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    <title><![CDATA[Discussion on Scoring the rhetoric on Obama's energy policies ]]></title>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-9706]]></link>
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    <lastBuildDate>2013-05-25T12:08:30-07:00</lastBuildDate>
             

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        <title><![CDATA[Pretty good until the end]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-9706-74550]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[This is a good balanced report for the most part.  The only part I have issue with is an off handed comment at the end.  &quot;As we enter the twilight years of oil, our only serious option is to reduce our consumption.&quot;  I'm not buying the &quot;twilight&quot; years speculation unless twilight lasts 100 years.  I agree with the reader who commented that it makes economic sense to fire power plants with natural gas.  Industry is going that way anyway because it is so inexpensive now, but it's a bit off topic because power plants rarely use oil now.  Within 20 years we will be moving to process heat and some electrical production using &quot;Low Energy Nuclear&quot; technology from companies like Brillioun Energy and Defkallion.  Hopefully, if government doesn't get in the way, we can start to replace our aging nulear reactors with LFTRs and produce fresh water, medical isotopes and start to consume our nuclear waste.  I wouldn't be surprised if Helion Energy, General Fusion and others doing private research on fusion haven't made numerous breakthoughs and are on a path to viable fusion reactors.  The future of energy will be fine if government doesn't surpress it.  The amount of oil in the ground is the least of our concerns.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-9706-74550]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[ComputerNut62]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Tue, 17 Jul 2012 10:34:13 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Your argument is missing one important factor, POLLUTION!!!]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-9706-68529]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[Hi James,Your argument fails to consider one important by product of drilling, Pollution.  New oil and gas drilling techniques pump large quantities of toxic substances into the ground under high pressure, fracking.  This process has the potential to pollute the countries water sources.  There are several locations in PA and Wyoming where water has been rendered undrinkable.  I am not against developing our energy resources, but only after the necessary precautions have been taken.  Drillers must be bonded, preventing them from extracting the profit and then leaving the tax payer with the clean up.  Having grown up in western PA I have seen firsthand what the last energy boom did to the idyllic landscape: Giant holes in the ground, polluted streams and lakes, and large tracks of land that don't support plant growth.  America needs a two pronged approach to energy:  1.  CONSERVATION 2. Development of new energy sources, renewable and oil and gas.Complex problems require complex solutions; if anyone tells you differently they are misinformed or lying.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-9706-68529]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[JT4]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Wed, 11 Apr 2012 05:24:15 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Points well made]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-9706-67520]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[Except for the title. Don't you remember during the Bush Administration? He was personally responsible for the rise in oil prices. Personally responsible. According to the same media that gives Obama a pass and tries to tell us that now the President has nothing to do with it. They can't have it both ways. I guess they are relying on the short memory span of the average idiot voter. I distinctly remember gas at about $1.75/gal after Bush announced he was lifting restrictions on drilling just before he left office. It was over $3.00 before that. After Obama took over, gas immediately started climbing again. So, it seems to me that the President does have some influence over oil prices. Any idiot in the press that makes comments that if we increase our oil production and it not having any affect on prices is either lying or on drugs. How come the Saudis can increase or decrease their production and it affects prices, but not us? Makes no sense, but the dupes in our idiocracy buy it because they saw it in the media and therefore it must be true, right?]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-9706-67520]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[mudpuppy1]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Sat, 31 Mar 2012 07:57:48 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Just Askin']]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-9706-67089]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[The issue of race being associated with a monkey is your problem.  The facts are in the eye of the beholder.   It appears to me that your perception is flawed.  What would the photo of a dog bring to your mind?  Politically correct BS.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-9706-67089]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[Assoni]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Tue, 27 Mar 2012 16:35:34 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Scoring the rhetoric on Obama energy policies]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-9706-67095]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[Chris,I've read many analysis about energy use and future prospects, and this one is by far the best one. Explained in simple terms, using facts from both political camps without any bias that I could detect.Simply, marvelous.Unfortunately, it shows that we, as the human race, are at the brink of unimaginable economic and existential crisis ( within 20-30 years ) as energy becomes more expensive. I wonder what will our descendants  think about us.Thanks, Vule.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-9706-67095]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[Vule2]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Tue, 27 Mar 2012 14:52:15 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Question on Subsidies and Gasoline]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-9706-67084]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[If $4 Billion dollars is a drop in the bucket for Oil Companies how would that impact alternative energy research if that money was given to them? Or what if alternative energy programs received the same amount of subsidies as oil, gas and coal? How fast could we really significantly lower our cost on energy? And do you have an opinion if all oil imports ended tomorrow and we did not have a choice, how fast could we solve the problem?Regarding GasolineWhat would happen to our gas prices if we had restriction on how much gasoline was exported? And is this statement from CNNMoney below true? If it is we don't have prayer of ever lowering gasoline prices no matter what primate is in office!NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The United States is awash in gasoline. So much so, in fact, that the country is exporting a record amount of it.The country exported 430,000 more barrels of gasoline a day than it imported in September, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. That is about twice the amount at the start of the year, and experts and industry insiders say the trend is here to stay.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-9706-67084]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[termworks]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Tue, 27 Mar 2012 12:49:00 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Actually]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-9706-66932]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[what we need less of on Capitol Hill is spin. What we need more of is truth and abiding by the Constitution.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-9706-66932]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[mudpuppy1]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Sat, 24 Mar 2012 10:47:00 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Excellent explanation, translation - with little interpretation/bias.]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-9706-66811]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[Chris, I read almost all the peak commodity commentary available - from all perspectives and biases. Yours is undoubtedly the least biased and most accurately detailed of all that I read. You are SP's single most valuable asset and I would very much like to see the rest of their coverage be of the same caliber - but unfortunately it isn't yet within light years of matching yours. Hear that Andrew?All the best,Durwood M. Dugger, Pres.BCI, Inc.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-9706-66811]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[dduggerbiocepts]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Fri, 23 Mar 2012 07:38:54 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[So we all agree.]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-9706-66788]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[The use of baseless accusations of racism on this site to deflect criticism of the presidents policies is annoying.Point made.I hope I am never again the target of baseless accusations of racist intent on this site for my opposition to some of Obamas moronic policies.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-9706-66788]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[Hates Idiots]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Fri, 23 Mar 2012 07:23:52 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[There are some slow-witted people around here...]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-9706-66764]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[Unable to grasp the analogy and using that limitation to create an outrage with which to beat everyone over the head.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-9706-66764]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[Subdivisions]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Thu, 22 Mar 2012 22:27:55 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Chris burying the lead]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-9706-66719]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[Look at his first graph. Our oil production is basically steady, our coal production is basically steady, and are natural as production is absolutely sky-rocketing! Seems like some version of the &quot;Pickens Plan&quot; is appropriate here. Drill-baby-drill works for natural gas. Lets replace gas with oil for the next decade or so.Maybe when the gas runs out we can worry about all this renewable stuff. Heck, when the gas runs out, the batteries for electric cars will probably be working. So why not drill more gas and use more gas!? Landowners make money, gas companies make money,  people that drill the gas make money, and Americans save money. Seems like a win-win-win-win to me.???We???ve quadrupled the number of operating oil rigs to a record high.???True, but nothing to brag about&quot;Nothing to brag about?  That's a lot of jobs on those oil rigs. You must be independently wealthy to turn your nose up and honest work.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-9706-66719]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[James.McMurtry]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Thu, 22 Mar 2012 15:00:16 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Glad somebody got it]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-9706-66737]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[Thanks @riverat1! Yeesh.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-9706-66737]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Nelder]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Thu, 22 Mar 2012 13:35:58 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Read the last sentence of the article]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-9706-66734]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[In the last sentence of the article Chris quoted a tweet that said a lot of monkeys know how to turn a tap on but they never think to turn it back off.  He was comparing humans use of petroleum to a monkey turning on the tap.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-9706-66734]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[riverat1]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Thu, 22 Mar 2012 11:46:50 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[What neither of those men covered.]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-9706-66704]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[Gasoline speculation.  Which was illegal prior to 1990, but now controls almost 60% of that market.So you have speculators driving up the cost of oil, as they have been since the dawn of the industry AND you have speculators further driving up the cost of gasoline.In some states the gas speculator profit margin is in excess of 20 percent.That is a 60 cents per gallon savings to consumers in those states if the government brought back the ban on speculators in the gasoline market.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-9706-66704]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[Hates Idiots]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Thu, 22 Mar 2012 08:26:54 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[You're the one that brought up Enron...]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-9706-66679]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[...and their price manipulation game, which could not have happened in a truly &quot;free&quot; market.  If utilities were free to price for profit (at least in the short term), then SoCal Edison &amp; PG&amp;E would not gave gone bankrupt.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-9706-66679]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[JohnMcGrew@...]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Thu, 22 Mar 2012 07:50:47 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[I agree context matters.  Now I am curious.]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-9706-66686]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[What was the context of putting a monkey on a post about the presidents energy policy?Are you saying his policies have all the thought capable of a monkey?I would agree, but if that were the point than why a monkey?I would think a babbling baboon would be more appropriate if that was the message being conveyed.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-9706-66686]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[Hates Idiots]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Thu, 22 Mar 2012 06:51:22 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[I didn't say speculators are to blame for sustained high prices.]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-9706-66646]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[Again, demand is #1; speculation is #2 -- as stated by the St. Louis Fed.Consumer utility rates are regulated for profit; most utilities have profit rates of over 6% with some at or above 10%.  You're going to pay for utility costs.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-9706-66646]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[gork platter]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Wed, 21 Mar 2012 18:34:27 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[We can blame &quot;speculators&quot; for price volatility...]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-9706-66655]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[...but we can't blame them for the sustained price.  We're either willing to continue buying oil at a given price, or we aren't.And Enron is a non sequitur:  Consumer utility rates are regulated, and as prices went up, there was no need for consumers to send price information by curtailing  demand.  It never was a &quot;free&quot; market.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-9706-66655]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[JohnMcGrew@...]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Wed, 21 Mar 2012 18:13:56 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[On the issue of speculators.]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-9706-66651]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[Bob Reich on his blog last week reflected that although historically speculation accounted for 30% of oil contracts, today speculation accounts for 64%.  See:  http://robertreich.org/post/19353120672 He also cites CFTC commish Bart Chilton who says that oil markets are controlled by a smaller group of big players -- financial players.Two years ago, 60 Minutes also reported that anywhere between 60 - 70% of oil contracts were held as speculation -- a figure that was provided by the Petroleum Marketers Association's Dan Gilligan.  At the time, 60 Minutes determined that Goldman Sachs was one of the largest oil companies in the world, by virtue of its massive storage facilities.  See:  http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-18560_162-4707770.html St. Louis Federal Reserve just released a study yesterday that places 15% of the rise in oil prices in 2008, on speculation, and is the second biggest driver of prices behind oil demand (responsible for 40% of the oil price increase).  See:  http://research.stlouisfed.org/publications/es/article/9179I think the point is moot, whether Obama's rhetoric rings true or hollow.  Without market reform, Wall Street profits while consumers lose, and there is no way in hell government will investigate Wall Street under Romney; Romney IS Wall Street, Inc.With the CFTC's new regulatory powers under the Dodd-Frank Act, we could see some action on this front.  Too bad then, that Republicans have threatened to overturn the provision that gives the CFTC the power to regulate speculation of oil.I am reminded that, at the time under George Bush, Republicans insisted that markets were working, despite the signs that Enron had been manipulating energy markets.  Instead, Republicans suggested that California was to blame for its own problems of high energy prices.  FERC stood still while billions were stolen from Californians and other west coast residents.  That is, until the media had investigated and Enron had collapsed -- at that point, FERC couldn't stand by without looking stupid.So to point out the obvious: Regulation under Republicans is ineffective, because they refuse to regulate.  This reinforces the ridiculous point that government is useless, because the truth is, government is useless only when under Republican rule.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-9706-66651]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[gork platter]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Wed, 21 Mar 2012 16:10:42 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[What wasn't said]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-9706-66630]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[The article completely ignored two basic facts about gasoline prices, though perhaps they weren't germane to the subject.  Some states, like California, tie a gasoline station to a single supplier or middleman, and most oil companies take refineries offline for service when the demand increases -- summer.  This artificially drives prices up.  It isn't a free market; far from it.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-9706-66630]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[ardavidson]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Wed, 21 Mar 2012 15:44:53 -0700</pubDate>
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