So it appears that some individuals on this thread assume that America is going to decline and potentially collapse. They think that theres a sinister plot behind our country's current economic vows. I think some of you guys need a history lesson. Think about how bad everything was during the depression and then we prospered. More recently, think about the Vietnam War. Our country was equally in a bad position in the late 1970s as it is today. Vietnman=Iraq... I agree that we are fighting dumb wars and are trying to police the world, but it is only a matter of time before that shit stops. People are finally waking up to the neo-conservative/imperialist agenda. I'm not saying the Democrats/Obama or war-monger/Bush-continuation McCain is going to save us, but it is still only a matter of time. History repeats itself. Be more optimistic. Look how bad everything was after Vietnam like I pointed out. The world hated us, crude oil prices sky-rocketed, dollar was weak, etc. In 1987, we even had a huge crash...one unexpected in modern times with all this FED bs system. In the 1990s, we prospered, however. Then the dot.com bubble happened, and several years later our economy was actually doing well - even under Bush. People need to remember that the economy is cyclical. Perhaps the actions of the Fed and so forth extend and exeggerate those cycles, but in a matter of time things will be better. Look at history! You guys also need to remember that the U.S. is the only remaining super power in the world. Those "experts" that predict a rise of China and India are greatly speculating. They assume that their economies will increase at ridiculous rates (i.e. P/E of tech companies before dot.com bubble). Do you guys remember when people thought Japan was going to be so superior and the bubble burst. Our economy sucks today, but will revive with time. Furthermore, its not just America that is suffering. The credit crunch is affecting the entire world; if America goes down, so does everyone else. America just happens to go down further. The Euro rise against the dollar is solely because the Fed has devalued the dollar. Europe's economy is not prospering. Be more optimistic. Study history, we have overcame so many things. Look at the index since 1900. America has the best fundamentals of any country to prosper in the future. Other economies are rising because of speculation, as is crude oil. Bubble will burst or their growth will decline. The U.S. will get back on its feet. Stop predicting outrageous claims - you have no support.
We could, but it would be difficult. There needs to be a large enough fuel distribution system to support a significant number of CNG/LNG cars.... and there needs to be enough CNG/LNG cars to support the distribution system... a "chicken and egg" thing. To really support such a conversion would take a massive effort... probably government supported.
Professors Paulson and Bernanke were your teachers? Sounds to me like you're a believer in the "Rah, rah America" rhetoric and that you have not studied the situation at all.
Yes. That would cost a few thou per vehicle... but we'd need to have LOTS more fueling stations to support a large number of vehicle conversions.
Excellent Commentary All ........................................................................ Nat Gas is the only proven fuel that the US has a lot of....can meet all of its needs.....and would give 20 years plus breathing room....and stop the bleeding of wealth to other countries, some of which are not friends. ........................................................................ Some of the poorer countries in the Caribbean and South America already use nat gas vehicles.... They buy a used gas engine vehicle.....They get a mechanic that they know.....and do not spend over a couple a hundred bucks....and they have a nat gas vehicle...... Now they do not have to follow all the crazy legal bullshit in the US....some of them buy a cheap small 4 cylinder gas truck....and literally just strap a tank in the back ..... In some of these countries you cannot even find an electric stove, because gas is so much cheaper.... So when they go buy gas for cooking, they fill up their truck as well.... This really is no big deal....and the performance is the same....and the engines run cleaner.... These are people that make from $200 to $800 per month. However they are beginning to start cane ethanol because it will be domestic production whereby the money stays at home, and they will even have excess to sell to other countries because they can produce more than they can use... Some of them are in the process right now of already converting some of the older sugar mills to cane ethanol via the help of Brazil...... Nat gas as Pickens says is a good bridge over to batteries, etc...and there is still a lot of room between nat gas and gasoline in price....but even if this window were to close, the money would be domestic US money......
You've proven one of my points succinctly. This from you is what we've come to expect from graduates of U.S. social programming, academic institutions. You're emotively, observationally and proving intellectually a stunted lot. That's not really an accident, BTW. At least my tangent had substance in its cogency, was passionate, fit with flair and was persuasive. The trite word salad you felt egoically compelled to write after sophmorically attempting to debase me, also says more about what you don't know than you'ld have us believe. To the rest who happen to be sentient beings: But yeah, I mean no: I disagree about the next gen. of vehicles. If anything The Motor City that's no more, if there'll be a market to jump start this economy, will build primo cars for the market fat pockets who can afford them to pump their cars full of gasoline. If I had a couple hundred yardes I'd be full in GM and wait. We need short-term fixes, quick.
Beware of Canada !!! We have snowballs and were not afraid to use them. Don't worry gnome I won't make you call me Master Joab. I will feed you well and give you a little shack out back my estate.
Excellent Commentary.....Joab, Gnome... I thought you were Ameros (amigos)? Oh I forgot, that has not happened yet.....
We need a Buffet-type to create a Free Energy X-Prize. Put up a 20 Billion Reward for any person, organization or corporation that comes up with an over-efficient "FE" water fuel cell, cold fusion, or some other technology that extracts energy from a near ubiquitous source. In fact, this is how all technology research should be incentivized. Right now, the R&D paradigm in both Government and Corporate World is fixated on the maintenance of problems. Not solutions. Big Pharma has no interest in a cure for cancer. Or diabetes. Or Alzheimer. etc etc . They bleed diseased patients far more with endless regimes of pills then selling a single panacea or Cure-All pill. Who wants to kill a good market?!? Same with Big Oil. They've got no interest in FE. Theres Tens of Trillions of Oil in the ground, right now. If they threw a few billion at FE research and came up with a working model, their Trillions in exploitable assets would evaporate overnight. Why ruin a good market?! Same with DOE. Government paid scientists with fat salaries and pensions have no desire to invent themselves out of a job. Hey boss, we just discovered 5 different ways to pull latent energy from the air! Great! You're all fired!! DOE closes down the next day. The whole system of rewards and incentives is totally backwards for R&D. Its needs to be flipped to a production-based reward model. You produce, you get paid, big time.