(NEWSCOM)
Will Paris Hilton’s energy plan work?
By Eoin O'Carroll | 08.06.08
As you probably know by now, the 2008 US presidential campaign became a three-way race Tuesday, as Paris Hilton, irked by John McCain’s use of her image as electoral fodder, threw her hat in the ring.
Ms. Hilton declared her candidacy on comedian Will Ferrell’s website, Funny or Die. The video shows the blonde socialite lounging by a pool in a leopard-print swimsuit and high heels at her home in the Hamptons as she announces that she is, “Like, totally ready to lead.” After pausing briefly to finish reading an article in Condé Nast Traveller on where to fly to to get the best tan, Hilton outlines her energy policy:
Barack wants to focus on new technologies to cut foreign-oil dependency, and McCain wants offshore drilling. Well, why don’t we do a hybrid of both candidates’ ideas? We can do limited offshore drilling with strict environmental oversight, while creating tax incentives to get Detroit making hybrid and electric cars. That way, the offshore drilling carries us until the new technologies kick in, which will then create new jobs and energy independence. Energy crisis solved.
(Apparently, she recited all this without cue cards.)
Assuming that Hilton wins the election, that the Constitutional presidential age requirement is amended so that she can serve, and that she is able to carry out her plan, will it work?
It all depends on timing. For the Hilton Plan to succeed in weaning America off foreign oil, we would need to see significant gains from offshore drilling before most of the US auto fleet could be converted to hybrid and electric cars.
So let’s say that President Hilton succeeded in pushing through a package of generous tax incentives and stringent fuel-efficiency standards that made it so that, within five years of her inauguration, we have boosted the fuel-efficiency of the average new car and light truck to 35 miles per gallon (a 2007 bill signed into law by President Bush has mandated the same thing by 2020, so it wouldn’t be a huge stretch to say that, given the political will, we could get there by 2014).
According to Bureau of Transportation statistics, the average passenger car gets 22.4 miles per gallon, and the average light truck gets 18 m.p.g. In the past decade roughly half of new car sales have been light trucks, so let’s say that we’ve currently got an average fuel efficiency of about 20 m.p.g. That means that, if all cars on the road got 35 miles per gallon, then we’d see a 75 percent boost in our average fuel efficiency.
Currently America’s 250 million or so autos account for about half of US oil consumption, which, according to the Central Intelligence Agency, is a little over 20 million barrels per day, with about 8 million produced domestically. So if we engineered our entire auto fleet to achieve an average of 35 m.p.g., we could probably get that down to about 12 or 13 million barrels a day.
But of course converting all of those cars takes time. According to a 2006 article in Forbes, in 2005 new car sales were 17 million, and used car sales were 44 million. And this recent article in Slate notes that the average American replaces his or her car every eight years. So, assuming that America’s car-buying habits remain constant, we’d be looking at six or seven years before we’ve even got half of the US auto fleet converted, and probably a decade before most cars on the road are hybrids and electrics.
So based on these very rough calculations, let’s say that under this plan we could get US oil consumption down to 13 million barrels per day by 2025. This is assuming we make no other reductions in oil consumption, and that American driving habits remain unchanged.
How does this timeline compare to that of offshore drilling? McCain said last week that offshore drilling could produce additional oil in a matter of months, but that analysis is – how to put this delicately – completely bonkers. A 2007 report by the Energy Information Administration found that drilling in off the coast in the Pacific, Atlantic, and eastern Gulf “would not have a significant impact on domestic crude oil and natural gas production or prices before 2030.”
What’s more, total domestic production would be increased by only 3 percent by 2030, according to the report.
And most of that oil is located off the West Coast, and the governors of California, Washington, and Oregon are vehemently opposed to any drilling off the shores of their states.
Joseph Romm, a former Clinton energy adviser and the blogger for Climate Progress, estimates that offshore drilling would net “under 100,000 barrels a day in supply sometime after 2020 — some one-thousandth of total supply.”
And, despite its assertions, McCain’s campaign actually knows better. In June, senior McCain campaign adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin acknowledged to the LA Times that “new offshore drilling would have no immediate effect on supplies or prices.” He should have added that it will have no real long-term effect, either.
So in short, the Hilton Plan seems to have it backward: Even under fairly conservative estimates we have the ability to develop more fuel-efficient technology before we can access all the oil that’s offshore.
But it also looks like, even with such technology, the United States would still need to be importing significant amounts of oil from abroad in the coming decades. If we really wanted to get ourselves off the sauce, we’d need to combine these technological improvements with developing walkable communities and extending public transit.
And energy independence alone won’t save our hides. As James Hansen, the country’s leading climate scientist, pointed out in 2006, unless we start reducing our greenhouse emissions – that is, our energy consumption – this decade, we face a tipping point in which global temperatures could rise as high as 10 degrees Fahrenheit by the end of the century.
As President Hilton would say, that’s hot.
<< Nissan’s new gas pedal pushes back to save fuel | MainComments
2. jhill | 08.06.08
What in the **** are you talking about? Lets just open up the fields we already have in Oklahoma and Texas - which opens up new jobs - which boosts the economy — etc.etc.etc!!!!! How about eliminating all utilities, taxes and health cost for people over the age of 68. They have paid their dues and I would not mind if my tax dollars were used for this instead of taking care of other countries. Lets take care of our own back yard before we go messing in someone else’s.
3. Brint Montgomery | 08.06.08
Just when I thought she’d dropped out of the pop cultural consciousness, McCain comes along and throws gasoline on the Hilton pilot light. Boom! She missiles herself right back to center of popular attention. Hilton has no obvious talent, but I think the woman does have extra-ordinary META-talent.
5. Jon T | 08.06.08
I highly doubt that she came up with that, however aside from knocking on Paris Hilton, I think it would be a great idea to implement both ideas. Lets face it we are addicted to oil and quiting cold turkey would put this country into widthdrawl symptom. However oil drilling isn’t expected to add to our current supplies until several years down the road. People want an immediate solution and unfortunately there isn’t one.
We need to elect the president that will put us in the right direction not just in the near future but in the distant future as well. I won’t pick sides short of starting a obama/mccain mudslinging debate.
8. Bozo Rebebe | 08.06.08
If I’m not mistaken Paris doesn’t meet the age requirement to be president, I just wish Barack fit into that category.
10. kj | 08.06.08
Sad thing is this is the best energy policy analysis in easy to understand language I’ve seen online for any canidate…why is that?
11. mike | 08.06.08
How about bring those fuel efficient foreign cars from Europe over here? They get as much as 80MPG. We could do this tommorrow. But the vested interests want us to wait 2-3yrs for hybrids that get less than than and cost more to repair. Follow the money. Who’s keeping us on this Oil fix?
12. Sally | 08.06.08
If she seriously ever gets even close to being an actual contender for president, I would leave the country. What has America come too? A blonde idiot things she can run for president off Daddy’s money? Good bye America.
13. Dr. Don | 08.06.08
Drilling won’t help much, but go ahead and add to the areas we can explore and drill, just don’t count on much help there. We can get out of this energy fix were in right now by simply using the same cars and utility vans used in Europe. They have had 40mpg vehicles for years, and are not enamored with hybrids for that reason. A tax is needed for any non-commercial vehicle that gets worse than a combined 30mpg city and freeway. It should go into effect for all new vehicles purchased after 2010. Anyone who keeps their currently owned gas guzzler 2016 also pays the gas guzzler tax. If you just bought a new SUV you are not penalized as you can use it 8 years before being taxed. The money collected goes 100% into infrastructure and public transportation or housing credits for housing within 2 miles of a train/light rail line.
14. Jennifer | 08.06.08
Hey, I’d be all for going out and buying an electric car tomorrow, provided they were available and reasonably priced. The problem with that though is that the big oil companies paid off such car companies like GM, etc so that they actually wouldn’t put an electric car on the market. Yes, it can be done, but the oil companies are far too greedy to see it actually to pass. God forbid we eliminate the need for oil though the use of electric cars! I HATE THE OIL COMPANIES! The sooner I can buy a hybrid the better…but I’m waiting for the new 2010 Honda Fit hyrbid to come out. Lucky for me, I already drive a fairly gas-efficient ‘04 Honda Civic, which gets about 30-33 mpg.
15. Cait | 08.06.08
Ah. Now if only the press would pay this much attention to legitimate “third-party” candidates.
17. dummy me | 08.06.08
You actually used SPACE to write this drivel? And I wasted valuable time scanning it….DUMMY US!!!!!
18. Owl | 08.06.08
I think a better plan would be the “hot air” plan. In this plan, McCain simply talks, and the country’s energy problems are solved. McCain says, “My opponent is a celebrity,” and we gain 20,000,000 barrels of oil, McCain says “Paris Hilton is a dingbat,” which, of course, has nothing to do with the election, and we can sustain our military carriers. McCain says “there should be no end to our latest war,” and we can all fly to the moon! McCain is a weird caricature of the worst that is the Republican Party. He’s old, white, a war veteran who failed to win a war, got caught, and then got special treatment because of his family’s status, he does not use the internet, is unfamiliar with solid state technology and pretends that’s a positive. I’m waiting for him to slam telephones as “too impersonal.” He’s opposed to: abortion, civil liberty, federally funded programs, diplomacy, and he’s voted for every Pro-intelligence bill that ever came across his desk.
19. Tinkerbell | 08.06.08
Sally,
Stop being such a hater towards Paris.
For your info her Grandfather Baron Hilton disliked Paris’s behavior so much he pretty much disowned her. She of course is still rich due her parents. Paris is also pretty shrewd business woman. She knows that she doesn’t have the financial standing to maintain her lifestyle without steady sources of income.
This why you see her prompting herself i.e modeling, club promotions, product advertisements, clothing, hair products, beauty products, shoes, movies and music.
She has nothing else but her name, looks, noterity and is she using it.
20. Jay | 08.06.08
Hello
They can take her advice, that would be better as Foreign advisor for United states and United Nations.
A cute Lady like an Angel save our lives and economy, yes it seems. Take her Idea and branch out the possibilities…
22. Casino | 08.06.08
The fact that we are even discussing Paris and Politic in the same sentence is sad. McCain is just up to those same ol’ tactics, with his hope to distract instead of solve.
What a joke.
23. Joe | 08.06.08
Finally, Barak has the perfect running mate.
She is attractive, articulate, fits well into the rock-star mold, and her resume doesn’t outshine his.
24. Mont | 08.06.08
This article is so stupid. First off, Hilton is not legal age to become President of the United States. Second, saying that, “2008 US presidential campaign became a three-way race” proves that there are no real editors working at this publication.
In fact there are at least Four Presidential Candidates, five if you include Ralph Nader.
1. McCain (Republican Party)
2. Bob Barr (Libertarian Party)
3. Cynthia McKinney (Green Party)
4. Barack Obama (Democratic Party)
25. Russell | 08.06.08
jhill, *** are you talking about? There is no moratorium on drilling in Texas or Louisiana or off their coasts, and in fact, rising prices have brought a surge of new wells. And it’s not all the big companies. If you are a qualified investor and have some money to risk, there are no end of smaller exploration companies who will be happy to make you a partner in the new wells being dug.
26. Casino | 08.06.08
The fact that we are even discussing Paris and Politic in the same sentence is sad. McCain is just up to those same ol’ tactics, with his hope to distract instead of solve.
What a joke.
27. Rodney Lamprey, jr. | 08.06.08
Why is that old man McCain so obsessed with young blonds girls? Is Bob Dole sharing his Viagra with McCain?
I would also like to hear Ralph Nader’s, Ron Paul’s, and Bob Barr’s energy proposals.
28. Joe | 08.06.08
Finally, Barak has the perfect running mate.
She is attractive, articulate, fits well into the rock-star mold, and her resume doesn’t outshine his.
29. kevin | 08.06.08
When will people learn that you can’t compare European vehicle usage to usage in the US? Has anyone noticed that cities and towns in England for example are about 10 kilometers apart? Has anyone been to Atlanta, Dallas or Houston lately? How about moving food from a farm in Iowa to a grocery store in Maryland? The US is pretty big, and way more populated, so we need larger more powerful vehicles to move us and our stuff around.
And a rush to build fleets of electric vehicles makes no sense at all. Where do people think the electricity will come from? (and don’t say solar or wind…) …electricity comes from carbon based sources…
but hey …Paris is a media maven and has one again managed to end up on top….good for her!
30. commute_me | 08.06.08
“…that American driving habits remain unchanged”
History will tell us that efficiency will always improve and consumption will always go up as well. People just move further from the city and commute. I work with about 35,000 people and a vast majority of them commute over 45 minutes each way every single day. LEARN FROM HISTORY.
32. justsayin | 08.06.08
I have never found paris particularly attractive. her eyes always seem crooked and always that one on the left is stuck half closed like she just ran into something before the camera snapped. her feet are what size 18s? and her toes all disconnected hanging off whatever giant size shoes shes wearing. oh correction, her feet are actually size ELEVENS…. seriously. id think any typical guy could point out a non celebrity person they know personally who has a better face and a more human proportioned body that they would rather get with then to spend time with paris, even with her leech personality turned off.
33. commute_me | 08.06.08
“…that American driving habits remain unchanged”
History will tell us that efficiency will always improve and consumption will always go up as well. People just move further from the city and commute. I work with about 35,000 people and a vast majority of them commute over 45 minutes each way every single day. LEARN FROM HISTORY.
34. karl | 08.06.08
McCain has found his VP. She is a hot young heiress who can fund his political ambitions, just like when he bought his first election.
35. just | 08.06.08
To solve the oil problem is easy as long as our leaders have the guts to do it.
It is simple. Add $2/gal tax and then give the money back at the end of the year. Not by how much a person spend on oil but by families. If some one wants to drive a big SUV and spend the money that is fine. And people who take public transportation or drive hybid can pocket the money
Do you think our leader have the guts for it? I would say no.
36. ArtSpot | 08.06.08
The solution to our energy crisis is already technologically feasible: public transportation. Cars are a huge waste of resources in constructing, running and maintaining them. If everyone took mass transit, we could drastically cut our oil needs NOW! Then, the oil can be used for things like mass transit, construction and manufacturing; things that will bring jobs and money into our economy. The health of our citizens will benefit (by walking and standing instead of siting in cars curb to curb) and the economy of a pedestrian society will balloon as people spend money on small local businesses along their commute (why give ALL your money to Costco & WallMart?).
37. Gary | 08.06.08
Anyone who takes more than a casual look at the details can see that there is no effective solution to our energy problems that does not maximize every possible source of energy production and use efficiency for the next 30-50 years…a whole career for some young businesspeople! Drilling? Yes. Research? Yes. Conservation? Yes. Conversion to alternatives? Yes. All of the above using tax incentives, grants, tax penalties, public transport expansion, etc. The government must be consistent in policy and must not interfere with the harnessing of the power of the markets and free enterprise, as the price of fossil fuel is already doing, but should keep the playing field level for all comers. Let’s not allow the big “energy companies” to dominate the effort completely. Many risk-takers and entrepreneurs can already see the opportunity, they just need time to create the (profitable) solution(s). This could lead to a renaissance of the image of America as a “can-do” outfit, with opportunity for all. A failure to seize the day will be as miserable for us all as slavery.
38. mgil | 08.06.08
Thanks, Mr. O’Carroll, for laying out the facts in such an easy to read way. That’s the first article I’ve read which seems to get to the bottom of the two most talked about energy crisis solutions - off shore drilling and hybrid technology. It also affirms my instinct that McCain and his promises can’t be trusted. Obama all the way!!
40. dr dee | 08.06.08
@Kevin:
You dont need a more powerful car to travel longer distance at the same speed with the same weight. You need a powerful car to travel faster or accelerate faster or carry more load.
Also, most people dont move stuff from the Farm to the Stores. They commute less than 40 miles a day.
Trucks (as in Big Rigs, not Pickup Trucks) are another issue. First you should count in Ton-Mile per Gallons. That is: how many Tons can you move 1 miles with 1 gallon. No reason this should not be the same as in Europe.
Of course the total consumption (in Gallons) is going to be higher in the us because the number of Miles and Ton of freight moved is higher. But there’s no reason for efficiency to be different in US and Europe.
If anything your argument is that European are doing much more city driving than American, and as such their overall efficiency should be worse…
But anyway, I dont know where you can find 80mpg cars, even in Europe.
42. veronica moreno | 08.06.08
omg is this girl STUPID?
take that back yess she is.
she is so annoying.
she needs to just go back to jail.
:)
43. Aya | 08.06.08
Sally,
Haha, If that were the actual case…I would totaly agree with you! It would mean that we live in a country full of mindless-idiots. It’s kinda like in High School where the Prom King/Queen turns out to be some very “unpopular” student as opposed to a qualified cantidate just because people voted on it to be funny! But I really don’t think any country would let that happen on a serious case such as elections. I think Paris did the right thing to defend herself and I doubt she has the slightest idea of presidency in her mind. McCain and his campaign deserves a slap in the face for attacking uninvolved citizens in the process…Seriously what kind of president would he be if he is already doing stuff like this!
44. mmk | 08.06.08
For the first time ever, I found Paris hilarious, likable and smart. Thanks for lightening up the election!!
45. Tommy Jalisco | 08.06.08
Why are you even wasting time blogging this? Argh! I cannot believe I read the first three paragraphs… Oy!
46. Caine | 08.06.08
If Paris Hilton became President, wouldn’t we have the opposite problem we had with Bill Clinton?
Of coruse, she’d never lie about it. In fact, she’d most likley provide video evidence.
47. Jadehawk | 08.06.08
kevin, a 40mpg European car will STILL be a 40mpg car in the U.S., and no one needs an SUV for their daily commute from the suburb to the city. only a small percentage of people actually NEED the larger vehicles they buy. the rest either just likes them, or has been convinced they need them for safety etc. (all of which is bull)
just look at cities such as Minneapolis to see how America can function just fine on more public transport, and more bike lanes, rather than uselessly huge cars.
48. Guy Fawkes | 08.06.08
Forget the oil. Mandate that all new car sales in 2010 must be able to travel 40 miles with *zero* gasoline or diesel consumption (specifically exclude alcohol and make it an attractive alternate fuel source), and must average 35 mpg excluding the first 40 miles. This is easily acheived with current technology; automakers simply haven’t had the guns held to their heads to make them do it.
And if you want to get really draconian, ban all existing cars with a worse-than-35-mpg efficiency rating at the end of 2014. Allow tax credits for conversion to alternate (renewable, domestic) fuels or plug-in electric.
49. Josh | 08.06.08
Gary - well put. We really do need to open-up energy intervention to the free-market. I lived in Seattle for 5 years and I rode the bus 40 miles each day because it was faster and less expensive than driving and parking my car.
Like Rodney Lamprey Jr. I would also like to hear Ralph Nader’s, Ron Paul’s, and Bob Barr’s energy proposals. A major reason this is a two-way race is that the press doesn’t give enough coverage to the independents and the other minority parties.
50. mihir | 08.06.08
All,
We should not drill offshore as we need to conserve our own natural resources and use what ever we can from other countries before tapping into our own pockets. Also we need to work on improving energy efficiencies and use the higher oil price from imported country as a motivator to general public to switch to fuel efficient cars.
Drawbacks of Mc Cain’s strategy
Lets say we drill offshore and price of oil goes down next year. I don’t think people will buy fuel efficient cars any more neither will they drive less. Not drilling offshore has its drawback but in long term every body wins.
Also the faster we adopt more fuel efficient cars, the demand for oil starts going down and that keeps the oil price in check and prevents it from rising.
51. ally | 08.06.08
kevin,
Apparently you’ve never been to western Oklahoma, there is row after row of wind power generators as far as you can see, which is pretty far given the flatness and lack of trees to impede your view. Why can’t wind be considered as a source of electricity. Have we become so stuck in our ways that even plausable alternatives are shunned?
52. danortega | 08.06.08
One of the key takeaways from this is that she was able to articulate a complex idea in terms that are understandable to non-experts (which is most of the US, as far as energy policy is concernend). She may not be qualified to be president, but she is not as dumb as people think. Look how much media coverage she gets without actually doing anything. In a media-driven age, she has shown a real talent for staying front and center. Of course, delivering a policy statement in a bikini is a great idea.
53. Norm Rosen | 08.06.08
First oil and car companies pull out of L.A. the best rapid transit in the world (my Dad and his family rode the “Red CAR” from near downtown to Santa Monica Beach weekly in the twenties), then dirty the whole world and pay to get their people elected to places in order to insure bad decisions. Dare we allow them to continue? She’s got my vote and I can’t stand her.
54. Jennifer | 08.06.08
Nah, I’d say Seoul, South korea has the best mass transit system in the world. I’ve been there. You can get all the way across town by either bus or subway on about as little as a dollar. We need to start modeling our mass transit on these Asian cities that have embraced it and made it work for them.
55. dude | 08.06.08
At least Paris can speak in complete sentences, and clearly has a triple-digit IQ (unlike our current president). If you disagree, clamp it shut and go back to watching FOX News…
56. BOB | 08.06.08
What is her stance on illegal aliens?
Call Cpt Kirk
Oh wait who would clean her house, mow her yard, etc
57. jack | 08.06.08
have our military send the saudi royal family to retirement in switzerland and the USA takes over the saudi oil fields, reflag the tankers with old glory, and advisec OPIC we are willing to participate in a normalized global market for oil.
and the price will be $20 / barrell, where it belongs….
58. SUV Driver | 08.06.08
RE| 13. Dr. Don
——
I drive an SUV.
It gets 32 miles to the gallon.
It was built in 2000 for the 2001 year model, before all the hoopla of Global Warming, Hybrids, and before the so-called “energy crisis”. (Which, if it weren’t for the media - wouldn’t exist.)
It was also built in North America, by one of the “Big 3″.
I get so tired of people - like you - who lump every SUV owner into a “gas guzzling” stereotype.
DO YOUR RESEARCH!
My SUV gets better gas mileage than most Cars, AND most Hybrids!
59. Whynot | 08.06.08
****, why not let her run? She may be dumb as a brick, but is George Bush really that much more intelligent? if we let the 35 year old age minimum rule slide with the stipulation that she has to wear a bikini for any and all political debates or speeches, at least wed have something to look at. As much as I try and tell myself that shes dumb and not that great looking, she did fill out that bikini ok, so ***, id rather hear bad news from a girl in a bikini than some old tightwad dude in a suit. We all know the presidency is a big charade anyways.
60. Jennifer | 08.06.08
SUV Driver-
What are you driving? I haven’t seen many SUVs that get that kind of mileage unless they were a hybrid.
61. Billy | 08.06.08
Paris Hilton and Politics in the same conversation, let alone in the same sentence is a disaster. Actually I think President Paris Hilton would be an oxymoron… I have considered moving to Canada anyways, but if she were to really have a chance at running I would hitch hike my way there!
However, while I think her being leader would by the gateway to the apocalypse which would end us all, I think she was onto something with the energy plan she proclaims in the video. The “real” runners should learn something from this video inspired by a cold shot ad.
I honestly think someone else may have wrote a script of what she said, but if not I do have to give her credit for having a random burst of intelligence. If nothing else, her message comes down to the classic saying “Can’t we all just get along?”.
62. Steve | 08.06.08
To those of you that didn’t read the article, offshore drilling will have a minimal, if any at all, effect on the price and importing of oil. So as much as I would like to agree with Hilton, that’s not the right way either. But Obama needs to not give in to pressure and accept offshore drilling. Alternatives need to be priority. Tax the oil companies until we don’t need them anymore. Don’t let them make record breaking profits while all Americans, especially the lower and middle class, are feeling the pinch from rising costs all around. This is ludicrous that we have a tangible entity that can’t give to the people of the country, and not just the officers of the corporation.
63. Jennifer | 08.06.08
Yes, why are the oil companies making such record breaking profits if they claim they’re only raising the cost of gas to keep up with the cost of oil? Shouldn’t it all be relative? They shouldn’t be raking in the money like this while the country is in such crisis.
65. Tom | 08.06.08
While the statistics used to calculate how quickly more efficient cars could affect the market look correct, the statistics used to attack opening up drilling seem selective and incorrect. First of all even if all that could be produced is 100,000 barrels a day, that is a half a percent of the current 20 million barrels a day used and almost a full percent of the 12 million barrels a day if the cars were more efficient. And the 100,000 barrels per day looks like a selective figure that is definitely a low ball figure. The figures for global warming presented here would only be believed by an alarmist like Al Gore. I think McCain and Paris are right we should do everything to reduce the cost of energy. It is never a good idea to not have a backup plan and that is what is wrong with the energy plan presented by the Democrats. In the end it will be the poorest people in the world who suffer the most by high energy costs which drive up the cost of food and other necessities.
66. Chris | 08.06.08
As far as her comment goes, that is what everyone I know is saying already. It’s McCain / Obama that have their heads in the sand.
And for whoever said to follow the money, trying to imply that “big oil” controls everything. Your head is in the sand too. Who really profits from all the gas sales? Not big oil, but Big Government. Yep, the taxes we pay on each gallon exceed the profits per gallon of the oil companies that sell it.
67. Eoin | 08.06.08
Tom, I’m actually on much shakier ground with my prediction about automobile efficiency. As far as I can tell, there has not been any serious study as to how long it would take to convert the entire US auto fleet to hybrids/electrics. I hope you can tell from my post that I’m trying to walk the reader through a very rough, back-of-the-envelope kind of estimate as to how long it would take.
A lot more work has been done on the offshore drilling estimates. You should check out the EIA estimates that I linked to. They don’t paint a very rosy picture of the short-term benefits of offshore drilling.
68. Oskar | 08.06.08
McCain is just posturing for much needed attention. It will also show how out of touch he is, not only energy. But the real issue is us and how we drive and what we drive. Any body with an SUV, a Hummer and Tundra wanabees is using future fuel reserves. ****, we drive to the corner drugs store. The oil pumped out of the ground already was the easiest, the hard to pump is coming and we are over the hump on known reserves. We are pumping as fast as we can everywhere and it will be gone. Besides it takes almost 5 years to build a drill rig and get it online.
So why not, when we get smog licenses, tax fuel spenders progressively harder the less efferent they are. That will accelerate the car change over. Detroit, unless they remain clueless, can make some of the cars and employ. Hybrids are only a temporary crisis stretch out. But we will never get weaned by choice of cars alone, but how we use them and if we use them. Europe is efficient with fantastic public transport. Remember that Detroit and the oil cartel made sure that would not happen here.
69. No Body | 08.06.08
Just realised how stupid I am to have missed my appointment with Binladen to drink bear and smoke pot together, while McSameing myself here
70. L | 08.06.08
We do not have an energy crisis in America, we have a government crisis. But wait,… each nation has the government that they deserve. This is especially true when we have the right to vote. So we vote for a moron, who happens to be an oil man. We also choose a vice president who is an oil man, and then we do not like the fact that oil companies are doing great. Wake up, and stop blaming someone else. We have some better candidates than the old **** or the new rookie. We need multiple political parties in the US. I would love to see 4 or 5 legitimate parties, but for now, I would settle for a least 2. (I do not see any difference between the republicans and the democrats).
71. Rafael | 08.06.08
I’m from Portugal and here politicians are losing their credibility every day because of the stupid ideas they give and all the supernatural stuff they say everytime they came to TV. But this??? Wow! Unfortunately we don’t have an hot VIP chick with enough bravery like her, facing a Vietnam’s veteran and the “new” Martin Luther King in bikini and giving a semi-based environmental advice, the great mistake of Al Gore’s alarming theory. I seriously hope that Dave Grohl think over his priorities and keep his word about be a future candidate to White House. It would be still more interesting a four-way run. If she doesn’t win November’s elections please put her on a plane and send her to my country, just to turn-on this a little bit, we have elections next March and the best we have is a woman with 67 and a 50 year-old man with a philosophical name, Socrates, but the genious thoughts are short.
Sorry for any english grammar error, i’m not a pro.
73. Tom | 08.06.08
I looked at the Energy Information Administration report and you are only taking selective passages from it. First of all the report estimates that there would be 200,000 barrels a day by 2030. The report assumes two things that slow down the development. First of all they assume no leases could be made until 2012 due to a current moratoriam on leasing so that could be sped up by 3 years. Second they assume development would proceed at the same rate in the past but that was when oil was much cheaper so most likely development will be faster with higher oil prices. They also say that opening up the areas to drilling will make available over 18 billion barrels of recoverable oil which is a significant amount. As we have seen in the past a small increase in energy demand or a small decrease in supply can lead to great increases in the price of energy. I agree that conservation is the most cost-effective way to reduce energy cost but with China and India using more and more energy we have to do everything we can to keep energy costs down.
74. Eoin | 08.06.08
Tom, of course I took selective passages. That’s what journalism is. I couldn’t very well cut and paste the whole thing!
But you’re right in that it estimates that there are 18 billion barrels of accessible crude offshore. I didn’t see the part about 200,000 barrels a day, but that seems about right.
The problem is that it’s going to be very difficult to open up the Pacific coast to drilling. Schwarzenegger is opposed, and so are the governors of Washington and Oregon, and the same goes for those state’s legislatures. It will take a major shift in public opinion in those states, or perhaps the kind of heavy-handed federal intervention that ought to give conservatives pause for concern.
And that’s where most of the oil is. If we discount the Pacific, we’re really only left with about 8 billion barrels of oil. That sounds like a lot, until you remember that the world burns through 80 million barrels a day.
But whether it turns out to be 18 billion or 8 billion in 2030, or 100,000 barrels a day or 200,000, we’ve already gotten ourselves very far from the notion that drilling will do anything at all to ease pain at the pump in the foreseeable future. Earlier this year the Saudis announced that they would be adding 500,000 barrels of oil a day to production, which didn’t seem to do that much for prices.
(BTW I noticed that I neglected to actually link to the EIA report. Sorry about that, and kudos to Tom for tracking it down anyway. It’s linked to now.)
75. David | 08.06.08
To the author: There were two pruposes to this “ad”. First, it was a comment on John McCain’s use of ehr image and name in his campaign. If this were 1984, it would be probably be Bruce Springsteen doing that bit. Second, the this is an opportunity for her to increase her visibility and helps her in her business ventures. This is not a serious statement of ehr candidacy. As for the people who are stating all of these remarks (for example about Big Oil paying off auto manufacturers) If you are going to post something as fact, be a pal and include some hard evidence to back your claim up.
76. Les Gart | 08.06.08
Make it official - Paris for President
http://www.parisforprez.com/default.cfm
77. Jadehawk | 08.06.08
The Brakken deposits are ready to be pumped and all, and even THEY won’t have an effect on gas prices for about a decade. there’s no way to get oil from undiscovered sites with no drilling infrastructure within onto the market and into the gas tanks of people before this years election winner will leave the office.
SUV driver, what the heck are you driving? according to several sites, there are NO SUV’s on the market that make better than 28mpg (best hybrid was 33mpg)
and even so… why a SUV at all? My car drives a nice 40mpg in ideal conditions, 34mpg on average. last time it was filled up was in May, and before that in November. and i live in the middle-of-nowhere, no public transport etc., so it’s not like i have the benefit of non-car infrastructure
it’s a matter of laziness and comfort. things that can be done without cars are done with them instead, things that can be done with a small one are done with a large one instead, and no one cares about the true costs of any of that, instead complaining about $4 gas, which is STILL the cheapest liquid out there. even water costs $3 a liter
78. Alex | 08.06.08
Electric cars sound great but where is all the additional electricity need to power those batteries going to come from Coal?
80. Eoin | 08.06.08
Alex, check out this TreeHugger article that shows that an electric car consumes less than a plasma TV: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/07/plasma-tv-television-plug-in-cars-electric.php
Les Gart, thank you for sharing your site. It’s good to know that, even in these tough economic times, there are still some true entrepreneurs out there. If it weren’t for ethics rules preventing me from expressing support for candidates, I would totally drop $19.99 for one of those T-shirts.
82. rgb | 08.06.08
OK, so offshore drilling won’t really help. It will make us feel better, like the drunk looking for his watch under the streetlamp. I want to feel good. Screw the truth. It’s all relative anyway.
84. Asiimwe | 08.07.08
It’s clear from this article that Mcain’s energy plan is “like, ready to mislead”. Though Obama’s plan seems “totally hot”, the right candidate is Paris Hilton. Since both “official” candidates have been changing positions, I call upon “Celebrity nominee” Paris Hilton to change her position on her “hybrid energy plan” by dropping the Mccain part and keeping only the Obama part. In this way she will have shown that she is “like, ready to run for president” and I will vote for her without any hesitation since being Ugandan, I am unable to vote for Obama.
On a more serious note, the Mccain campaign seems threatened by the notion of a popular US president. Possibly because they are running for the 3rd Term of the person that has made the US more hated around the world. Surprise because Bush has done done only bad things (like the Iraq war). He has also done some good things (eg. PEPFAR). His undoing has been his arrogance and inability to express himself: features he shares with Mccain.
85. Anne | 08.07.08
Hilton put together a very clever video. Raises the bar for real energy policy. Now when are we going to see the Saturday-Night Live riff on this. (Do they still have that show? I don’t have TV.) I can just imagine the McCain look alike in leopard print bikini giving his spoof energy policy. This idea has lots of potential.
86. SCPO USN(Ret) | 08.07.08
Has everyone forgotten that one has to 35 to become THE PREZ? Seems to be a major stumbling block to this campaign! However, ANYTHING is better than the status quo which got us 10 trillion in debt - hey her family is all about money, couldn’t hurt to try! Have a great Navy day!
88. Jeremy | 08.08.08
From an overseas perspective, (Oz), the prospect of Paris Hilton in the (pink) Whitehouse is a lot less terrifying than another Republican President. One of the more encouraging political proposals from the US. Paris, I think you’d sign the Kyoto Protocol wouldn’t you? And I suspect you’d be a lot more likely to turn your enemies into friends rather terrorists like we are doing now. I’m just sorry you can’t actually stand for President that I could’nt vote for you if you could.
89. eyelessgame | 08.08.08
Offshore drilling is not part of the technological solution. But it may be part of the political solution. For as long as we don’t allow it, Limbaugh’s hordes will have an excuse to oppose any meaningful energy policy, because “we could solve all our energy supply problems if the liberals would just let us drill” - as I have overheard uninformed conservatives spout.
Agreeing to drill could become a catalyst for gaining sufficient political support to make real energy policy.
I’m dreaming, aren’t I.
90. Scotty | 08.08.08
LOL @ #13
That’s exactly what Dubya did, at least this candidate might make the planet a slightly friendlier place than it is now.
Go Obama, the rest of the world wants you in the white house (we just can’t vote for you!)
91. wow | 08.08.08
Paris Hilton’s energy policy makes a lot more sense
than The Lindsey Graham giveaway. (LG Giveaway).
92. EnergyRevolution | 08.08.08
This MaC CAIN’t help you, he will sell off your last reserves, you’ll get more money for your OIL later
on, be paitient!!!
The US are hungering for the next injection of OIL like a mainliner.
You will only get fixed for a few years …
Come on America grow up and get off your drugs.
Fire your BUSHER, or CAIN’t you handle this.
Its time to CHANGE your energy sources and not your life, become INDEPENDENT it’s your kids SECURITY.
You have been on the moon!
Oh BAM y’A can do it!
You are pride!
The solar millennium has eventually been unleashed,
http://tinyurl.com/ENERGYREVOLUTION-NOW
http://tinyurl.com/CHEAPER-CLEANER-SOLAR
93. Enubus | 08.08.08
My God, I have been reading the above and including some of the responses, I really worry for the Nation! If any of you think that empty headed trust fund baby wrote any of that dialog you are on crack! She is just another of a long line of stupid Hollyweird types and hangers-on that have nothing constructive to add to the national dialog, sort of like Heckle and Jeckle!
94. julio | 08.09.08
I really have the feeling politicians are taking this oil matter very slowly ,we need to move faster .
95. Alan | 08.11.08
Drilling won’t bring a lot of oil to the pipeline soon. But it can have a very much shorter impact on prices.
Remember the price of oil is set by speculation. If I amass troops on the border of an oil producing country (say Canada), the price will go up based on speculation that if we did invade the oil supply would be shut in.
By the same token, if a huge oil field is found, the speculators will actually react far more quickly than a normal person would. Also, say the oil field is hard to produce, costing saying 74$ a barrel. The OPEC nations will see that threat and upgrade their pumping so that we never bring that oil to market.
96. Kafkagome Bekkers | 08.11.08
It’s amazing how, even being Paris Hilton, she establishes just as much credibility once she starts talking as any of our other politicians do….
XD
97. Rudie | 08.11.08
I dont think Paris is part of the Freemasons or Iluminati (eg. Skull & Bones)
So she would probly not plan a 9-11, Paris 4 president..
98. Jorge D | 08.11.08
Maybe Paris Hilton is not as hollow as we think she is, she seems to be at least booksmart despite her shenanigans. McCain just wants to live in the past and embrace tired, old and incompetent ideas like those of the current President, at least the girl would have connections to fill in her gaps in skills.
99. Rudie | 08.11.08
“Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of Christian Science, was an associate of 33rd Degree Freemason Henry Steele Olcott who founded the Satan worshipping cult called the “Theosophical Society” with evil female Freemason, mother of the New Age Movement and Hitler’s spiritual guide, Helena Petrovna Blavatsky.”
IS THIS STUFF TRUE?? I REALY hope not… Someone here please help..
100. Ashly | 08.13.08
Wow. Anyone watch the documentry on what could happen when the worlds temp raises by only six degrees. If its true about the ten degrees then this planet is royally screwed. I can’t believe I am apart of this backwards generation. We need worry more about the planet and the enviroment instead of war.
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1. dhas | 08.06.08
You know what…
I’m gonna vote for her!