[Vwdiesel] Whodunit?

[Harmon Seaver]

On Sun, Mar 21, 2004 at 06:29:17PM -0500, LBaird119 at aol.com wrote:
> 
> > One of the main reasons for gas guzzlers is artificially depressed gasoline
> > pump prices. If they had to pay what the rest of the world pays, SUVs would
> > quickly become extinct like their distant ancestors.
> > 
> 
>   I don't think there are any (or at least many) of this list's members that 
> believe in the "we should pay more taxes on gas" theory but...

   It's not a matter of taxes on the fuel, but rather the fact that the oil
industry is heavily subsidized. If the subsidies were taken away, we'd be paying
at least $10 @ gal for fuel. 
 Here's a couple of sites on US fossil fuel subsidies:

http://www.taxpayer.net/TCS/fuelsubfact.htm
http://www.moles.org/ProjectUnderground/drillbits/6_09/vs.html

Note that these are *old* figures, and don't include the military spending,
especially that of the 20 years which was almost entirely for oil. Now the US
spends 4 billion a month on oil subsidies just for the military portion. 

  Here's another better site:

http://www.icta.org/projects/trans/rlprexsm.htm

   And here's a *ABSOLUTELY MUST READ* article on oil --  a site that has
the full-text of the Feb. issue of Harpers, "The Oil We Eat", by Richard
Manning. This is a must read for anyone interested in energy issues. More than a
bit scary.

http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2004/02/280191.shtml 


(snip)
>   Also, always remember that there is more crude used to run planes, 
> trucks, trains, ships, make clothing, electricity, carpet, plastics, the 
> interior of our cars, etc, than is used to run the motoring public's 
> vehicles.
>      Loren

   Read that Harper's article, you'll see that a whole lot of people are going
to starve without oil, and they don't mean for the tractors and trucks.
   
   But what the hell -- the Pentagon now says that it's extremely likely that 20
years from now the Gulf Stream will be shut down so much that nobody will be
able to grow food in North America or Europe (best case scenario) or maybe it'll
all be covered with ice (worst case), so what's the diff?  
  Check this out -- another *MUST READ*, a real freaker:

http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2004/02/280191.shtml



   Pleasant dreams everyone!  8-)

   


-- 
Harmon Seaver	
CyberShamanix
http://www.cybershamanix.com