Paid for by big oil?

[RAFlorida]

Good points.

As you stated, oil speculators are those who put the money up front for drilling and all that goes with it. They loose money also, albeit, not that often. I believe that we can take control of our problems, do some work, vote, make our complaints heard. Yeah, I know we holler and nothing happens. That's where we have to vote the right people in government. That being said, we don't have a chance in h*&$ with who's running now.
Anyway Jim, I love blueberrys on/in anything, that's why we grow our own here on our property in gator land! lol But will give ya credit, love those cranberrys also, so loml and I do support you all up there and buy the juice all the time.

[JR]

A thread well highjacked should not be given up!

Jersey berries ALWAYS taste better than those CA berries shipped across the country. The shipped ones are tasteless in comparison.

And a well-kept secret it is! The USDA is unaware of the strawberry crop in the Garden State. See page 28.
http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/usda...01-23-2008.pdf

We have the best strawberries in the WORLD right here in Plant City,

No doubt. The stawberry eaters of the world are not unanimus in that conclusion. Given that California produces 75% of Americas crop, it can be shown that we produce more stawberries in the Golden State than any other country in the world.
http://www.fas.usda.gov/htp/Commodit...rawberries.pdf

Ha!

JR

(All said in good fun. I have no reason to bash the fine products produced around America, particularly our fruit-bearing brethren in the Sunshine State.)

[OpaDC]

Who hijacked my thread!!!!

Fine, be that way!

Didn't mean to cause so much consternation anyways.

And while we're talking about avocados, don't even get me started on Florida avocados, yyyuuuuuukkkkkk.

And we got ya'll beat on pecans (that's peecawns for all ya'll north of MS,AL,GA, oh, and you guys south of Gainesville) neener neener

[JR]

As to secession from the union...

It has been suggested from time to time that California should secede. Unfortunately most of those doing the suggesting are not Californians!

And back on topic, more or less...

It would take a calamity much greater than $4/gal gas to cause there to be more drilling in the Santa Barbara Channel. Oprah alone would put a stop to it!

JR

[Gator95]

Couple quickies:

Good chunk of oil prices going up is a result of weak dollar. If you look at a price graph in euros it doesn't rise quite as cheaply

Oil is a global commodity. Drilling in ANWR will not automatically make oil prices in the US drop, or make oil prices less dependent on events beyond our border. 'Dependance on imported oil' is a red herring because the price we pay for oil is determined on the global market. It does not matter where the oil actually comes from. US consumers will not get a 'domestic discount' from oil drilled out of ANWR or anywhere else in or near our borders. A valid argument would be that drilling in ANWR or on a US shoreline will increase global stocks and put a downward pressure on prices. This might or might not be offset by OPEC tightening down their supply.

[gjat]

I acknowledge the QUANTITY of berries is greater in Cali, but the QUALITY of PC berries cannot be equalled just as Georgia's Vidallia onions are the finest in the world. They're just small towns. They can't produce enough for the whole world, even if you're as nice as Mr. Parks.

But doesn't the recent gas crisis remind everyone of what the US automakers did during the Carter gas war years. Again, the US automakers are making the high dollar, high profit gas guzzlers. Selling them by the millions, and when gas goes up, the US consumer has to mostly go to jap imports to get quality value for the dollar for a fuel efficient car. It seems the US automakers have missed the boat again and will be unable to supply the type of vehicles US consumers will now need and want. Next thing you know, the US government will prop up the automakers for their poor business plan so we don't lose jobs. How does that help make US autos a better business in the future for the next big shake up? That's what I worry about with the government getting too involved in meddling 'too much' in the economics of energy. The US hasn't built a new power plant in decades because of environmentalists demanding too much restriction, so we haven't been developing fuel efficient and eco-freindly technology. Now that were in a bind, I've read were building coal plants and getting exemptions to the environmental laws. It seems it would have been better to allow some power plants to be installed over the years with regulations to develop the technology. Everyone want's us to use more nuclear power, but the sad fact is, France is the technological leader and GE has had engineers going to France to learn from them. It seems the US is continually shooting itself in the foot by always going to the extreme instead of balancing ecology with economics.

[JR]

Good chunk of oil prices going up is a result of weak dollar. If you look at a price graph in euros it doesn't rise quite as cheaply

Oil is a global commodity. Drilling in ANWR will not automatically make oil prices in the US drop, or make oil prices less dependent on events beyond our border.

Good points. I do believe there is a strategic benefit to having more of ou energy supply come from domestic sources, be they oil, coal, nuke, whatever. In the 70's we learned that oil could be used as a political tool. If we fail to find alternatives to Saudi and/or Venezuelan oil, bad things could happen.

But doesn't the recent gas crisis remind everyone of what the US automakers did during the Carter gas war years.

Once again, a good point. With CAFE efficiencies, and fading memories, people were able to afford large cars again. Now fuel prices are catching up to those efficiencies, and consumers - the ones who essentially demanded large SUVs - are changing buying habits faster than Detroit can respond.

It is frequently mentioned that some foreign countries have high taxes on fuel. What is less frequently mentioned is that they also have high taxes on larger cars. It is quite common in Europe that a car with 1.6L motor has lower annual tax than the same model with 1.8L or 2.0L motor. This sort of "social engineering" approach to efficiency mandates is generally frowned upon in the USA.

JR

[jziegler]

We have also been slow, for various reasons, to adopt technology to use waste heat for good use. I heard a bit on the radio this morning that only around 1/3 of the thermal energy at a nuclear power plant produces electricity. There are technologies taht would increase that number. Various factories also produce large amounts of waste heat that could be put to use (yes, I know that you will never acheive 100% efficiency, but higher is possible). So far, it has not been economical to implement these, or if it has, other plant upgrades that would be needed to meet clean air regulations have slowed down implementation. Given time, more of these technologies will develop, helping with the electrical supply.

As I said before, heating oil is a huge thing in this part of the country. I'm looking into natural gas and thinking that the converstion (plus some efficiecy improvements on the house) will be a good investment. Time will tell.

Jim

[jziegler]

A thread well highjacked should not be given up!

And a well-kept secret it is! The USDA is unaware of the strawberry crop in the Garden State. See page 28.
http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/usda...01-23-2008.pdf

Well, I drive by the fields on a regular basis, and buy the locally produced berries in season. I suppose that the numbers are small enough to not rigister on that table, but the fruit is real.

Next thing someone will be saying that Jersey peaches don't exist either.

Jim