Why not limit oil imports?

[iconoclastNYC]

Probably illegal under trade laws but I think if you limit the growth of oil imports it would force the marketplace to come up with alternatives to oil that funds the spread of radical Islamic fundamentalism.

[madeline_con]

1. It would threaten "our way of life", as DUH-bya sez. n/t

[FloridaPat]

2. All those willing to give up their SUV's please raise your hands!

All those willing to give up cars, raise your hands! You heating oil, electricity, food? Any takers? We import 60% of our fuel needs. The average consumer won't put up with that as long as there is ample oil or we have a government that caters to the oil companies.

I have a feeling that if we want to really stop radical Islamic fundamentalism, we get our armed services and CIA out of every country they are currently in. Make them stop making a mess of other countries as we try to steal their natural resources.

[Freddie Stubbs]

3. That would go over really well

with all of the poor people who use oil to heat their homes. Not to mention increased gas prices. Do you really believe any candidate could be elected to office advocating increasing bas prices?

[htuttle]

4. Americans find any limits on consumption to be Un-American

It's one of the main things wrong with us, if you ask me.

[Crazy Dave]

5. We export almost as much oil to Japan as....

...we get from the middle east. Something that was on the news about six years ago but I'm sure it still goes on. We buy it overseas for $$$ a barrel then sell it for less, $$ to someone else so they pretend to like us.

We also import three times as much from Canada versus the Middle East, from the same news story. The Saudis are an easier and more acceptable punching bag and easier to demonize than our neighbors to the north.

[ddeclue]

6. Read my latest on ANWR, Methanol Fuel Cell Cars, and real energy independ.

http://www.brainshrub.com/methanol-now

The President and the Republican Party have clearly and repeatedly demonstrated that they have NO real plan for energy independence since taking office in January of 2001. Their only visible public offering thus far has been drilling in ANWR.

The only other "plan", though they deny it, has been the invasion and occupation of Iraq with the notion that if they could only get the government they want in Iraq, then this would somehow guarantee them a cheap and endless supply of oil.

In spite of pre-invasion claims by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and others that Iraqi oil sales would fund the post invasion reconstruction of Iraq, hardly any Iraqi oil has been able to make it to the world market in the nearly three years of the occupation due to the ongoing insurgency that is destroying more oil infrastructure than the American engineering firms hired by the administration can repair.

....

see the rest the article at www.brainshrub.com/methanol-now


Doug De Clue
Orlando, FL
Bachelor of Aerospace Engineering,
Georgia Institute of Technology

[AngryAmish]

7. American oil companies would love that

Huge transfer of wealth to oil companies.

[iconoclastNYC]

8. How do you figure that?

[AngryAmish]

10. Americans want oil

60% or so of our oil comes from overseas. We ban foreign oil. Demand for energy is very inelastic. There are two main ways to manage scarcity. One is a rationing regime (ie Bushies get to tell us who gets the oil) and the other is by price. Since oil is scarcer price will go up. A lot. So the oil owners now in the USA suddenly have a much more valuable asset.

[iconoclastNYC]

12. They want FUEL, not OIL.

And in case you didn't know FUEL can be made with other things. Like COAL (still experimental but if we cut fuel importants it will increase pressure to put the tech into production.)

Or BIOFUEL which can be made from agriculture byproducts (like corn stalks, etc) and also from Alegea fed from Sewer biowaste.

If Oil drops back down to 30 a bbl that means another 15 year of not fixing the problem. More smog, More middle eastern adventures, more economic xfters to our enemies.

It's time to fix this problem now. Rationing oil imports would be a good tool, but I'm smart enough to know that the political will isn't there yet, but you don't accomplish anything by immediately saying : "it's impossible"

Big oil runs the show in the USA, but that doesn't need to be the case forever.

[G Edward Cook]

9. Limit oil imports?

This would only drive up the price of gas and heating oil. Not a good idea!

[gratuitous]

11. How about limiting oil exports?

After all, a goodly chunk of the oil coming out of the Alaska Pipeline is routed to Asian markets, where oil companies can get a better price. Since we're at war and everything, how's about the oil companies taking a little hit on their bottom line for the good of the country? I seem to recall they turned a rather tidy profit during the third quarter -- maybe they can help pitch in, too? Why should the poor and middle class have all the fun of paying for George's Global War on Terror?

[Lefty48197]

13. Great idea!

Limiting imports will encourage American companies to use the necessary technology to locate oil fields. At $60 per barrel, they'll make plenty of money too.