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U.S. Oil Output to Overtake Saudi Arabia’s by 2020

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Re: U.S. Oil Output to Overtake Saudi Arabia’s by 2020

#51
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People are on track to deal with these problems (or at least are attempting to be). There are hybrid cars all over the place now, Tesla Motors is doing well as a company and there is a ton of research going into clean energy. These are just extremely difficult problems to deal with. In the meantime, the country can't just let society fail as a whole. The whole world would descend into chaos and war. The US has to do…

American cars are a teeny tiny part of world CO2 emissions. Whatever else their pros and cons, hybrids and Teslas aren't going to matter to global warming.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_carbon_dio...

18.27% of global c02

http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/Downloads/ghgemissions/US-G...

"Transportation activities (excluding international bunker fuels) accounted for 32 percent of CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion in 2010."

almost 6% of global C02 emmisions. I think thats substantial, but you are correct that hybrids and teslas aren't going to do much. However if we help push electric vehicles and clean power production there is obviously a substantial benefit to be reaped.

Re: U.S. Oil Output to Overtake Saudi Arabia’s by 2020

#53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

American cars are a teeny tiny part of world CO2 emissions. Whatever else their pros and cons, hybrids and Teslas aren't going to matter to global warming.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_carbon_dio... 18.27% of global c02 http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/Downloads/ghgemissions/US-G... "Transportation activities (excluding international bunker fuels) accounted for 32 percent of CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion in 2010." almost 6% of global C02 emmisions. I think thats substantial, but you are correct that hybrids and teslas aren't going to do…

You need one more step -- cars as a % of American transportation activities.

Re: U.S. Oil Output to Overtake Saudi Arabia’s by 2020

#54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let me make my point more clearly. If CO2 emissions are such a huge threat to the world then it makes the most sense to push for fracking in the short term because switching to natural gas over kerosene/gasoline and especially over coal reduces carbon emissions substantially. If a hybrid compact car makes sense from an environmental standpoint then shifting hydrocarbon usage to natural gas makes as much if not more s…

"Let me make my point more clearly" - yes please do because your first attempt was gawd awful... Part of the reason I would rather not invest in fracking (aside from the immediate environmental issues) is that if we want to end up at clean and sustainable energy then why make expensive investments into intermediate technologies that don't significantly impact the underlying problem. While it would reduce emissions th…

"... if we want to end up at clean and sustainable energy then why make expensive investments into intermediate technologies that don't significantly impact the underlying problem."

So we shouldn't develop hybrid cars either? Or wind power? Or biofuels?

If you want to get from A to B you can't just teleport there, you need to travel the distance between, and that typically involves lots of incremental and partial advancements and often also many compromises.

Re: U.S. Oil Output to Overtake Saudi Arabia’s by 2020

#55
post #27
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Our increased production of oil is due to the new technology of fracking (fracturing the ground to get oil out of it). The situation is certainly not "We could have been fracking 15 years ago, but we didn't feel like it because Saudi gas was cheap". The energy sector is subject to the same process of technological advance that any other industry is. We came up with a new way to get oil out of the ground and figured o…

The reason that American troops are in Iraq is completely different from, say, the reason that the Fifth Fleet is in Bahrain.

American troops left Iraq nearly a year ago.

Re: U.S. Oil Output to Overtake Saudi Arabia’s by 2020

#56
post #26
post #3

All it took was $4 gas. All the Saudis have to do is drop their price to the point where gas is $2.50 again and suddenly all the US companies go under in 12 months. But think how much we'll save by having less than 10k troops in the middle-east someday.

Our increased production of oil is due to the new technology of fracking (fracturing the ground to get oil out of it). The situation is certainly not "We could have been fracking 15 years ago, but we didn't feel like it because Saudi gas was cheap". The energy sector is subject to the same process of technological advance that any other industry is. We came up with a new way to get oil out of the ground and figured o…

"There was nothing in the article about all the free oil that the US gets just because we have troops in Iraq."

Quiz: how many US troops are in Iraq right now?

Re: U.S. Oil Output to Overtake Saudi Arabia’s by 2020

#57
post #27
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Our increased production of oil is due to the new technology of fracking (fracturing the ground to get oil out of it). The situation is certainly not "We could have been fracking 15 years ago, but we didn't feel like it because Saudi gas was cheap". The energy sector is subject to the same process of technological advance that any other industry is. We came up with a new way to get oil out of the ground and figured o…

The reason that American troops are in Iraq is completely different from, say, the reason that the Fifth Fleet is in Bahrain.

Yes but the all-encompassing rhetoric about regional political stability is just dog whistling about oil price stability [1].

[1] Alan Greenspan

Re: U.S. Oil Output to Overtake Saudi Arabia’s by 2020

#58

Thee article seems to skip pretty quickly over what, to me, is the important point: >Will transform the U.S. into the largest producer for about five years starting in 2020 So the us is going to start pulling it's oil out of the ground a lot faster. And then it's going to run out of oil. I think it might be better to just keep buying from the Saudis and keep a little bit in the ground.

I always come back to this point as well. Buy till there is no more, use nothing till everyone has ran out.

But how does this help us? The oil market is international. If we wait until everyone else runs out of oil, then start drilling ourselves, we're still paying ultra-high prices for it.

Of course, unless you are suggesting we don't sell any of our own oil at that point. Sounds good in theory, until you realize that keeping oil product for domestic use (at say $100/bbl) leaves a lot of money on the table when you can sell it to another country for $400/bbl.

Re: U.S. Oil Output to Overtake Saudi Arabia’s by 2020

#59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_carbon_dio... 18.27% of global c02 http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/Downloads/ghgemissions/US-G... "Transportation activities (excluding international bunker fuels) accounted for 32 percent of CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion in 2010." almost 6% of global C02 emmisions. I think thats substantial, but you are correct that hybrids and teslas aren't going to do…

You need one more step -- cars as a % of American transportation activities.

I agree. http://climate.dot.gov/about/transportations-role/overview.h... looks like maybe 82% if you include trucks with cars

Re: U.S. Oil Output to Overtake Saudi Arabia’s by 2020

#60
post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I always come back to this point as well. Buy till there is no more, use nothing till everyone has ran out.

But how does this help us? The oil market is international. If we wait until everyone else runs out of oil, then start drilling ourselves, we're still paying ultra-high prices for it. Of course, unless you are suggesting we don't sell any of our own oil at that point. Sounds good in theory, until you realize that keeping oil product for domestic use (at say $100/bbl) leaves a lot of money on the table when you can se…

Using our own oil last is more about military strategy and less about prices at the pump.
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