Bachmann: US ‘king daddy dogs’ in energy resources, but environmentalists locking them up

[alp227]

Source: Associated Press

POINCIANA, Fla. — Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann claimed Saturday that the United States has more fuel resources than any other country, but blamed what she termed “radical environmentalists” for bottling up American energy policy.

With untapped oil reserves in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and off the nation’s coasts, shale oil in Western states, and rich natural gas and coal deposits, she said the U.S. “is sitting on a mother lode of treasure.”

“The United States is the number one country in the world for energy resources,” the Minnesota congresswoman told a central Florida town hall meeting, arguing that in shale deposits alone the U.S. easily outstrips the total oil supply of Saudi Arabia. “That doesn’t even include ... all the oil in Alaska.”

But Bachmann said environmentalists were preventing resources from being exploited, leaving the U.S. dependent on energy imports.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/environment/bachmann-us-king-daddy-dogs-in-resources-but-environmentalists-locking-them-up/2011/08/27/gIQAGCrmiJ_story.html

[ShockediSay]

1. US has worlds strongest economy, bottled up by radical Tea Party types

who care more about their Billionaire Bosses evading their share of taxes, than creating jobs.

[Altoid_Cyclist]

2. Well, the I guess that I'm even more proud to be a "radical environmentalist".

Or to put it another way; MB can kiss my tree hugging butt.

[Democrats_win]

3. It was Enron that locked up all our money keeping it from exploration and development

Plus all of the other Wall Street Frauds. Oh, and just think what all of that money we wasted in Iraq and Afghanistan could have done to help manufacture more fuel efficient cars.

[bhikkhu]

4. A little problem with all that shale oil...

"Instead of carrying begging bowls to Riyadh, why haven’t we tapped shale before? To answer that question, it’s important to know why crude oil is so valuable. Oil is “energy-dense,” meaning that pound for pound, it packs a huge energy punch.

Not so with shale oil. It’s low quality stuff that is hard and expensive to produce. If crude oil is the single-malt Scotch whiskey of energy, then shale oil is the watery convenience store beer.

In shale-land, the mother lode is a ton of rock that holds a mere 30 gallons of oil. Refine it and you’ll get 15 gallons of gasoline, barely enough to move one Honda Civic from Boston to Buffalo..."

Read more: http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/blogs/republican/oil-shale-55070902#ixzz1WHTa0iqz

------------------------------

and so forth...a good article to read, as every asshat in the country is likely to be convinced within a week now that we are sitting on "the motherlode", if only we elect enough repugs who will let us mine it.

The main problem if you want the short version, is the "EROEI", or the energy return on energy invested. There are plenty of low-quality energy sources around where you get about a 1:1 return, or where the energy burned in extraction, refining and processing is as much energy as can be gotten from the finished product. Ethanol is in that category, more or less. In the old days, crude oil was 100:1, yielding 100 times the energy spent. Now most of its about 25:1, and some like the tar sands is more like 3:1. Shale oil is about the same, though if you figure in the yet-to-be-calculated environmental costs, its probably a lot worse.

[AlbertCat]

5. A little problem with all that shale oil...

And a little problem with all that Teabagger thinking and conservative brain power.

Your post is a perfect example of examining the details...even just a little. You don't have to be a geologist to understand "the amount of energy you get out" vs "the amount of energy you put in". But Teabaggers like Bachmann don't even know such a relationship exists or has any use. It seems like a complete lack of understanding what science even is and how to apply it. It's not exactly shallow thinking. It's more like an inability to understand there is a myriad of factors involved.
Her husband's clinic is an example of this kind of thinking too.
And also that Teabagger inability to understand things, like roads and street lights, have to be paid for.

[Arctic Dave]

6. +1,000,000

I love listening to people who know nothing at all about energy production, it entertains me. Her lack of knowledge on this subject is astounding.

[krispos42]

8. Bingo.

Thanks for pointing this out.

[krispos42]

7. Surface area of the United States: 3.5 million square miles

Or, 8.96 trillion square meters.

The radiant power of sunlight falling on a meter of Earth is 1,300 watts per square meter. Ergo, the US receives a power flow of 11.6 quadrillion watts from the Sun. Assuming a 25% conversion rate for solar cells, this gives us a usable power rate of 2.91 quadrillion watts. Assuming an average of 12 hours a day of sunlight, that gives a total usable energy of 126 quintillion joules per day. Or 39.4 quadrillion kilowatt-hours, if you prefer.

In 2006, the US consumed 29.3 petawatt-hours of energy, or 105 quintillion joules IN TOTAL, for an average of 289 quadrillion joules per day.

We use 289 quadrillion per day from EVERYTHING... coal, gasoline, natural gas, wind, nuclear, etc. We could be taking 436 times that amount from solar power, if we so choose.


So yeah, I guess we are the "king daddy dogs" of energy.

[SKKY]

14. +3.5 million times

We still have to solve the problem of storing energy, but yes, solar power is indeed the answer. Excellent post!

[HereSince1628]

16. Wouldn't EVERY square meter of the US covered in solar cells

leave very little sunlight for growing food and fiber? Just say'n. I'm all for solar power.

[Hubert Flottz]

9. If her brain was gasoline, it wouldn't be enough to propel a piss...

ant's motorcycle around a freakin' BB.

[SoapBox]

10. Let's Make Bachmann a NO-TERM President!

...my new mantra.

[russspeakeasy]

11. When referring to this dumb broad, can batshit crazy be used

:evilgrin: too much?

[bemildred]

12. The problem is we are "king daddy dogs" of energy use too. nt

[AsahinaKimi]

13. What the hell is a

"King Daddy Dog"? ...oh wait.. kinda like this?


She still thinking about those hot dogs at the fair?

[No Elephants]

15. Sit down and shut up.

That is all.

[alfredo]

17. Bullshit. The oil companies have 3 million acres under lease,

but are not using them for production. They have found oil, but have capped the wells, waiting for the price to go higher. Also, those leases boost the value of the company stocks.

[tpsbmam]

18. Her picture is DEFINITELY in the dictionary next to "moron"....along with a few others of her ilk

mo·ron    Show IPA
noun
1.
Informal . a person who is notably stupid or lacking in good judgment.








ETA the former moron-in-chief (can't believe I forgot him!)

[indurancevile]

19. she certainly has a way with words

[Odin2005]

20. This is a very common RW meme.

"We have plenty of oil but the treehuggers won;t let us get it" is a meme that is very common on the right.

[tabasco]

21. Well sheeeit! We all remember how oil man Bush jawboned the Ay-rabs

and got the price of gas down to $5 a gallon. Why shouldn't we believe Bachman??

[unkachuck]

22. "...environmentalists were preventing resources from being exploited..."....hmmm

....between now and election day 2012, every 'environmental rapist' will be misleading, falsely-accusing and outright lying to elect corporate stooges who will further destroy our planet and our lives solely for corporate profit....

....to discern truth from lies, you need only to consider the source, it's my rule of thumb....if a Republican says it, it should automatically be considered a lie until proven otherwise....bachmann is no exception to the rule....

[KurtNYC]

23. "Mama Grizzlies" "king daddy dogs" -- their demo is adults with the mental state of a 4 year old

This is fairytale stuff.

Maybe next she will propose that Rumplestiltskin could pay down the debt with straw and a spinning wheel.