and take over the oil wells Give control of the oil wells to private corporations The government — deprived of easy oil money to buy elections and support — will begin to govern better
It’s crazy, but it just might work.
Refinery Problems Lead to Higher Gas Prices
Do you wonder why gas has been so expensive this summer? Wonder no more. Gas Prices Rise on Refineries’ Record Failures – New York Times
Oil refineries across the country have been plagued by a record number of fires, power failures, leaks, spills and breakdowns this year, causing dozens of them to shut down …