Information on ANWR, petition, send letters to your local newspaper, send letters to your congressmen, etc.
Seriously at what point do we say that enough is enough and we have to have at least a little bit of control over or destiny/security/economy? ANWR is not the solution but it is a small part of a larger one and it gives us some stability and buys us some time.
Perhaps we could get some DIESEL cars here in the US that have decent fuel mileage? If the EPA would allow us to use the same engines as are used in Europe, we'd have some great diesel autos here in the US.
We may also want to have a national policy to provide tax/investment incentives to develop biofuels to encourage more E-85 and Biodiesel fuels. Here are a couple things to consider:
www.agriculture.com
Biodiesel boom changing dynamics of global vegetable oil industry Demand for vegetable oil at historic levels, income gains to remain strong
8/07/2006, 12:04 AM CDT
The increasing global appetite for biodiesel and other biofuels is driving demand for vegetable oils to historic levels in world markets, leading to higher prices for vegetable oil relative to meal and causing soybean crushers to reevaluate their business models.
The confluence of environmental concerns, high energy prices and government incentives that is fueling demand growth is also driving expansion on the supply side, leading to significant increases in oilseed processing capacity.
Speaking at a recent conference on biodiesel and canola in Alberta, Canada, Alejandro Reca, Ph.D, Executive Director of Rabobank's Food and Agribusiness Research group in the Americas, discussed the dynamics driving the strong demand for biodiesel and predicted that the recent income gains in the global vegetable oil sector would be sustained over the long term.
Worldwide use of vegetable oils is expected to post growth of approximately 5.5% CAGR between 2005 and 2010, a significant departure from historical rates, reflecting the newly expanded biodiesel application.
"Biodiesel is proving to be a significant demand shifter in the overall vegetable oil industry," Reca said, "but the canola and palm sectors will benefit more proportionally from this growth, thanks to their high oil content and the oils' multiple uses as food and foodstock."
Reca also predicted that recent income gains in the global vegetable oil industry would remain strong, since food consumption of vegetable oils should mitigate any potential decline in non-food uses of vegetable oil.
He noted, however, the variance between lower prices for vegetable meals and higher prices for vegetable oils, as well as the increasing competition from distillers grains, was causing many soybean crushers to rethink their traditional business models.
"The tremendous opportunities presented by biodiesel today are attracting non-traditional investors to the agribusiness sector, such as financial institutions and private equity firms, as well as traditional energy and agribusiness players," Reca said. "The result is that our energy and agricultural markets are becoming increasingly interrelated."
© Copyright 2006, Meredith Corporation, All Rights Reserved
TOP 10 REASONS TO SUPPORT DEVELOPMENT IN ANWR
1.
Only 8% of ANWR Would Be Considered for Exploration Only the 1.5 million acre or 8% on the
northern coast of ANWR is being considered for development. The remaining 17.5 million acres or 92% of ANWR will remain permanently closed to any kind of development. If oil is discovered, less than 2000 acres of the over 1.5 million acres of the Coastal Plain would be affected. That¹s less than half of one percent of ANWR that would be affected by production activity.
2.
Revenues to the State and Federal Treasury Federal revenues would be enhanced by billions of dollars from bonus bids, lease rentals, royalties and taxes. Estimates on bonus bids for ANWR by the Office of Management and Budget and the Department of Interior for the first 5 years after Congressional approval are 4.2 billion dollars.
3.
Jobs To Be Created Between
250,000 and 735,000 ANWR jobs are estimated to be created by development of the Coastal Plain.
4.
Economic Impact Between 1977 and 2004, North Slope oil field development and production activity contributed over $50 billion to the nations economy, directly impacting
each state in the union.
5.
America's Best Chance for a Major Discovery The
Coastal Plain of ANWR is America's best possibility for the discovery of another giant "Prudhoe Bay-sized" oil and gas discovery in North America. U.S. Department of Interior estimates range from 9 to 16 billion barrels of recoverable oil.
6.
North Slope Production in Decline The North Slope oil fields currently provide the U.S. with nearly 16% of it's domestic production and since 1988 this production has been on the decline. Peak production was reached in 1980 of two million barrels a day, but has been declining to a current level of 943,000 barrels a day.
7.
Imported Oil Too Costly In 2004 the US imported an average of 58% of its oil and during certain months up to 64%. That equates to over $150 billion in oil imports and over $170 billion including refined petroleum products. That¹s $19.9 million dollars an hour! Including defence costs the number would be nearly a trillion dollars.
8. No Negative Impact on Animals Oil and gas development and wildlife are successfully coexisting in Alaska 's arctic. For example, the Central Arctic Caribou Herd (CACH) which migrates through Prudhoe Bay has grown from 3000 animals to its current level of 32,000 animals. The arctic oil fields have very healthy brown bear, fox and bird populations equal to their surrounding areas.
9.
Arctic Technology Advanced technology has greatly reduced the 'footprint" of arctic oil development. If Prudhoe Bay were built today, the footprint would be 1,526 acres, 64% smaller.
10.
Alaskans Support More than 75% of Alaskans favor exploration and production in ANWR. The Inupiat Eskimos who live in and near
ANWR support onshore oil development on the Coastal Plain.
