UMD Libertarians

Our oil production: 8.091 mm barrels per day
Our oil consumption: 19.993 mm barrels per day

What do you think?
Yes, it is possible if Obama is elected and serves eight years

yup our ability to kick the oil habit depends solely on this single factor

Good luck getting special interest groups to allow anything to get done.
anything is possible.

but NO. with the current state of politics and energy consumption in this country, it is not possible. not remotely.

i’d say that’s lolworthy.

lolololol

Just like when Bush said he was going to invest X amount into hydro-powered cars…….. wait what hydro-powered cars?

. we can reduce it tho

Yes.

Yes we can
Here in Canada we have the oil for you. But it’s a god awful dirty business.
If Gore hadn’t allowed Bush to cheat him out of the 2000 election, we’d have been a good way towards reaching that goal already.
No, not even close.

And, as a core idea, the push for complete energy independence is not the best of ideas. It will raise energy prices, has an increased risk of environmental issues interrupting supply, and artificially regulates the flow of trade. And, remember, trade is a good thing.

Good luck getting consumers to change their habits.

that too especially if the other options dont take a huge initial investment
sure, but it would a lot of people a lot of money.

most people would have to stop driving their gas cars and buy hybrids or plug-ins (which are bad for the environment in other ways). of course the selling their old cars to get money to buy their new cars would be a problem since nobody (at least in the US) would be buying them

or they’d to convert their cars to work on ethanol, which would massively drive up the cost of food

would also need to cut the manufacturing of plastics, or convert to bioplastics.

A lot of PE manufactures are switching over to coal for their feedstock.

waiting for the "if we can put a man on the moon then we *should* be able to…………." argument

you know how much shit we have that requires oil? think about all the machines that move and all the plastic we have, then reconsider whether we SHOULD be able to do without those in 10 years.

I love you people.
ending the dependence doesnt exactly mean completely not using it

People don’t seem to think about this. Hell, even the major component of fucking aspirin is petroleum.

we don’t have enough to supply ourselves with it.

and unless you plan to get rid of all the cars, trucks, buses, trains, planes, and boats over the next 10 years then we’re going to need to get it from someone else.

YES IT DOES!

I’M REPUBLICAN AND I ONLY SEE THINGS IN BLACK AND WHITE

I think the problem is republicans see dependence as one thing and democrats see it as another.

Its going to be impossible to stop the use of all oil and anyone who things that is nuts for sure.

"dependence on foreign oil" is pretty straightforward.

If you want to take it that way sure. I certainly hope democrats dont mean it that way. I give them the benefit of the doubt a little on the usage of the word ‘dependence’

temp solution would be NG and Propane. Nearly every vehicle on the road could be made to run those fuels.

Problem isn’t converting cars over, it’s the lack of infrastructure.

it might not be possible to produce enough oil to meet our consumption, but it would be nice to try harder to become more self sufficient. Personally, I think people that don’t want to drill in the US just want to wait until oil supplies are down in other countries so the US can monopolize the industry.

I think there is truth to that, but wouldnt it be funny if by the time that happens everyone else goes "well we need to change out shit so we dont need to use that evil US"

what else can it mean?

why?

and the original question was "is it possible to END our dependence on foreign oil?" and the answer is no.

I understand what you are saying, im just trying to be a little bit of devils advocate

sure it is, its just not probable.

ok, yes it’s possible.

if we outlaw nearly every internal combustion engine, invaded canada and made it our 51st state, and stepped up drilling there and off our other shores then we could probably cut our dependence on foreign oil enough to supply ourselves.

I concede, it isn’t impossible.

Hardware stores have propane tanks. So you get gas and pick up some pegboard for your garage at the same place.

NG is a fossil fuel, BTW. You really want to fix the problem people need to be more proactive, and buy an electric car for local driving, and throw some solar panels on their roof with a grid-tie inverter. THAT would reduce our dependence on foriegn oil.

ICEs can run on ethanol (which has numerous plant sources), CNG, and numerous other fuels. No reason to outlaw them. Most gasoline vehicles, espeically trucks and SUVs, could be manufactured at the plant with the option of electric or gas power, just by swapping different propulsion hardware and controls into the same chassis. They COULD do it, but the Petroleum Institute has done a great job thus far of infecting people with the idea they need a car every day that can go a thousand miles on a moment’s notice (and batteries take time to recharge).
It is absolutely possible.

When Americans decided to put a man on the moon…we did it in short time. When asked to sacrifice during WWII…we ALL stepped up.

Absolutely.

Now…it’s not possible if the CIC is not willing to do it.

Here’s another comparison. Slave traders saying, "who will do all this work?"

But the dissolving of the slave trade gave birth to the Industrial Revolution…and was exponentially better for society in the creation of massive amounts of new jobs.

Even an attempt at moving away from our dependence on foreign oil is going to create a boat load of new jobs and businesses.
It absofuckinglutely is. In fact it’s possible to curb our dependence on oil altogether to a fraction of its current state within 10 years. Skip the offshore bullshit and put that money into solar/wind/geothermal/nuclear power.

Stimulate demand by offering tax credits for electric/hydrogen cars. Give car companies grant money to put towards alternative fuel research. Stop giving huge tax breaks to oil companies. Take the taxes you get from them and give them to alternative energy companies. Fast-track the nuclear refinery development program and tell the NIMBY faggots to shut up.

Not necessarily. I would consider our dependence ended it every fluctuation in the price of oil doesn’t lead to an immediate change in price at the pump, and a slightly delayed change in the price of goods.
The liberal messiah of yes we can will also be walking on water as he pulls gold bars out of his ass to pay for all the things he has promised

Oh and the Horse and Buggy will end our dependence on foreign oil in ten years.

Dust off those bicycles too because this country is going to look more like Vietnam.

Fuck you’re right. It’s too risky. I’m scared. I won’t have enough gas to get away from homosexual illegal alien terrorists who don’t support the troops or liberty for Iraq.

FEAR BE AFRAID

Don’t forget about the faggots going door to door to take your guns and make you share.

Great post man.

You have no faith in your fellow countrymen.

The flag outside my house is bigger than yours.

You need to be afraid

But just vote for THE ONE and all will be milk and honey

And if he legalizes Pot then you will like the homosexuals much better.

no, I win

I AM AFRAID SO I WILL VOTE REPUBLICAN BECAUSE THEY MAKE US SAFER

And you still don’t believe in your fellow countrymen you unpatriotic pussy.

say something about bootstraps

Holy Republican alarmists…

I better vote for McCain so we’ll have an infinite supply of oil, a completely balanced budget, world peace by exercising American hard power, no more divorce or broken homes, and the gays will turn straight.

If I vote for Obama, everyone turns Gay, taxes are raised to 80% and everyone dies of starvation, alternative fuels leave waste and turn the world into a nuclear waste dump, we all smoke pot and cease to be productive.

making a rocket into a bigger rocket is one thing.

converting our entire infrastructure from oil to …… something else…….that’s completely different.

and btw, your "if we can put a man on the moon" argument? kennedy said we should go to the moon in ‘61. we went in ‘69. it took 8 years to get to the moon but you’re saying we should be oil-independent in 10 years.

that’s laughable.

I’m on your side broseph…I was agreeing with you.
yeah everyone will pull themselves up by their bootstraps…even the ones who can’t afford boots

god dammit don’t help him!

And you’re continuing to say that you have no faith in the ingenuity of your fellow countrymen.

that = unpatriotic

but i DO! all we need to do is

You don’t have any understanding of the limitation the President has when there are three branches of Government that serve as a check and balance system.

You are in what I call the cult of Bush hatred.

This cult sees all the wrongs of this country as some how the power of the evil Hedgemon GWB

No respect for checks and balances my harry brown asshole. The power of each branch is limited so you can disrespect all you like it will not change anything.

Ohhh the evil Bush monster!

He is the reason for every evil thing on this earth….

Ironic. The majority of people think Bush supporters are the ones akin to cult members, just so you know.

A cult that has buried its head in that hairy brown asshole for eight years.

So how do you feel there is no basis to the widely supported assertion that the president has abused his authority? You know, besides your brilliant cult thing.

If Obama gets elected, EVERYONE will have boots.

They’ll just be shitty government boots with straps that break and don’t fit right.
How many of you libbies on here that are all hot and bothered about Obama’s promises concerning oil independence are doing jack shit right now to work in that same direction?

HUH??!?!?! Motherfucking hypocrites, you want it all done for you.

How many electric cars do you have? How much solar, wind, or microhydro powers your house?

How far away from work do you live? Do you commute to work with others, or ride alone?

You buying food in plastic containers, or killing / growing your own?

You people make me sick. You bitch about conservatives, but your messiah has nothing but empty promises. At the very best, he would create tax breaks and incentives for putting up solar or buying a new electric car, both of which cost more than you can afford. Conservatives like me (evil bastard capitalists that work hard for a living and make lots of money) will thoroughly enjoy these tax breaks, as we add an electric car to our garage, put solar on our house, and LOL all the way to the bank, because you morons are paying more taxes to subsidize my "green" living choices.

hahahahahahahahahaha

ahhh, that felt good.

I drive a hybrid

I recycle everything i can

I conserve my electricity as much as possible

I donate money to environmental charities to plant more trees

And, I support politicians who do the same

Hmmm. Maybe if I had more options, I could do more than recycle.

Oh wait, that’s part of the problem, isn’t it?

You loose, fuckface.

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