Part 2: Wyden Calls Out Oil Executives on About Face

[KLD2929]

Have to say good job on the hard questions. I do agree with getting rid of incentives. But, I also wish you guys would get a leash on the EPA so they are not making harsh laws that make it almost impossible to drill for oil here in the States and off our coasts instead of letting Obama sell those rights to Brazilian Oil companies. That I do find wrong.

[raventakayama]

@KLD2929 There's only a few bad guys here. The oil industry and those who support them. They would have you believe that this drilling is necessary as if they face a constant threat of oil depletion. That simply isn't true. There's a surplus of extracted oil in the US alone. When you factor in the other oil producing nations there should be little to no fear of running out in the NEAR future. These guys want to drill for more oil so they can profit off of it tax free.

[KLD2929]

@raventakayama I agree, they shouldn't be doing this tax free. I don't agree they or any energy company like solar or wind shouldn't be getting subsidies either. But, I also don't agree with what the EPA is doing to these companies. They have destroyed thousands of jobs in not just the Oil industries but in other industries too. They have essentially tide the hands of people to have no choice but to out source to other countries or to completely close their doors.

[raventakayama]

@KLD2929 Well as a student who was interested in biosafety at one time, i can tell you that there's more than enough loop holes to get past the EPA. I still say regulatory groups aren't the issue. The private sector is doing the raping and pillaging in this scenario. Whether they are allowed to drill wherever they want or not is doesn't cause the situation that oil companies are causing for American citizens. Killing jobs? Gas prices are making having a job irrelevant.

[KLD2929]

@raventakayama I do know this. Oil prices are determined by the World Market and their speculators. In 2008, when Bush signed an executive order to ok more drilling here in the U.S., those gas prices dropped to 1.60 per gallon. After the situation happened in the gulf, a moratorium was passed to stop all drilling and all search for oil. Then when courts deemed it unconstitutional, Obama let the EPA regulate it to the point that they still can't drill, then sold those rights to Brazil.

[raventakayama]

@KLD2929 Think about this. What actually caused the drop in oil prices? Was it the supply of oil or pure speculation? It was speculation. In all other markets supply vs demand sets the price of these things, however speculation allows you to set whatever price you want and blame it on so-called fears of lost supply. Its funny how these speculations hardly ever ring true. So essentially they're setting their own price and trying to excuse this behavior by saying we fear potential oil depletion.

[KLD2929]

@raventakayama Your mostly right on Speculators. The thing about the speculators is that they determine how much oil or at least take a guess as to what the supply and demand will be for "X" amount of years and that is how they determine price. Amazing we have speculators for everything from food produce to oil. When Bush opened it to drilling in 08, speculators dropped the price of oil because there was new drilling, but now that there is no drilling because new regulations, prices go up.

[raventakayama]

@KLD2929 Yet prices jumped to 4 bucks a gallon in the summer of 08 and 09. The prices consumers face at the pumps hardly seem to respond to any amount of drilling, supply and demand, or anything logical. Its just oil companies price gouging a product most people can't do without. Its the perfect market and they have the perfect figurative excuse when they state that its based upon fears. We need to do something about the money grubbing oil companies directly and prevent price gouging as a whole.