What government is doing about rising oil prices (Bangor: lease, buying)

[Northern Maine Land Man]

maine4.us asks:
"Why are we still giving oil companies subsidies when we haven't build a refinery in the US since the 1970's?"

To explore for and develop oil fields. Unfortunately, the environmental industry is working against our country. They don't want us to have an oil reserve. They don't want us to have efficient energy. They don't want us to prosper. Just look at a brief list of energy systems they oppose:
Coal fired power plants
Oil fired power plants
Wood fired power plants
Nuclear plants
Hydroelectric dams
Wind power
Tidal power

[rod67]

History -
Environmentalist killed the refinery proposed for Eastport.
Environmentalist killed the huge Dicky Lincoln hydroelectric dam.
Environmentalist killed Maine's only nuke.
Environmentalist killed the LNG terminal.

Now everyone complains about the Maine's high cost of oil, employment issues and global warming. Who's at fault??? The misguided environmentalists... or those that allowed them to run unchecked?

[maine4.us]

NMLM....I agree the environmentalists have taken their toll on energy development? But I reiterate, why the subsidies? Shouldn't a law be tied to actually producing more oil, rather than just studies that tell us the oil is there. You can't blame that one on the enviro guys. Blame that on good old uncle Sam for continuing the subsidies.

I don't think the oil companies have the desire to build more refineries. Since oil is a finite quantity, why not produce less and charge more??? How hard have the oil companies fought the environmentalists? Not very, from what I have found. You have to look past the tree huggers to get the big picture. Control the amount of oil, and you control the price. It's a supply and demand kind of thing. Eventually the oil companies will, along with the American public, will fight the environmentalists and win, but not until the price is right. Oil in the ground draws interest like no banking account or stock market investment on the planet. It is far better to let nature keep it until the price demands it be pumped.

By the way, my community suffered a severe economic blow due to environmentalists. A new dam had been built and almost completed. Property had been obtained, houses bought and people displaced, some by eminent domain . All of this was stopped by a half-inch fish (minnow) called the snail darter. A huge "would be lake" and potential water supply stand empty. I don't know how many millions of dollars the government wasted in the 1970's. My town never got over the loss of the lake that almost was. I am not kind to those environmentalist guys, but in this case, I just don't think big oil has the desire to bring more supply on line. Not at least at today's prices.

[Coaster]

Originally Posted by rod67

History -
Environmentalist killed the refinery proposed for Eastport.
Environmentalist killed the huge Dicky Lincoln hydroelectric dam.
Environmentalist killed Maine's only nuke.
Environmentalist killed the LNG terminal.

Now everyone complains about the Maine's high cost of oil, employment issues and global warming. Who's at fault??? The misguided environmentalists... or those that allowed them to run unchecked?

Correction:
Sportsmen and the paper companies killed Dickey Lincoln.
NIMBYs killed the LNG terminal in Harpswell and elsewhere.
Canada killed the refinery in Eastport by refusing to allow oil tankers through Head Harbour Passage.
Reactor vessel and pipe cracks killed Maine Yankee. Environmentalists were the ones who forced the information into the open.

[forest beekeeper]

Originally Posted by Coaster

... Reactor vessel and pipe cracks killed Maine Yankee. Environmentalists were the ones who forced the information into the open.

A cracked vessel [which I doubt anyway], and pipe micro-fractures; would amount to a one week closure for refurbishment, for any 'for-profit' power company, or for the military.

It certainly is no legitimate reason for closure.

[Northern Maine Land Man]

They were heat exchanger tube microcracks. They would have had to sleeve about 10% of the total number of tubes to catch up and then 2% of the remaining tubes each year. That's what a nuclear engineer told me. They were never welcome in Maine. We have too many environmentalists and their supporters have deep enough pockets to tie any large company in knots with lawsuits.

[Coaster]

Originally Posted by forest beekeeper

A cracked vessel [which I doubt anyway], and pipe micro-fractures; would amount to a one week closure for refurbishment, for any 'for-profit' power company, or for the military.

It certainly is no legitimate reason for closure.

Clumsy sentence structure; the reactor vessel was thought to be "embrittling" IIRC. Repairing the problem and the pipe cracks in the heat exchanger and elsewhere was estimated to cost more than the plant would generate in profits over its remaining lifetime. Not sure how that compares to your military experience, FB. All I can say is what was reported at the time.

Edited to add: There was something about the wiring in the plant, too, but I don't recall the details. It was quite a while ago.

[dawnnpete]

Maybe we should become less addicted to oil.

[Coaster]

Originally Posted by dawnnpete

Maybe we should become less addicted to oil.

If only. Where could we start? Or is rationing -- either officially or through market forces -- the only answer.

[Maineah]

Originally Posted by Coaster

If only. Where could we start? Or is rationing -- either officially or through market forces -- the only answer.

I'd buy an electric car if it would go at least 100 miles between charges. I'd install a small bank of solar chargers to help save on the electricity costs. If several thousand others would begin doing the same thing we would begin to see a significant reduction in oil consumption. People will have to give up some comfort and convenience to at least begin to turn the oil dependency in the other direction. Just PLEASE tell me where the electric cars are? The ones they are trying to sell to us now are an embarrassment. They are lower quality than the Yugo was and get only about 30 miles between 8 hour charges. They may as well be wood fired for the amount of time they have to be plugged in charging. They can make a cell phone that can call five miles as clear as a bell and run a week on a charge and they can't come up with an efficient electric car??? Someone is stopping them from being developed....any guesses?