Sunday, March 7, 2010

Please pick a Nom de Plume

I must ask that our commenters pick a nick name, or Nom de Plume, and stick with it.

It is getting difficult to carry on a rational conversation with a series of "Anonymous".

You don't have to register with Google, you can still be "Anon" with a nick name specific to this site.

5 comments:

Wayne said...

I have read my brothers blogg since the beginning but have refrained from commenting though we talk almost every day. I have been in the oil distribution business since 1968. I have read reference to peak oil in books with printing dates every decade back to 1900. I hustled to find heating oil, diesel fuel and gasoline in the two shortages of the 70's. Currently, the gas stations have gas but an oil shortage will be upon us the first moment the collective thinking believes we cannot meet .25% of demand. Whether good economy (I doubt it), hurricane or natural disaster, there will be a time when Wall Street hoards or even worse, the consumer hoards. If the general public even starts to fill their gas tanks and home heating oil tanks there will be an instant shortage and prices will skyrocket. Then perhaps the government will come up with some mandatory allocation system which will really exaggerate the problem. To be sure, more oil will be found but at a greatly increased price. We already cannot afford the oil we import at $80... how can we afford $150 oil (or more)? Not that I trust the government but we should tax oil say, $2.00 per gallon immediately. That will change the way we think about consumption. I hear the government needs the money. The price will increase one way or the other. If we do not stop the export of a half a trillion dollars a year then it won't matter if the world has oil or not. Wayne

Anonymous said...

You are absolutely right about the $2.00 per gallon tax. And use the money to resubsidize the railways (light and heavy)the way private autos and trucks have been subsidized since government got into the road building business seriously in the 1930's.
I say resubsidize because without the original federal subsidy of land and eminent domain, the national railway system would never have been built. Ditto for roads and airports.
Crash program, start on the commuter paths around every major city and organize a transportation systems that doesn't have a gazillion individual gas engines creeping in stop and go traffic for 4-6 hours per day.
Don't think it will ever happen until we hit bottom because of the current religious prohibitions against any taxation.
Another solution would be to privatize all roads and allow several mega corporations to own them and set the tolls with no regulation. That would cut oil consumption.
cheers (ndplume)

Donal Lang said...

Nom de Plume? Good idea! From now on I want to be known as 'FluffyPinkChicken'!

Or do you think ProfessorFluffyPinkChicken would carry more gravitas?
:-)

Anonymous said...

Dr. Fluffy?

I think not.

Regards,

Coal Guy

A Quaker in a Strange Land said...

My brother Wayne understands the distribution dynamics of gasoline and Oil in ways few others do.

Hoarding is likely to be the lead.