Every time I see someting like this, with these guys acting all serious I am reminded of the scene in Caddy Shack where Rodney comes zooming up onto the golf course horns honking, music blaring and Ted Knight all bent out of shape.

That is what I wish someone would do to pee in their pool.

Yes, the Dems do wait till the Republicans have an idea, trash the idea, and then steal it, change a few punctuation marks and minor details, and trot it out as the neatest thing since sliced bread---and a Dem idea.

Yes, the hard-core libs buy into this, but they've proven themselves to be so gullible that their opinion is not worth much. The moderate Dems can see through this, I think---especially with some nudging.

But look---the Dens are actually coming out in FAVOR of something! True, it is in favor of a recycled idea stolen from the smart guys, but at least they are putting themselves out there and promoting something. Quite a change from just sitting back and waiting for the Republicans to come up with an idea, just to cut it down. Pretty radical, for the Party of No.

The first time I can recall them doing this to Bush was during the '04 campaign, when Ol' Spitball Kerry presented his five-point plan for Iraq. It was the same plan the administration was employing.

Smoke and mirrors, that's todays DemocRATic party. And they've got their lemmings smoked...

As Comedian Lewis Black so eloquently put it.

The Republicans...the party of bad ideas.

The Democrats...the party of absolutely NO IDEAS.

At least the Republicans are trying, though the ideas leave a lot to be desired.

*Chuckles*

Well maybe now we can get some things going. Though reducing consumtion isn't the end all and be all. We prove that in California daily with our power system. We've reduced consumtion all over the place for years and yet we still don't have enough power.

Sure everyone may be using less power, but we keep having more people and uses. We must work on both sides of the equation and not just one.

Democrats' vision of increasing energy supplies:

1. Oil -- No ANWAR, no offshore drilling (except for sites run by Cuba)

2. Coal -- Find where there are vast reserves of coal, and then make them off limits to mining. Prevent all kinds of mining except the most dangerous techniques, and complain when there are accidents in these mines.

3. Nuclear -- Never in a million years, except for China N Korea, Iran, France, etc.

4. Wind -- OK as long as it doesn't spoil the view from the multimillion dollar beach houses of Democrats.

5. Solar -- OK if you can set aside millions of acres of land for enough solar panels to power a couple of city blocks...and the Sierra Club doesn't slap a lawsuit for spoiling the environment by setting up the solar panels.

*Chuckles*

Don't forget the solar plants like Solar Two out here near Barstow. The kind that take up lots of space with a giant focal point that vaporizes birds. :)

Can anyone present any evidence that a refinery shortage has resulted in todays high gas prices?

Gozer,

It seems to me that the main problem California has is that 23 million (?) people live in a state that wasn't meant to support nearly that many.

Hermie,

You forgot ethanol which is the up and coming supplement to oil. Farmers in Iowa for example who were getting killed in the agricultural market with their corn decided to establish an ethanol plant. They use corn to distill the ethanol. They can't make it fast enough and are planning on opening a second plant soon. Clean. Limitless. Forget ANWR. Remember Des Moines!

Gozer,

Have you ever seen Cher? Isn't she from Barstow?

I guess its reassuring to right wingers to make fun of other efforts that have no power to implement them currently.

Takes your attention away from the fact that your administration has done NOTHING in 5 years of absolute power but TRIPLE gas prices, make america even more oil dependant and done bupkiss to jumpstart alternative fuels.

Axis,

The Dems in Congress may not have power to implement any proposals now, but they sure have proven that they can block anyone elses idea.

OH BTW: Tell me again what their energy plan was when they were in power? Oh that's right... put on sweaters (Jimmy Carter)...very clever and effective. Oh I almost forgot...increase environemntal and OSHA standards to force the closure of hundreds of refineries, then prevent any new ones from being built...brilliant!

Barney asked something about refinery construction and while I don't know this for sure but I remember hearing in the last week or two that in the Exxon annual report a statement was made that substantial refinery improvements over the last decades made constructing new ones less of a priority.

California has close to 40 million people. Two conditions conspire to lift gas prices here. There are many different formulas for gas that change from season to season, meaning refineries have to try to allocate just the right amount of just the right formula, creating artificial shortages that spike prices.

More importantly, there are fewer gas stations here now than there were in the 1980's, reducing competition and supply, driving prices higher than other states.

Exxon and Mobil use to duke it out on every available corner. Now They're the same company and no longer compete.

The REALLY bad thing about pumping more oil instead of conserving it's use is really simple. Millions of years of environmental factors that trapped and buried toxic carbon dioxide while releasing it's oxygen component into the atmosphere have given the planet it's current nitrogen/oxygen/carbon dioxide balance that is so hospitable to it's current inhabitants.

The seemingly bizarre voodoo of your car turning eight pounds of gas (one gallon) into 26 pounds of carbon dioxide is actually simple. Each atom of carbon in gas combines with two oxygen atoms that spit out your tailpipe, making your emissions three times as heavy as your fuel.

This process throws million of years of carbon back into the atmosphere while locking up two times it's weight in oxygen in the geological blink of an eye.

Doesn't this strike anyone here as suicidal?

Have you guys all forgotten that Republicans control both houses of Congress??? I'd say if any legislation isn't getting through, it's due to your own party.

But you guys were right...Bush does like to talk a lot. He'd probably have a lot better luck if 2/3 of the country didn't hate his guts, along with the rest of the planet. I wonder why that is. He should take a hint from George Costanza and do the exact opposite of every proposal he believes in.

Some people shouldn't be allowed to play with calculators!
The gasoline to hydrocarbon ratio is 20:1, not 24:1; the molecular weight of Carbon is 12, and Oxygen is 16. Therefore, CO2 has a molecular weight of 44, with 12 from carbon and 32 from oxygen. the weight of carbon in gasoline is 3.7.
Gasoline is 87% carbon, and gasoline weighs 6.3 pounds; Carbon in gasoline is 5.5 pounds, so multiply the 5.5 X 37 and the ratio is 20.35 pounds.
Gasoline contains 500 hydrocarbons that may have 3-12 carbons. The oxidation process (burning) utilizes hydrocarbons and the emissions are unburned hydrocarbons, trace chemicals and water. As of 2004 the average US emissions contain 1.8 g/mi HC (hydrocarbons).
The total volume of hydrocarbons is not sent out the tailpipe; they're burned in the engine. The HC that escape is mostly that from the crevice areas of the engine (between the cylinder wall and piston).
There is no evidence that the additional volume of HC from all autos in the world has any effect on the atmosphere.
FEAT (Fuel Efficiency Automobile Test) conducted in Utah demonstrated 40 grams of HC per gallon of gasoline in emission in 1992. According to the EPA, that number has been dropping steadily since the mid 1980's.

BAD Bane!!! BAD BAD BAD Bane!!! How DARE you inject fact into an otherwise perfectly entertaining liberal rant?
Not that it will matter. Facts? We don't need no steenkin' facts..... (stevepeaceout)

But....I wonder why the production of methanol has gone up so much. I wonder why biodiesel plants are being built all over the country. I wonder why ethanol is being used so much now that so many new cars can use it instead of gasoline? I wonder why solar energy technology has advanced, or its use? Because Bush sure couldn't have anything to do with it. Being all tied up with BigOil and all.

Or maybe, just maybe, an administration where the two top guys have actually been in business, made business decisions, made payrolls, and actually KNOW a little about what it takes to start up companies, has an effect on creating a business-friendly environment.

I know, I know, nothing counts unless it was started by the government, funded by the government, controlled by the government, and then taxed into extinction. But for now, let's see what happens when people are encouraged to devlop technology, start and build businesses, and maybe even keep some of what they earn. Radical, I know, and in danger if a Democratic takeover happens, but what a nice change of pace. Oh, and coincidentally good for the country, and the environment.

Thorough post, Bane. Very appreciated. I was keeping it in the single digit ranges for simplicity purposes, with the point being pulling carbon out of it's million years old hiding place and pumping it back into the air where it used to be. Hydrocarbon leakage is better now than years ago, for many reasons including the vapor returns on gas pumps, a very "liberal" invention, but specifically carbon dioxide and monoxides spit right out that tailpipe. They aren't "burned in the engine" but are dunmped back into the air. This is even moreso in things like coal-fired powerplants.

I can testify that oh-so-liberal California has nothing to brag about when it comes to the cars they drive. Check out the parking lots at LAX, and it looks like an Escalade dealership. So my very odd liberal perspective on all this is to let gas prices skyrocket. I'd like to see ten bucks a gallon, myself. Nothing would spur Americans to adopt hybrid, flex fuel cars faster than a two hundred dollar tank of gas. In the short run I'd hate to see that much money go to Saudi Arabia, Iran and Venezuela, a monarchy, a theocracy and a budding fascist, but with a 35 mpg CAFE standard, all thos countries would be rendered obsolete on the world stage.

Wind power, Kennedy needs to get over his "view" problem. I'm in Boston for work this week, and offshore wind power needs to be tried here. The breeze through the Pilgrim Tower viewing platform alone could power my neighborhood back home.

Solar power, if Exxon had spent ten million on Lee Raymond's retirement and four hundred million on solar research, instead of the other way around, Exxon would be THE energy leader of the new millenium. But I suppose Raymond needed that four humdred million just to cover his Domino's Pizza tab...

People power, no not the hippie's version, but bicycles and lanes to ride them in. Not only eco friendly, but gut-friendly and heart-friendly as well. It's not like this country could lose a few pounds or anything...

It's EMBARASSING that Brazil has already reached the 50% flex fuel car goal. Just five years ago, it burned my eyes and throat to walk the streets of Sao Paulo. I was there last month, and not only is the river through town not fermenting anymore, but there's an almost sweet smell on the streets from the ethanol half the 30 million people burn driving around the city.

Whatever their market dynamic is doing, ethanol is about half the cost of petrol there. And it looks like the money they're not spending on gas, they're spending on unbelievable upscale malls with rollercoasters indoors, and city infrastructure, and two hundred dollar tennis shoes. Thankfully, a cafe con leite is still about two reals (about a buck).

Are we dumber than Brazil?

Heres another energy idea. Bomb Iran, that way when gas prices go to $6-10 a gallon it will put more incentives into alternative fuels. Also, it will Allow Lee Raymond to retire with a $800 million package instead of forcing him to make due on only $400 million. The guy can barely afford fuel on his private jet on that.

Congressive wrote, “carbon dioxide and monoxides (or hydrocarbons ~HC) spit right out that tailpipe. They aren't ‘burned in the engine’ but are dumped back into the air.”

No, actually; burning HC is what makes the engine run. If HC were “spit out the tailpipe” the engine would have nothing to burn and wouldn’t run!

"less than 40 grams of HC per gallon of gasoline.

Here's a better energy idea, carpet bomb the northern US border, just the first 100 miles from the border north; that'll wipe out 80% of Canada's population and give us more space without socialists peering over the border looking at us enviously.
I’m feeling more energetic already!