Bush wants offshore oil and gas drilling

[oaklynlen]

so the president and his g.o.p. want americans to be greater gas junkies by damaging pristine wilderness and coastal areas. so the pres. and the republicans are CONSERVATIVE on any and everything but energy usage.

[rextalbot]

my family and i have been concerned about the high price of gas for several years. not to mention the cost of insurance and upkeep. we decided to ride bike. we have been without a car for over a year. and we like it a lot, while saving thousands of dollars a year.

electric cars have been around for over 100 years. we do not need oil. however, oil companies would like to continue to sell it.

[danielopusone]

I don't mind if you idiots in California pay ten bucks a gallon for your gas... or wait wait for a breeze so you can turn your lights on... or sit in traffic waiting for your battery cells to recharge... the rest of us (that's about 60% of the nation) want to be able to feed our kids and put a roof over our heads. Defy the No Drill Democrates! DRILL HERE DRILL NOW>>>

[danielopusone]

There's not enough of ANY alternative energy source to replace the energy supplied currently by oil!

Cuba, France, England, Spain, and Canada are exploring the Florida straits for oil RIGHT NOW!

Is the U.S. doing anything about it? No, we're wringing our hands and whining about the price of gasoline.

Many foreign countries are in the Florida straits; dig for information and you will find these facts in news and legitimate referece materials. Defy the NO Drill Democrats!

[bboyJIZ1]

NO OFFSHORE DRILLING IN CALIFORNIA

[bboyJIZ1]

FUCK BUSH

[bboyJIZ1]

FUCK BUSH

[flip9388]

it's b/c of pussies like you that we're payign out the ass for oil

[DVincentW]

Oh well then lets drop the price and kill everyone you think is wrong.

The war(s) have nothing to do with the price huh?

Flip9388 dont quit your day job, you really leave much to be desired on your 3 thousand dollar Les Paul.

Goes to show you single digit IQ cromagnons should stay the hell away from music.

[flip9388]

haha

insecure much?

must you really bring up and insult the ability and IQ of a complete stranger on youtube?

I could sit here and explain to you how all but one of my vids were recorded years ago when i began playing, or how I'm receiving my MBA from UGA in the fall, or how i even spent a year doing studio work in nashville for a living....But none of that would matter to you b/c you're the kinda guy that prefers ignorant assumption to truth.

[DVincentW]

Read on flip:

Yes you are a stranger, but you called this out with your insipid remark:

"it's b/c of pussies like you that we're payign out the ass for oil"

How does an educated person even type that kind of misinformed statement?

Going to college getting a degee just shows youre getting ahead.But wait till the real bites you in the ass.

Admit the fact that person you insulted has nothing to do with the price of oil.

You forget they said the war would pay for itself in oil revenue.

[flip9388]

i realize that the single person i originally commented to has nothing to do with the price of gas. However when that same person's misguided thoughts and ideals become common with millions of americans and politicians.....well that's why we're gonna be paying $7 per gallon at least by 2011.

and why do you speak derogatively about the fact someone is "getting ahead in life"?

and what do you mean the "real" is going to bite me in the ass?

[flip9388]

So you just keep on complaining about how youtube is deleting your "original" music vids, and your tenuous attempts at philosophy in your channel profile, and lets not forget your thriving musical career with a label that i've never heard of nor could find any info of anywhere on the world wide web......AND.....I'll keep doing what i do.

[DVincentW]

I am glad you are not impressed because you are shit on the axe.

I am not here to impress the likes of you.

Go worship yourself.

[flip9388]

haha there you go with the ignorant assumptions again

careful with those

[flip9388]

and you've made it quite obvious with your callow comments that you're certainly not he to impress me nor anyone else...haha

[dudeitsdietz]

The return on this speculative proposal won't manifest for at least ten years (oil execs are even saying this). Demand, not supply, is problem. Saudi Arabia just anounced it would deliver more oil in July and that hasn't moved prices. Further, turmoil in the middle east makes it more difficult to ship/extract oil, raising the price (and giving greedy assholes a reason to start a war)

Stop shitting where you eat. Stop listening to what Bush and Murdoch are telling you. Stop polluting. Stop Oil.

[Darkit2099]

Drilling will lower gas prices. we have so many oil wells in America that could easily drop gas prices. But the democrats wont let us drill for it. Obama wants to tax the oil industries 20 billion each year to help drop prices of gas five cents--this in return will cause gas prices to shoot up another dollar within the year. Bush wants to drill for oil, and this will drop gas prices to under 2 dollars a gallon again. Which is a better idea? Doesn't take much though here. Liberals are terrorists

[evildemocrat]

Do you honestly believe that the prices right now are due to a shortage of crude oil. It's due to the shortage of refined oil. The oil companies are not increasing refining capacity because it's not cost effective for them to invest in more drilling when they can just produce less and sell it for more. Oil isn't subject to normal supply and demand because the average American can't just decide not to buy it.

[Srhandel]

We should dump some of the oil in the Strategic Oil Reserve on the open market to flood the market. Then the speculators would have an oversupply of oil on their hands and the price would hopefully drop. Also, if the media would report that the US is drilling in ANWR and offshore, this announcement in the financial news would put a damper on the speculation mkts. I live in the tri-state region of NY/NJ/CT so we have mass transit options, not everyone in the country has a mass transit option.

[oaklynlen]

4. get the govt. to persuade detroit to improve the fuel mileage in new cars. and 5. BRING BACK THE 55 MILE AN HOUR SPEEDLIMIT.

[oaklynlen]

there are 5 ways to lower oil prices. 1. CARPOOL. if you get 5 folks in a car usually driven by 1, you get 4 less cars on our nations highways. 2. get the govt. to spend money on MASS TRANSIT. if you make mass transit- attractive, affordable,and comfortable you'll get many people out of their cars. 3. get the govt. to EXPAND AMTRAK and call it the national rail system.

[Darkit2099]

OR! We could just drill for oil in Alaska, california, and SOuth dakota. That can drop gas prices by about two dollars. Your method might work, but people will not do that. And I oppose Mass Transit. Driving's way more convenient

[wiskawind]

Bush went after Iraq for his own lust for power and greed; he sent over four thousand of America's next generation to rot in their graves for oil! This is fucking TREASON!

Now Bush and McBush want to rape the rest of America, and wage war on Iran; they should be in jail awaiting the hangman!

[timesplitters333]

Its silly to demand more oil from Saudi arabia, and not pump yourself!!!!

America need to pump themself!

Not go to war beacuse of oil!

[KARStarla]

I wouldnt mind oil drilling if it became affordable for our own country and to buy us time (at least) to help us cross over from gas to other energy alternatives.

Get the Air Car into production for American citizens, it will also buy us time time to get our homes in order (looking for alternative means to do these in home

[lordblazer]

it'll just go straight on the global market.

[lewti27]

Why wouldn't him and his oil cronies want more oil to sell at $140 plus per barrel and will continue to go up no matter how much oil we find. Bunch of Crooks that keep sticking their hands in the cookie jar at the sake of the american people.

[comedaman1234]

I think it is OPEC's fault, as they purposely produce only certain amounts of oil to fix prices. Venezula, a member of OPEC, has gas at 12 cents a gallon. Saudi Arabia, however, is planning on producing either 200 or 500 thousand more barrels a day. Good for you, Saudi!

[PersonalJesus348]

No bad bush bad!

[MuslimGhost]

Dont be taken in by this bullshit. The market is saturated with gas. The two biggest things causing high gas prices are the greedy speculators/banks that are inflating the price of gas (just like htey inflated the real estate market and the stock market bubbles), and the evil oil companies that withold supplies when prices are low and pump lots of it when prices are high- to make huge profits. Thats why exonmobil recently made the biggest profits of any company in history of the world.

[Neoconhater]

Here is a comment from the Republican speaker of the house in Florida Marc Rubio:

For anyone to represent that someone drilling off the coast in Florida is going to lower gas prices here or anywhere in this country is disingenuous and a flawed argument," he said. "Oil drilling could take 10 years before any oil is pulled out of the ground, and there are a large number of leases held by oil companies that are not being exploited now. We can't say we need more until we've exploited those."

[thomasst2]

Good Point. The Republicans are trying to placate the public by providing solutions that may address symptoms of the problem but not the core of the problem. And they're trying to make the Democrats look bad by showing they're not trying in order to influence the elections. I'm just speculating, but it seems they're also just exploiting an opportunity to repeal Congress' decision to ban offshore drilling. Despite the scheming, this doesn't fix the problem. WE NEED TO CUT CONSUMPTION.

[MrJohnMcCain]

Hello my friends, I hope that everyone is doing well and are considering who the best candidate will be to vote for in November.

Please be kind in your responses to my presence on youtube and I will message back to as many of you as time will allow.

God Bless!

J.M.

[SCE2AUX]

The same people bitching about the price of gas one day will bitch about oil drilling "destroying the envioronment" the next.

[GrownupPhan]

I'm totally opposed to drilling, but limiting it alone won't prevent spills if we don't watche tankers properly. The latest spill in the beautiful San Francisco Bay was from a tanker bringing imported oil, not a drilling platform. Same is true of the Valdez. It's using oil that puts the environment at risk.

[MetalJacket01]

In a time when jobs are being outsourced for profits and shareholders more oil and more refineries ran by Americans would be a good thing.

[hypnofan35]

Here's an idea farm the sun power and ship it as pneumatic through large pneumatic pipes to the north where it can be reconverted to electric and heat. It could have multiple redundacies and could have inputs wherever there is sunshine or wind power.

[hypnofan35]

The hardest reality is GWad's skull!

[blunt1984]

Congress is bought by the Environmentalist Lobby, they'll never let us drill for our own oil. And they'll never let us use nuclear power, which, France, Sweden and other countries already use for most of their electricity.

[GrownupPhan]

Where would you store the waste? Yucca Mountain is already turning out to be unworkable for the waste already produced. The first company I wored for was a consultancy hired by a lawfirm. A huge nunmber of our staff worked full time for YEARS just on fees justifying cost overruns for a nuclear plant in northern California--that's how badly construction costs ran over budget. Think about it. Peopel argue for it only to keep a way for enough nuclear engineers to be ablet to earn a living.

[ikekll]

Water-fuel Car Unveiled In Japan

watch?v=nU1AlYhj8bQ

This isn't the panacea but when the US government removes restrictions on the # Japan can export, it will give us an alternative to lining the pockets of oil fatcats.

Gas is $4/gallon and the sharp increase in the cost of food and consumer goods is taking it's toll on the working slaves.

"a 3yr lease will run $600/mo, which includes maintenance and collision coverage"

[thomasst2]

Many say China/India's increased demand is one of the main problems. No one mentions that in the last 6 years, India/China, 9 times the US population and 45% of the world, has only increased 3 million bpd combined, but the US, 5% of the world, has increased 5 million bpd! We consumed 25% of the world's resources and 50% of the world's gasoline! Due to the current credit crunch, a housing market bubble and 2 wars, we've obviously overconsumed ourselves into this mess. WE NEED TO CUT CONSUMPTION!

[the2006rookie]

We need to CUT CONSUMPTION IN THE LONG TERM... I DON'T KNOW ABOUT YOU BUT I CAN'T JUST BUY A BRAND NEW CAR THAT DOESN'T RUN ON GAS...

FOR NOW WE NEED TO UP OUR SUPPLY TO SURPASS OUR DEMAND

[thomasst2]

Look around your home, your street, anywhere. At least 70% of everything you see, wear, eat, use, it is either made from a by-product of crude oil or oil energy was used in its construction, not just gas: Asphalt, fertilizer, pesticides, paint, tar, your entire car, your toothbrush, your clothes, big screen TVs, kitchen appliances, plastic bottles for medicine and Sprite, the computer you're reading this on. Crude oil. This is why oil is the most important resource economically on the planet.

[thomasst2]

We may have to start living like Europe soon. We use more oil than them combined. They recycle EVERYTHING and there's virtually not an SUV, Hummer or Sports car in site. Their products tend to be higher quality, so they last a LOT longer. Their houses, roads, food portions etc are a lot smaller. We don't have to be as bad, but we can learn a lesson. They jumped on the alternate energy band wagon years before we have. We need to wake up from the American dream and analyze what we really need.

[thomasst2]

In addition, since oil is involve in just about every product we own and use, prices for everything goes up as well. Inflation just makes it worse. For example, not only jet fuel goes up, but jet parts, made from crude oil go up too. So ticket prices go up. It's an ugly cycle helped significantly with smart consumption in all areas, not just driving. Unfortunately, countries have to spend their way out of recessions, but we have to spend wisely.

[Neoconhater]

Great points! I have a sister that lives in Italy and she does drive a SUV. It is smaller than most in the USA but there are many more gas guzzlers in Europe than most think. The difference is you pay a penalty for driving one and the gas taxes are really high, they should be!

Again, great post and you're correct, we need to analyze what we need and how we use our resources.

[thomasst2]

Depends on where you are. I've live in Germany for 2 1/2 years and now England for 1 1/2 years. SUVs are starting to catch on but from 2001-2003 and 2005, there were virtually none in Germany. England has a lot more, but I also consider that the International Petroleum Exchange, 1 of the 2 places on Earth responsible for setting oil prices, is in London. The other is NYMEX in NY. Coincidence that US and UK are always together warring against oil producing Middle Eastern countries? I think not!

[stuffisgd]

G.O.P. Gas and Oil Party....LOL!!!!

[dustynbones]

They destroyed the REPIG Party.

[historywillabsolve]

well, if Bush wants to do it, it must not be good. i'm against it for that simple fact.

[AbsoluteLibertine]

thats very astute of you.

well not really, why don't you think for yourself and form an actual opinion

[historywillabsolve]

i did. my opinion is it's probably a bad idea since bush is in favor of it. none of that man's policies benefit humanity, only the big oil companies and war profiteers.

[AiresQX4]

Can you believe Bush actually want's to do something good for once? WOW!!!

[TheMessageStupid]

Democrats arent helping us, they're being lobbied by ethenol producers and the science and technology front. AKA how Gore was able to get so much funding for his documentary... they just want to sell us something else, don't u get it, either way we're getting robbed

[crock703]

the "science and technology front"

[TheMessageStupid]

absolutely. big money there. im working for MIT in a few days, ill be able to witness it first hand haha. As much as I know and hate what powerful do now and have always done since the founding fathers in this country, I realize I am actually powerless to make any signifgant change

[jmaros15]

PLEASE WATCH AND SHARE ( Lindsey Williams - The Energy Non-Crisis - Part 1 of 8 )

[thomasst2]

I saw it too. His message helped me discover "petrodollar recycling": the key to The US' ability to funnel the world's wealth to itself and grow from it despite an enormous trade deficit. If the world no longer needed the dollar to buy oil, it would put us on a even playing field with everyone else. Tying our currency to the world's most significant commodity enables us to trade foreign products made with hard labor for pieces of paper and they pay our debt with T-bills or Fed Reserve accounts.

[InTheSticks1881]

The primary causes for the rise in price are the debasement of the dollar, peak oil and speculation.

[immanent]

It's really just debasement of the dollar.

Take a dollar index graph, and invert it. Now superimpose it on a graph of the price of oil. Be Amazed.

the price of oil, IF PRICED IN GOLD, has changed very little over the last 30 years. No we don't need to drill, bet we also don't need to tax profits when its the gov't that's making everything more expensive via the INFLATION TAX.

If we're going to tax profits, we should aim for the milk & egg industry, because I'm sure they're raking it too!

[crock703]

you should link to this graph if you're going to cite it.

I don't know what to make of gas prices. I've read elsewhere that it may just be investors hiding in commodities to protect their wealth. Lenders milked low income income homeowners for a quick buck, and they jumped ship when it went sour. Where'd they put their money? Gold, oil, food commodities, etc. That would explain why gold and oil are equal. Overall, the profit comes from gouged consumers - it could fall out too though.

[charlessmyth]

With so much credit ($ €) pumped into the system to avert a banking crisis & money devalued at such a rate, the only option for fund holders is to diversify into oil and food, which, like gold, are hard commodities, not fantasy money. For goods not made in China, a hundred of any currency last June mow needs about 130 of it for the same spending power. This also accounts for the unexpected rise in UK retail sales for this quarter. In times of crisis, buy a piano, or a BMW if you're a German.

[crock703]

What's the outcome? The lower & middle class keep the wealthy where they're at by paying out the nose for basic commodities?

[crock703]

or if you're poor, a Bible right?

[thomasst2]

Also research Milton Friedman and his theories on establishing a strong economy with a trade deficit. After that, research "petrodollar recycling". We use the petrodollar to funnel the world's production and investment into the US. Inflation keeps interest rates low to keep Americans spending and consuming those goods and our own and keep our economy growing without having to produce much. The dollar has been inflated every year since 1955 and our economy keeps growing.

[MojoPin07]

And the real reason behind the recent fuel 'crisis' is revealed...

[charlessmyth]

More off-shore drilling does not mean that the US gets more oil. China and India with one-third of the world's population may bid more for the oil and the oil go to them. Oil companies are internationally financed through the world's stock exchanges by your pension and insurance fund capital. Oil supply would need to at least double, to have a significant impact. Like hemp replacing wood for paper, etc., oil needs a credible competitor to regulate its price on the market. Also use [less] oil.

[dragon8me2]

Hydrogen is the answer to the fuel problem. I've been saying that for almost 30 years. Hemp is the answer to replacing toxic chemicals made from oil, as well as for paper instead of wood. In fact it's far superior to wood based paper.

[PowerAndPerception]

So that's what it's all about...

Bush you dirty dog you...

[Nutrino2179]

There are two very consistent aspects of this move by Bush: Go Big Oil, and presenting it to Congress just before a break and demanding action before they leave town in an attempt to limit the depth of the debate. His next move, if he is to remain completely consistent, will be to issue a terror(izing) threat a few days before their break begins. It would be shocking to learn he does not have his henchmen dreaming up a phony plot against our foreign oil supplies right now - nothing is beneath W.

[ResistTheMachine]

you can kiss one of our last pieces of paradise (the beach) goodbye, all that offshore drilling will pollute the coastline.

[immanent]

Actually, privately owned land almost universally is kept nicer than publicly owned land.

[crock703]

That may be true on the whole, but what about privately owned land used for resource extraction, or public land leased for extraction.

The coastline is currently public land. If it was sold or leased, and extraction begins, would it be cleaner tomorrow than it is today?

[immanent]

It's an interesting question for sure. If an energy company came in and trashed or contaminated beaches, they would face a PR disaster, and in a true free market, people would vote with their dollars and make the practice untenable for a corporation. Corporate officials are bound to act in the best interest of the company, and PR is a large part of their duties. It seems the onus is on YOU to make them environmentally friendly.

[immanent]

Additionally, owners of coastline property (not all coastline is public) can sue under property laws (nuisance, etc.) to enjoin a company that is polluting a coastline. The lawsuits that would spring up are another way force ocean drillers to use clean extraction practices.

A coastline developer can charge a minimal or no fee for use of a beach, and still pull in revenue from beverage sales and other peripheral profit streams. It is in his business interest to keep a clean beach too.

[thomasst2]

Maybe true. But, unfortunately, the Exxon Valdez/Prince William Sound, Alaska oil spill law suit was 20 yrs ago and they've paid little of the damages, which were appealed from $5 billion in '89 to 2.5 today (with inflation it's worth far less). Corporate lawyers can drag things out to appeal damages, allow inflation to ease damages or wait until you give up. I'm not saying it can't work, but please don't mind if I'm a little pessimistic. If they do drill I hope it works out. Fingers crossed.

[crock703]

If we weren't such an economically polarized nation, & if our energy base was more diverse, that might actually be possible.

But when a huge chunk of the wealth is aggregated at the top & the buying power of the majority (or even a fair bit) of the consumer base diminished, its not really possible. As much as people may hate Exxon for the Valdez crash, if you're poor & w/o other means of getting to work, u will buy Exxon's cheaper 'dirty' gas. It wont go away, b/c there will be a market for it.

[charlessmyth]

Offshore international waters are not public land. At least not so long as the UN and the proposed 'law of the Sea Treaty LOST' (I think it is) does not come into existence. Every day more and more private land is seized under eminent domain law. The right to the capital value of one's property is now contingent.

[crock703]

I don't know, but I don't think they're talking about drilling 200+ miles out at sea (the natl' economic zone in intl waters). They very well may mean drilling w/in 12 miles of shore in national waters, which I presume are state or fed property.

[charlessmyth]

Drilling closer to shore would be the most likely scenario for the US, but you have to remember that the UK's North Sea oil and the possibility of oil off the Falkland Islands in the south Atlantic is a different matter, and for which US technology exists to exploit. Bibles don't have much value as money. You might have to get that vegetable plot into production and buy a couple of Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs.

[crock703]

Yeah. I was just playing on

My point was that if you're already towards the bottom of the ladder and high commodity prices force you to liquidate your private property, you're without the means to even remotely begin self-sustaining. You're selling your labor to finish paying debt, while trying to get by, and essentially existing in debt slavery.

[charlessmyth]

Very true. Public land is nobody's land and is generally not maintained to extract anything from. This was the reason for the range-wars when grazing went to whoever could get it before anyone else. Private land is generally better maintained because it is a value to be maintained and acts as a store of wealth.

[calvinjones]

Your point is higly ideological but is it acurate?

Range lands where not public commons, they where unowned and the problem was a lack of an agreed management system. With public ownership there would have been a rotation or quota system.

In terms of private care the obvious counter example is resource extraction...what you are saying would apply to some farming but not the short termist explotitative practices that are a growing problem, and not deforestatin of mineral extraction.

[charlessmyth]

Since no one had any right to any outcome of the productive effort to maintain and/or reseed the range for present and/or future use, no one had any incentive to manage it as a long term resource. As a result, the common users ended up with nothing to use. Small numbers of Nomads can operate this way, but severe limitations apply. Deforestation is a consequence of the fact hat no one will risk the capital and effort to replant a crop on public land which takes 25 years to harvest.

[crock703]

For offshore oil extraction though, the incentive to maintain a coastline is basically only to avoid nuisance lawsuits. Once the oil is extracted (20 - maybe 70 yrs?), the land has little econ benefit. Rent it to fisheries? (Thats a whole other can of worms). Charge visitors to swim & operate concessions stands?

Oceans are uniquely delicate ecosystems, far reaching consequences, etc.

Seems smarter to have well-crafted leasing guidelines, esp b/c the resource value isn't going to drop hard.

[TokyoPlumber]

According to its Government's own statistics (Energy Information Administration) the US currently produces about 8.5 million barrels of oil per day. As the largest global consumer of oil the US uses 20.8 million barrels a day. At present, therefore, the US relies on other countries for about 60% of its oil. More drilling and exploration in US territory will help. However, the amount of oil being consumed is so great that this alone won't even come close to fixing the supply problem.

[thomasst2]

More "fun facts": China has about 4 times our population but the US consumes almost 3 times as much. Of course the standards of living aren't even comparable...but they're the next highest on the list! In fact, alone, our 5 million bpd INCREASE in consumption in the last 7 years would rank us #3 or #4 in the world. But we're only 5% of the world population! WTF?

[thomasst2]

I just noticed. We produce bit more than China uses and we're still 12 million barrels short!

[charlessmyth]

The petrodollar or any other fiat-currency recycling works until such times as the currency ceases to be accepted, and everyone's property which has been put up by the state as collateral against the easy credit has to be forfeited to pay off the creditors. One workaround is to expel the creditors like the medieval citizens of Oxford, England expelled their Jewish community, when the debts were called in.

[thomasst2]

True. The dollar was rapidly dropped in value and more countries are shedding their reserves to save wealth. The key is if you NEED dollars to purchase the world's most significant resource for survival, like it or not, you HAVE to have them, no matter how bad debt or the US economy becomes. But Iran and Iraq threatened that hegemony by starting their own oil exchanges and sold oil in Euros. If enough oil countries follow suit our economy would crash almost instantly. So we go to war.

[charlessmyth]

Iran has traded oil for quite a while in Euros, Yuan, etc., so this is not such a catastrophe for the dollar as suggested. It must also be appreciated that international aid programmes, to which the US is the world's most significant donor, acts in a similar fashion, by injecting dollar credit into the money system, which is then lent again in a similar fashion to Saudi dollars. Yet another motor for endless wars now underpinned by the campaign to spread democracy. I've never felt safer :-)

[thomasst2]

The dollar accounts for 2/3 of the world's currency reserves, 4/5 of foreign exchange transactions, 50% of world exports and all of the IMF loans. But the dollar has been devalued to the point that the world doesn't want it and now it's open about it. But it has no choice because they need oil. Iran by itself can't affect that. The US isn't worried about one country, it's worried about the trend that one country could start: a petrodollar resistance. It has to make an example to stop it.

[thomasst2]

And I guarantee the humanitarian aid doesn't come anywhere close to the 4 UN sanctions, pushed by the US, placed on Iran from exercising their right under the NPT for uranium enrichment. Coincidentally it also inhibits Iran's ability to establish the Kish Oil Bourse on a normal schedule, which threatens to sell oil without the dollar in the near future. OPEC, including Saudi Arabia, has been considering selling oil in Euros since 2006. Again, it's not about one country, but stopping a trend.

[charlessmyth]

The dominance of the dollar will be challenged by the rise in the Chinese and Indian economies' currencies in comparison to what they are today. Americans are simply going to have to get to grips with this reality and develop the means by which they can earn a living without depending on oil and/or the petrodollar. By concentrating on the quality of their own education system, instead of assuming responsibility for other nations' would be a good start. Iran is an issue for other reasons.

[thomasst2]

Good points. Once educated, I think the general public may be more willing to accept it given it's fair to the world. But will the powers that be in the top 10% let it happen? We're now using military might and petrodollars to force artificial demand for the dollar so I don't think it's totally unrelated. Fear of global collapse causes creditor nations to support us to prevent it, given large dollar reserves. Will the media and education systems allow the public to learn? Hopefully in due time.

[charlessmyth]

US students are not limited to state-schooling as in Germany unless they attend private or foreign schools, so the top US 10% are not all-powerful in this area. 'Merkins' do not get state funding for university, so the state hasn't a vested interest in pre-university results. School lasts about 7-8 hours a day, after which, students have a myriad of other sources of educational information from which to improve their knowledge. By the people for the people. 'Onkle Baracks Hütte', permitting.

[salgreco]

Excellent work. The Bush-Cheany-McCain 'oil and gas policy' plans are clear. Wasn't it this kind greed for more offshore drilling from the Louisiana shoreline (-because rights would go to the Federal government instead of the State of Louisiana), the reason that there was major land contamination and soil erosion in the Delta area and the wetlands? With fewer natural barriers to break up hurricane winds Katrina developed. There had been warnings suggesting levee reconstruction for this reason.