Obama to tell Canada: No more tar sands oil imports

Discussion in 'Wall St. News' started by moneymonger, Feb 17, 2009.

  1. These numbers sound quite accurate actually.
     
    #51     Feb 18, 2009

  2. You are flat out wrong. "Can be as high as $70/barrel" is not the same as "Is regularly $70/barrel". A car CAN cost as much as $100,000, but that does not mean all cars always cost $100,000.
     
    #52     Feb 18, 2009
  3. You can't say they don't work, it's not like they will produce growth but if money is being spent on basic things like stimulus checks or prolonging unemployment benefits, the effects are concrete.

    No they're not. Look how brazen the bankers are to demand trillions to save their jobs. Look how Geithner won't even talk about firing some of the incompetent CEOs. Those who have huge assets and wealth will be able to prey more on those who are desperate for food. The US government will also have an excuse to expand, to crack down on angry mobs etc

    zdreg said we have to let the mess clean itself out, true to a degree. There are 2 problems though.
    First, the bank bailouts alone show that money is spent recklessly and the country will not do what's best for its economy, private interests fight for survival. What guarantee do we have that will change and the country will be put first once the worse has happened?
    Second, severe recessions don't just claim those who sinned, they affect everyone. Look up at the 1870 depression, people who were first perfectly able to pay their debt obligations and were fiscally responsible were forced into bankruptcy. You get a downward spiral that goes far deeper than what was needed to clean the excesses.

    The stimulus money right now is probably being wasted and will only hurt in the long run, but that's more of a function of the irrational way we've handled the banking crisis. You have expert after expert telling you of better ways to tackle the banking crisis.
    I guess ultimately I believe that you can fix the banking crisis and then through the stimulus only have a recession that won't be self reinforcing.
    That does become harder with all the money already wasted on the bank bailouts.
     
    #53     Feb 18, 2009
  4. Frostie

    Frostie

    Tar sands production have not stopped, or even slowed since the drop of oil prices. Rig pigs are out of work because conventional oil well exploration has been dropping off for the past few years, and only the most remote costly conventional oil reserves have been tapped(oil that, in 2000 was too expensive to recover).

    $70/barrel cost is complete bs, the real figures are around $35/barrel.

    Canada exports 2.6 million barrels per day to the US, compared with Saudi Arabia at 1.4 million barrels per day with about 0.7 million barrels of this is from oilsands.

    The idea that the US could go without Canadian oil is rediculous, it is cheapest oil in the world when geopolitical costs are included. I don't think many people think about the real costs of getting oil from the middle east, and I don't think more carbon in the atmosphere is going to outweigh the potential for global unrest.
     
    #54     Feb 18, 2009
  5. Yes, this is relevant. I see this as a PR campaign by the new administration. They need to show that they're walking the green walk after talking the campaign talk. What we will see is a threat followed by an agreement that tar sands oil must be taken out using the best practice they can come up with. The oil industry won't wait too long to point out that the carbon footprint for tar sands extraction is nothing compared to coal.
     
    #55     Feb 18, 2009
  6. Mav88

    Mav88

    Maybe we could switch to walleye oil, they have plenty of that. Geddy Lee could be the spokesperson, and the Ice Road truckers will haul it down.
     
    #56     Feb 18, 2009
  7. drcha

    drcha

    Like the Canadians need us, anyway.
     
    #57     Feb 18, 2009
  8. I cannot imagine the US doing away with 1.2 million barrels of oil per day. Any chance of an economic recovery would be stymed
    by the run-up in petrol prices. Surely Obamaniacs understand this. Perhaps they don't care? After all, Jimmy Carter clung to his failed energy policy untill his last day in office.
     
    #58     Feb 18, 2009

  9. Maybe this is the US gummint's way of kissing OPEC's ass...

    Take a step towards "eradicating global warming" (big campaign buzz theme) and make OPEC and the oil companies happy (by raising oil prices= big extra money in the pol's pocket) all in one fell swoop.

    a) Canada doesn't need us for shit.

    b) We'd be idiots to fuck them over, they are pretty much the only decent friend we have!
     
    #59     Feb 18, 2009
  10. Well let's be honest there is Hollywood and Paris Hilton and who could live without that?.


    Most Americans have no idea exactly how important Canada is to them.

    Without out our trade, oil / energy and raw material imports America crumbles.

    As far as an American invasion of Canada goes think again.

    The UN would kick America out and Canadians would have Russian, Chinese and Europen support overnight.

    Politically this would be suicide and Obama would be Impeached in a week.

    Too bad to because personally I would love to live in California as a citizen. :cool:
     
    #60     Feb 19, 2009