ouch! anyone else's wallet in pain?

[TexasWSP]

Originally Posted by AKA_Monet

Thanks for the previous post. I will work on getting the reference for you.

I heard what you said that about "biofuels" for ethanol production--we still will not have enough fuel... Most US oil companies say mixed fuels are better. And I remember from 25 years ago during Carter administration, that the Oil Companies did not see profit in self-producing some crude (like it use to) to get more abundant sources from you know who...

The irony is that these ELF freaks think ANY destruction of the environment by human hands is too much. Even after the environmental impact reports, etc. have been completed.

@ bolded--he's right... If something is not done like he said, our economy is going to be worse off. R&D budgets can be increased at area Universities or make it an Gates Grand Challenge/Ansari Prize/Etc. Someone somewhere will come up with a VIABLE realistic solution that has a timetable for a phase out over 20+ years. Not making worse... My Uncle is a VP at a major Energy company in OK. He's saying the same thing...

Oh I know, haha. They definitely freak out about everything. Look, I am a proponent of environmental conservation, not screwing up the land, etc., but at some point we need to use a little common sense. But that's just me. I'm of the mindset that if there is anything that can be done to help this country's people then it should be done. When you drive around East Texas and Fort Worth (with the Barnett Shale) for a small example, you can't help but notice the GOOD that is coming from exploration. Too many people think that guys in our profession just sit back and enjoy the profits that come rolling in when it is quite the opposite. We are just as concerned as everyone else.

Yes. I would agree that mixed fuels are better. One of the reasons why your gas is high right now is because of the switchover to ethanol based gasoline, which burns cleaner than the old MTBE.

Do you mind me asking what energy company in Oklahoma? I had a couple internships in the past with Newfield Exploration and Chesapeake...Tulsa and OKC respectively...and met a lot of good people from quite a few different companies.

[AKA_Monet]

Originally Posted by TexasWSP

Oh I know, haha. They definitely freak out about everything. Look, I am a proponent of environmental conservation, not screwing up the land, etc., but at some point we need to use a little common sense. But that's just me. I'm of the mindset that if there is anything that can be done to help this country's people then it should be done. When you drive around East Texas and Fort Worth (with the Barnett Shale) for a small example, you can't help but notice the GOOD that is coming from exploration. Too many people think that guys in our profession just sit back and enjoy the profits that come rolling in when it is quite the opposite. We are just as concerned as everyone else.

Yes. I would agree that mixed fuels are better. One of the reasons why your gas is high right now is because of the switchover to ethanol based gasoline, which burns cleaner than the old MTBE.

Do you mind me asking what energy company in Oklahoma? I had a couple internships in the past with Newfield Exploration and Cheasapeak...Tulsa and OKC respectively...and met a lot of good people from quite a few different companies.

I use to live in Dallas for a year. Anyway, up in Seattle--whew. It's gets frustrating sometimes... Folks get nervous when I tell them the Texans concept of "gun control"... LOL And I am originally from SoCal...

The betterment of the people needs to be weighed vs. that of the environment. That was difficult to do in Dallas when I was there--because the concept of recycling was absent at best. It may have to do with how much land you all have vs. a smaller state (like Washington)--resources are precious where we are.

And from a SoCalian's perspective--we might lose our land due to an Earthquake, but then all the geologist I have spoken to tell us differently. Land is more COSTLY in like Boulevard, California--or hayle in off Xzzyxx Road LOL... So even if we find an Extraterrestrial Space ship in the middle of nowhere California STILL will cost more that some beachfront properties in some areas...

As far as my Uncle goes he is with the Williams Company...

[TexasWSP]

Originally Posted by AKA_Monet

I use to live in Dallas for a year. Anyway, up in Seattle--whew. It's gets frustrating sometimes... Folks get nervous when I tell them the Texans concept of "gun control"... LOL And I am originally from SoCal...

The betterment of the people needs to be weighed vs. that of the environment. That was difficult to do in Dallas when I was there--because the concept of recycling was absent at best. It may have to do with how much land you all have vs. a smaller state (like Washington)--resources are precious where we are.

And from a SoCalian's perspective--we might lose our land due to an Earthquake, but then all the geologist I have spoken to tell us differently. Land is more COSTLY in like Boulevard, California--or hayle in off Xzzyxx Road LOL... So even if we find an Extraterrestrial Space ship in the middle of nowhere California STILL will cost more that some beachfront properties in some areas...

As far as my Uncle goes he is with the Williams Company...

Haha, don't get me started on Dallas.

I have an aunt and uncle that moved to Palos Verdes for business (commercial real estate) from Highland Park in Dallas. Just from visiting I can attest to the high prices of land.

Ah yes, the Williams Company...out of Tulsa I believe? Big players in natural gas. Huge actually.

[AKA_Monet]

Originally Posted by TexasWSP

Haha, don't get me started on Dallas.

I have an aunt and uncle that moved to Palos Verdes for business (commercial real estate) from Highland Park in Dallas. Just from visiting I can attest to the high prices of land.

Ah yes, the Williams Company...out of Tulsa I believe? Big players in natural gas. Huge actually.

Wait, lemme ask you: LOL Are there Alligators in Texas? (I know the answer to that question) -- It's my poll of what real Texans think...

[TexasWSP]

Originally Posted by AKA_Monet

Wait, lemme ask you: LOL Are there Alligators in Texas? (I know the answer to that question) -- It's my poll of what real Texans think...

Yes? Haha. I mean, there is a spring alligator hunting season. You can hunt them in South and East Texas....never done it though.

I feel like this is a trick question.

[AKA_Monet]

Originally Posted by TexasWSP

Yes? Haha. I mean, there is a spring alligator hunting season. You can hunt them in South and East Texas....never done it though.

I feel like this is a trick question.

Dude!!! I was in Sugarland visiting my husband's cousin's property... And there was this muddy retaining pond. And as we all got out of the vehicle, we looked around and all thought is was nice--until I saw to little eyes pop up out of the retaining pond... LOL... And I asked "what's that?" And my husband--a aquatic animal specialist--veterinarian--started skipping and yelping "That's an ALLIGATOR!!!" He was too happy!!!

Meanwhile, the dudes at my former workplace who hunt ALL THE TIME told me there are no alligators in Texas... And I was like, "but, but" They were that Cotton Bowl group... LOL.

[PeppyGPhiB]

Originally Posted by AKA_Monet

I use to live in Dallas for a year. Anyway, up in Seattle--whew. It's gets frustrating sometimes... Folks get nervous when I tell them the Texans concept of "gun control"... LOL And I am originally from SoCal...

The betterment of the people needs to be weighed vs. that of the environment. That was difficult to do in Dallas when I was there--because the concept of recycling was absent at best. It may have to do with how much land you all have vs. a smaller state (like Washington)--resources are precious where we are.

Washington isn't that small of a state. It's in the middle in terms of area. But when you say that our resources are "precious" I really think it's more accurate to say that we treat our resources more preciously. We're crazy recyclers here (all of my life we had curbside recycling, way before it was elsewhere), and (seriously) half of our state's area is covered in pine trees...many people probably don't know that. But you know what? We're still good at using our natural resources. Did you know that Washington state gets less than 10% of our power from coal? We get almost all of our electricity from WATER. Grand Coulee Dam is the biggest power plant in the country, plus we have a bunch of other dams throughout the state. We have so much power generated from our natural resources (thanks to cooperation with Canada, Oregon and Idaho also) that we still have enough left over to sell to California. So I'm pretty happy with how we're treating our natural resources up here.

[AGDee]

You do still have some nuclear plants, right?

[AKA_Monet]

Originally Posted by PeppyGPhiB

Washington isn't that small of a state. It's in the middle in terms of area. But when you say that our resources are "precious" I really think it's more accurate to say that we treat our resources more preciously. We're crazy recyclers here (all of my life we had curbside recycling, way before it was elsewhere), and (seriously) half of our state's area is covered in pine trees...many people probably don't know that. But you know what? We're still good at using our natural resources. Did you know that Washington state gets less than 10% of our power from coal? We get almost all of our electricity from WATER. Grand Coulee Dam is the biggest power plant in the country, plus we have a bunch of other dams throughout the state. We have so much power generated from our natural resources (thanks to cooperation with Canada, Oregon and Idaho also) that we still have enough left over to sell to California. So I'm pretty happy with how we're treating our natural resources up here.

Thanks I knew some of that--especially when I put a recyclable item in the wrong container. Compared to Texas, I would get "blank stares"--And poor California, first disaster they get, they ain't gonna make it... Namely issues with water--folks are going to lose they dayum minds...

Originally Posted by AGDee

You do still have some nuclear plants, right?

I thought they shutdown Hanford--it's a superfund site now. Like they have crazy stuff like Thorium and Strontium in the stones...

[PeppyGPhiB]

Originally Posted by AGDee

You do still have some nuclear plants, right?

We have one nuclear power plant (Hanford), which has been cleaned up considerably since its days of producing plutonium during WWII...in fact, you can now tour the facility, even the reactor. Nuclear power accounts for less than 10% of our power. We have one coal plant, and it accounts, again, for about 10% or less or our power. More than 70% of our power is hydro from many dams throughout the state; natural gas and wind power also account for less than 10% of our power.

See this Web site for a map of our electricity sources and their locations: http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/state/state...les.cfm?sid=WA
Here's and excerpt:
"Typically accounting for close to three-fourths of State electricity generation, hydroelectric power dominates the electricity market in Washington. Coal-fired, natural gas-fired, and nuclear powered plants account for roughly equal shares of the remaining generation. Washington is the leading hydroelectric power producer in the Nation, typically generating about twice that of the next leading State. Eight of the State’s 10 largest power plants run on hydroelectric power, primarily from the Columbia and Snake Rivers. The 7,079-megawatt Grand Coulee hydroelectric facility, located on the Columbia River, is the largest generating plant in the United States. Grand Coulee’s generation capacity is almost twice that of Arizona’s Palo Verde nuclear plant, the second-ranked U.S. electric plant. Washington has one large coal-fired plant located near the State’s only coal mine in the southwest. Coal production has fallen slightly in recent years due in part to increased hydroelectric production. The State’s only nuclear plant, the Columbia Generating Station, is located near the Columbia River in the south-central part of the State, and generates nearly one-tenth of the State's electricity."

[AGDee]

My uncle used to work at Hanford.. only reason I even knew that it existed He's been retired for a while now so I wasn't sure if it was still up and running or not.

[jon1856]

Just came across this story and while it could go just about anywhere, parts seemed to place it here:
Cuba oil plans could put hole in U.S. embargo
"HAVANA (Reuters) - Sometime next year, Cuba plans to begin drilling a major oil field off its northern coast that might do what little else has done -- bring change to U.S-Cuba relations.
In a rare confluence of circumstances, oil could grease the wheels for the two bitter enemies to come together in the middle of the Florida Straits out of mutual need, experts say.
Getting there would require a sea change in U.S. policy -- namely putting a major hole in the U.S. trade embargo imposed against Cuba in 1962 to topple Fidel Castro's communist government."..................
"CLOSE TO U.S.
An odd fact is that Cuba will be drilling 50 miles from the Florida Keys, or more than twice as close as U.S. companies can get due to regulations protecting Florida's coast.
U.S. Rep. Jeff Flake, an Arizona Republican who has introduced bills to lift the embargo for oil companies, said the environmental argument may be key because there is much concern in Florida about potential oil spills.
"If there are going to be oil rigs off of Florida, I think most Americans would be more comfortable if they were U.S. oil rigs, rather than Chinese for example," Flake said.
He said U.S. companies are definitely interested in Cuba, but have not publicly pushed for embargo change. In interviews, industry executives emphasized they did not oppose the embargo because it is U.S. national policy and were pushing instead for access to U.S. areas that are currently prohibited, such as offshore western Florida.
"When U.S. companies are not even allowed to drill in the eastern half of the Gulf of Mexico, we have a long way to go before we can think about international waters off the coast of Cuba," said Larry Nichols, chairman of Houston-based Devon Energy.
Cuba has said it would welcome U.S. companies to their offshore field and showed its interest by sending Cubapetroleo representatives to a 2006 conference in Mexico City with companies including oil giant Exxon Mobil and top U.S. refiner Valero Corp.
The conference became the center of international controversy when the Sheraton Hotel kicked out the Cuban representatives after the Bush administration told the U.S.-based hotel chain it was violating the embargo by having paying Cuban guests.
The incident may have convinced the oil industry to lie low on Cuban oil.".............
http://www.reuters.com/article/inDep...thNews&sp=true