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<DIV>this posting should be voted "best of* of the last week's discussion.</DIV>
<DIV>Thanks Tom.</DIV>
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<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>In a message dated 6/7/2006 10:30:28 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,
tjvitolo@bu.edu writes:</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><FONT
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>Gas
prices are up, but it's not as simple as the two reasons you cite.<BR><BR>It's
true that global demand (China and to a lesser extend, India) is up.
<BR>It's true that the MTBE additive was banned -- but the rest of that claim
is<BR>wrong. The MTBE additive was banned because it poisions ground
water and has<BR>been linked to cancer. It wasn't banned with three
months lead time -- it was<BR>banned with *years* of lead time -- the first
legislation bassed in the year<BR>2000. The reality is that the
refineries didn't bother to make sure that they<BR>were prepared, knowing full
well that they had a rather captive audience. <BR>Additionally, ethanol
absorbs water and so can't be shipped by pipeline<BR>pre-mixed with gasoline
(unlike MTBE), and there were transportation issues. <BR>The fault doesn't lie
with a Congress interested in preventing health risks. <BR>The fault lies with
the refiners who didn't secure the necessary supply
chain<BR>capacity.<BR><BR>Some other reasons why price is higher:<BR>* GWB's
war in Iraq reducing available supply from Iraq.<BR>* GWB's squabbling with
Iran resulting in jitters on the market, a market<BR>concerned that Iran will
both cut its supply and slow up the Strait of Hormuz.<BR>* GWB's squabbling
with Chavez in Venezuela, resulting in more jitters.<BR>* tUSA's high tax on
imported ethanol ($0.54/gallon) restricting supplies of<BR>gasoline
alternatives.<BR>* Gas prices always go up around Memorial day, because people
like to drive<BR>more in the summer, particularly on vacation weekends.<BR>*
There was that small rainstorm in New Orleans which tUSA's FEMA
wasn't<BR>prepared for, resulting in a dramatic reduction in the ability for
tUSA to<BR>convert crude to gasoline.<BR>* Congress' policies on autos and
SUVs/trucks over the past few years,<BR>including the subsidy of vehicles more
than 6,000 lbs GVW, as well as a refusal<BR>to improve CAFE substantially for
many years.<BR>* tUSA still using oil to make electricity -- including 26% of
MAs electricity.<BR>Pushing alternative energy sources in New England,
Florida, and Hawaii would<BR>reduce the amount of oil used in tUSA to generate
electricity (about 2.5% of<BR>tUSA's oil use), freeing up some more
supply.<BR>* tUSA's increasing of the speed limit from 55 to 65 to 70, 75, or
80. <BR>Reducing back to 55 (and enforcing) would save about 15% of all
gasoline<BR>consumed in tUSA.<BR><BR><BR>It's far more complicated than you
make it out to be, and it's the result of bad<BR>energy policy for many many
years -- particularly the constant massive oil, gas,<BR>and coal subsidies
while completely ignoring the chances to encourage growth in<BR>the ag &
tech industries of alternative (read: green) energy. That
civil<BR>engineers and city planners think progress is measured in the number
of lanes<BR>the local highway has doesn't help, nor does Congress' insistence
that Amtrak<BR>break even financially even though their services do lots of
good in tUSA<BR>(including reduce demand on oil).<BR><BR>But it's always
easier to blame the Commies than to take responsibility for our<BR>own actions
as a society, isn't it.<BR><BR><BR> - stomv</FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV>
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