[AmmoSgt In Memoriam]

Yeah we know if the Iranian thing get to the point we have to keep the Strait of Hormuz open by force that oil, and therefore gas, will go up. But there are a lot more reasons that we will, in all likelyhood see record prices in a few months ..

Gas right now is 38 cents a gallon higher than it was last year at this time . Many reasons ..

Here are some articles .. plan accordingly

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/02/11/BUN31N5ERD.DTL&type=business

http://www.fieldtechnologies.com/gas-prices-rising-as-more-refineries-set-to-close/

http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/tre8151xa-us-brent-wti-redux/

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/story/2012-01-28/cnbc/52825378/1

Refineries are another of those not so green industries that people don't want in their back yard, hows that working for you?

Energy Production and most Energy use polutes to some degree.. folks going to have to make hard choices.

Back on the Nuclear front http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-57374376-76/first-nuclear-reactor-approved-in-u.s-since-1978/

Personally I am against Nuclear Power as it is currently managed and administered .. anytime anybody believes a catastrophe can't happen and all bases are covered, then they can't handle it when something enevitably goes wrong, and small gets big fast with nuclear.. they still can't handle the waste and spent fuel rods.

Simple fact is we have 104 reactors most well past the designed life span , incorporating very few of the design and engineering lessons learned since nuclear power plants first started operating , and most on license extensions papered up with exemptions on a variety of safety and operating rules and regulations... So now the race starts .. will we be able to build enough new reactors to even carry part of the current load now carried by nuclear, with all the delays and cost overuns and political coomplication and long lead times, before another aging poorly designed reactor or two blows up and ends the debate for good?

Until all these little complications with fracking, and nuclear, and CO2, and polution, and carbon, and clean?coal, and NIMBY, and peak this and that, and trade deficits, and middle east politics, and pipelines, and another dozen or so issues nobody is even trying to balance and solve so we have a decent and pro job energy policy .. figure your energy bill to continue going up over 10% a year.. $6 gas in the near future , couple years .. 20 - 25 cent killowatt hours .

Might want to start looking at ways to protect yourself and prep for what is coming.

First step IMHO is modifing your home for maximum energy efficency , insulation, window and door leaks .. better ways of heating water, energy efficent lighting, more effcient heting and cooling.. mixed energy inputs , not all electric .. next car as high mpg as possible concidering your needs .. maybe going solar or wind if it works where you live..

I recomend new more efficent technologies rather than austerity in energy use at this point.. that way, if things get really expensive faster than anticipated you still have austerity to cut your bill.

I wouldn't put off moving on this issue much longer.. it will only get more expensive the more obvious and popular the need for it becomes.

 

[falm16]

hey, if gas is 50 cents or a dollar higher, and it gets President Obama thrown out of office, I'm all for it. it'll probably take that and high food/living prices to out him.

 

[AmmoSgt In Memoriam]

It will probably be a reason to throw out any President if it doesn't get fixed .. the problem has been building since President Nixon. The policies of the past adminisration got us into two wars that made the problem and our fiscal position much worse.. If you think this is about just one President and one term you don't understand the problem... For Pete's sake, the Congress has not passed a budget in over 3 years, we haven't had an energy policy for about 40 years... this isn't a one party problem.

My post isn't about the need for a political solution.. I am saying, unless you want to suffer real economic pain and slipping down out of the middle class you need to come up with a personal solution to save you from all that the Government, both parties, many administrations past , and probably for decades to come just won't do. Mainly because of all the partisan crap. You will be sitting in the dark before the two American political parties, Tweedle Dum. and Tweedle Dee. quit peeing in each other's corn flakes and actually do what they were sent to Washington to do, The People's Business.

The fundamental need for any of us to prepare at all, for any significant disaster, is because we all saw how the Government has handled several disasters over the past decade or two. The possibility of economic colapse and the need to prepare for that is totally due to governmental mismanagement and pandering.. A nationwide impared, inadequate, and unreliable energy grid, be it electrical , or natural gas, or gasoline didn't just come to crisis level because of one Administration... don't expect the Next Administration to do anything but blame it on the last Administration as has become the perennial tradition instead of fixing something.

 

[DK PHILLIPS]

reactor leaked this last week....out west..... i have not seen on the news? ....
i had insider info: improper or lack of proper inspections ....
even in the obvious cement cracks of encapsulation of the outer part coverning the pipe!:thumbsup:

 

[M16A2556MM]

I just put $67 in my jeep, WTF!

 

[mustang69]

I hear ya ammosgt. Right now I am total electric but do have a fireplace that I can stick a stove in for heat..Cars are not too bad on gas and we don't drive much except for necessities. I'm always lookin for ways to improve my situation for the long run but at present total elect is the best I can do...

 

[DK PHILLIPS]

gas to work and back much less than 1/2 gal...2 1/2 miles...up the hill drift down almost to with in 1 mile of house...

 

[Mark Harlin Chaney]

Yep, one of the many reasons I ride a motorcycle.

 

[North Bender]

... The policies of the past adminisration got us into two wars ...

I know this is the wrong direction and I don't want to send us down the political path but could you clarify that? Are Bush's policies responsible for retaliation against the "regime" in Afghanistan?

 

[AmmoSgt In Memoriam]

happy to discuss that in PM's so the thread doesn't get locked or moved or dragged off topic

 

[North Bender]

Agreed.

 

[Destroyer]

For Pete's sake, the Congress has not passed a budget in over 3 years,

Correction. The Democrat controlled Senate, led by Harry Reid, hasn't passed a budget in three years. Good article on the "Do-nothing Senate" in todays (14 Feb) WSJ. The past four years has been the highest spending as percent of GDP since 1946. This current administration is spending more than when we were fighting a world war.

 

[AmmoSgt In Memoriam]

Destroyer... sigh... if the senate hasn't passed a budget.. then congress hasn't passed a budget.. there are forums for the political arguements and finger pointing.. doesn't mater who you blame, I suspect a bit of intransigence from both sides , the fact remains a budget wasn't passed .. the other side blames the Tea Party.. does it matter? .. no budget, no energy policy, no tax reform, no entitlement reform, failing infrastructure, massive deficits, Congress has an approval rating of about 11% The Nations credit rating has been downgraded, the dollar is weak and losing ground as the worlds reserve currency... how does pointing fingers, when it takes two to tango, fix any of that? Average families purchaing power is down, prices are up, pensions are under funded by trillions, private debt is worse than government debt. How does pointing a finger at one person or even one branch of Government fix that or make anything better? about 7 Trillion dollars of personal wealth lost in the real estate market everybody blames everybody else and nobody takes the least personal responsibility for their own predicament.

How's about we all take full responsibility for ourselves , quit waiting for either party or the government to come save us , or make us feel better because we have somebody to blame and nobody to get anything done , and take the personal responsibility to do some stuff on our own to keep us and our families warm when the cold winds blow?.. storms coming, go ahead a sit there blaming folks until you freeze your butt off... smart

And here we are, all in the same boat,


Except I got my total utility bill down to about $100 a month, and that is with a big ( 10 person) Hot tub and video monitors and DVR's and cameras running 24/7 and my thermostat set comfortably cozy.

Please continue blaming whoever you want.. but if the whole thing falls apart, I got electricity , water, and a septic tank and no worries about needing fuel for a generator.
I recomend my approach for the given reasons ... if you think blaming others will get you the same results.. by all means have at it.

the bottom line remains ... if you are still blaming one side or the other .. then you are still waiting for the government to come fix your life and save you from yourself... good luck with that.

Oh wait.. I forgot.. I got over a years worth of propane under ground , and once a year I have my tanks topped off for about $300 so add $25 to my monthly utility bill ....

 

[Destroyer]

I'm not waiting for anyone to help me. I am self reliant. It is clear which political party is destroying the US. Decide for yourself:

At her final press conference as House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi said, "Deficit reduction has been a high priority for us. It is our mantra, pay-as-you-go."
In fact, when Pelosi and the Democrats took control of Congress on January 4, 2007, the national debt stood at $8.6 trillion dollars. On the last day of the 111th Congress and Pelosi’s Speakership on December 22, 2010, the national debt was $13.9 trillion. Which represents a $5.3 trillion increase in just four years. Additionally, the yearly debt more than quadrupled during Pelosi’s four years as speaker, from $342 billion in fiscal year 2007 to $1.6 trillion at the end of fiscal year 2010.

From: The Cost of Obama by Jeffrey Anderson:
Well, prior to Obama, our annual deficit spending had only exceeded 6.0 percent of GDP during the Civil War, World War I, and World War II. Except during those huge conflicts, our deficits had never exceeded 6.0 percent of GDP in any year — not during the Great Depression, not at the height of the Cold War defense buildup, not ever. But that’s no longer the case. During Obama’s four years in the White House (and, again, using his own numbers), annual deficit spending will average 8.4 percent of GDP. That’s nearly double the average annual level of deficit spending under any other post-War president — more profligate than any other by far.

Now that's just the spending. Do you think the current administration cares about the cost of gasoline going up? Don't you think it makes their "green power" initiatives look cheaper? This thread was about record gas prices. This administration is perfectly fine with that.

BTW Ammosgt. While you are "warm and cozy" in your solar powered or whatever nest, think about the vast majority of Americans who cannot afford to "invest" in alternative power and how they will be hurt badly when our national economy flies off the cliff and the dollar fails because of the obscene national bebt that one political party thinks doesn't matter.

 

[AmmoSgt In Memoriam]

Destroyer.. you know the rules about talking politics on this forum ... are you delibertly trying to get this thread moved to the minefield or something?

The world is as it is, deal with it, please.

destroyer get real would you.. the price of oil and thus gasoline is set by a world wide market.. it isn't something governments control.

We have about the cheapest gasoline prices in the developed world .. and if anything makes the price of oil on the world market, priced in dollars, go up. it is a weak dollar.

And the topic of this thread is the increasing cost of all energy, if you read the OP, and that it is time to take steps to insulate you house among other things.

None of the articles I linked to have very much political spin.. my comments on the world as it is, is just that, and to point out the fact you cannot count on the government to do anything or come save your butt. So you have to do for yourself .. it isn't politics , it is survival.

 

[db2044]

Reasons not to build a pipeline to Canada ...
Force you into buying a Volt! Hybrids and electrics not selling so they must be forced on the public. Like it or not, you will have no choice in short order.
Of course "your electricity bills will necessarily skyrocket". He told you so!

And ... about that increased load on the electric grid which is already on the edge of collapse...

 

[AmmoSgt In Memoriam]

Destroyer btw I do think about all the poor people that can't make in the "Land of Opportunity" without my help.. that's why I pay taxes, so the government can hand it out to them... so nice of you to be concerned for all the helpless poor ..

anybody else see any Irony here?

 

[Petrov]

One of the few upsides to being stuck in coastal California due to factors beyond my control is the climate. If all one could do after running out of propane was scrounge wood for cooking - no heat, no electricity - one would still be OK with some blankets and warm clothes. I do need to get a washbasin though.

 

[Deutsche Vortrekker]

people forget gas was $4.50 a gallon the last summer of the Bush admin

 

[Deutsche Vortrekker]

Last time I looked the REPUBLCAN controlled congress has an 8% approval rateing :no difference on who is in charge nothing good gets done