Local right-wing global warming denier does it again! (LTTE excerpts within)

[bbernardini]

Funny how this guy keeps forgetting to mention that he works for a company known to be a significant polluter. Whole letter is at the link below. Thoughts?

http://snipurl.com/2ubny

"In his recent letter (DLN 7/3), Richard Whiteford attempted to scare us into believing several popular myths about our environment, our energy consumption, and our economy. He also reveals the motive for his deception: he wants to force us to drive plug-in hybrids.
Mr. Whiteford wants us to believe that increasing domestic oil production will not decrease prices at the pump. That statement violates the first law of supply and demand, unless government uses it as an excuse to tax gasoline more.
You see, oil companies cannot store unlimited amounts of oil, for both practical and economic reasons. They need to sell it to us or cut production. If it is not profitable for them to sell it, or if their inventories exceed their storage capacity, they will cut production."

"So the answer to high gas prices at the pump is to increase production and decrease taxes on gasoline, so that oil companies can compete for our business and increase their profits. The problem is not oil company greed, it's Big Government greed. Pennsylvania and the U.S. government make 13 percent profit on a gallon of oil they do not produce. Oil companies make less than 9 percent. Who's gouging who?"

"The same people who today bemoan our lack of clean energy are the same ones who stand in the way of efficient nuclear power and domestic drilling. They claimed that global cooling was upon us in the 1970s. They claimed that Prince William Sound would never recover from the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. It is as pristine today as it was before the spill. If you doubt that, just book one of the many cruises departing for that destination. Now they claim we are doomed if we do not do as they say."

"As for ANWR, BP has been extracting oil from neighboring Prudhoe Bay since 1977. The caribou don't seem to mind and nobody else lives close enough to care, except a few busybodies who want to tell us what to drive. Truth be told, only the title the DLN chose for his letter is likely correct. "Time is running out for our energy plan." Both presidential candidates and a growing number of Americans are clueless on the environment and our economy, the result of decades of propaganda and disinformation. The global warming alarmists have given themselves a new 50 year lease to lie to us about the environment and achieve their political goals. Who's kidding who?"

[patricia92243]

1. It is depressing to think there are a lot of this type person out there. nt

[MiniMe]

2. The hole in his theory is that the supply is adequate to meet the demand at present

And the higher prices are keeping the supply up, because nobody can afford to gas up for things that are not necessary.

[Beausoleil]

3. Aw, Geez.

"If it is not profitable for them to sell it, or if their inventories exceed their storage capacity, they will cut production"

Aside from the obvious fact that it is not a supply problem, how will drilling help? More drilling makes it more profitable?

"Pennsylvania and the U.S. government make 13 percent profit on a gallon of oil they do not produce"

Governments don't make "profit".

"The same people who today bemoan our lack of clean energy are the same ones who stand in the way of efficient nuclear power and domestic drilling"

As if nuclear power and domestic drilling are "clean energy".

"They claimed that global cooling was upon us in the 1970s"

I was around during the '70s and I don't remember it this way. Any real evidence for this claim? Who is "they" anyway?

"It is as pristine today as it was before the spill. If you doubt that, just book one of the many cruises departing for that destination"

You have to get off the damn cruise ship and get your hands wet to see the real, lasting damage. Turn over a rock and the damage is obvious.

"The caribou don't seem to mind and nobody else lives close enough to care, except a few busybodies who want to tell us what to drive"

Any evidence for these three preposterous claims?


What is this guy, 13?

[gratuitous]

4. Just a couple of points

These people are so tiresome and predictable. Sad that your local fishwrap sees fit to grant his ravings so much space; makes them look almost legitimate, but that's a post for another day.

First, Dimbulb talks about motives he ascribes to others, yet refuses to divulge his own. And his dastardly opponents want to (oh noes!) "force us to drive plug-in hybrids"! Quelle horreur. Meanwhile, he wants to keep polluting the planet for his own personal enrichment, and persuade others that that's the only way it should be.

Second, his analysis of economics is about as solid as his understanding of the environment, which is to say gossamer at best. He prattles on and on about supply and demand, but fails to address demand at all. In fact, over the last few months, our consumption of oil has actually gone down as people are driving less and making conscious decisions about driving, rather than mindlessly consuming. Yet the price keeps going up, in complete defiance of the "law" of supply and demand. Yet he offers no explanation for this startling phenomenon.

I wonder why?

[Gman]

5. and this guy is allowed to vote

I hate it that stupid people are allowed to vote.

[bbernardini]

6. Kick!

[Javaman]

7. Got to love America, where even the brain dead have a voice. nt

[bbernardini]

8. Any other thoughts on how to respond? nt

[seasat]

9. I don't have time to look up the links but here's the gist

There was a GAO report that showed that drilling ANWR would only net us a $0.75 reduction per barrel in the price of oil 10 years from now. That would mean an about 3 cent reduction in the price of gas ten years from now. BP was fined millions of dollars by the EPA for dumping benzene and other toxic chemicals at their drilling sites in Prudhoe bay. We use about 21 million gallons of oil a day. That is about a quarter of the world's daily demand. We have 3% of the worlds oil reserves. If we drilled every possible location in the US we may be able to increase our output by 0.5 to 1 million per 10 years from now. That is a drop in the bucket compared to world demand and expected growth in demand. It will affect prices only about 10 cents a gallon if the most optimistic figures are used. It is the law of supply and demand, he just doesn't understand it.

BTW, global cooling is a myth started by the media. During the 70's we were just learning about climate cycles and paleoclimatology. Even back then, the overwhelming scientific consensus was increased cooling. Go to realclimate.org and search for an article a few months ago that links to a study by a science historian that demonstrates that overwhelmingly the sciencetific papers of that period predicted increased warming. He's representative of the same people that worked for the cigarette companies that claimed that smoking didn't cause cancer.

There also was a study on profits from oil companies. The less than 9 cents a gallon figure is the retail markup not the well to retail profit. If you look at yahoo financial reports, oil and gas companies are doing extremely well compared to other companies.

[tjwash]

10. Wouldn't he be happier commenting at You Tube?

nt

[bbernardini]

11. Kick!