Comments on: The Weekly Carboholic: anti-oil speculator resolution useless political theater

By: Scholars and Rogues » Gingrich’s “Energy Independence Day” makes false promises

Sat, 24 Jan 2009 14:54:11 +0000

[...] The “speculation is driving up oil prices” criticism that they address is fairly accurate as far as I can tell, and I blogged about it myself in this week’s Carboholic. [...]

By: Scholars and Rogues » The Weekly Carboholic: public opinion shifts from the environment to drilling and mining

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 12:42:55 +0000

[...] ago, the Carboholic reported that the United States Bureau of Land Management (BLM) had issued a 22-month moratorium on all new solar power generation permits on federal land in the desert southwest. As of July 3, the BLM has reversed that position and will [...]

By: ron

ron — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 00:07:52 +0000

This idea that there is both a buyer and a seller and that prevents a bubble is pretty laughable.
The Tulip bubble had both buyers and sellers, as did the south seas bubble and, more recently the housing bubble.
The fact is that since the ICE, an unregulated futures market, has come on stream, the old position limits on speculators no longer apply. Thus, the amount of speculative funds in oil futures has grown from about $20 billion to $260 billion in just 2-3 years.
If so much extra money is chasing roughly the same amount of oil – how can the price NOT go up?

By: Russ Wellen

Russ Wellen — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 18:08:03 +0000

As far as good news, the LA Times story you cite ends:

“More carpooling, fewer people on the freeways, more telecommuting — in many ways, what would happen is what people have been trying to make happen for a long time,” USC’s Gilligan said.

Nobody said evolution would be painless.

By: jeff

jeff — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 22:35:10 +0000

Oil is in a bull market, pure and simple. The author makes a realistic scenario of what could happen to the economy with $200/bbl oil. It is up to the individual to realize that what is going to happen, and that they should position themselves accordingly. One needs to be proactive in their self preservation, as it’s every man for himself.

Jeff

By: Robin

Robin — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:42:25 +0000

Brian, are you keeping up with the frequent Conoco announcement to do with the land in Louisville? Latest is that they're teaming up with CU Boulder, CSU, NREL, and School of mines to examine turning algae into fuel. Daily Camera link

By: www.buzzflash.net

www.buzzflash.net — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:36:10 +0000

The Weekly Carboholic: anti-oil speculator resolution useless political theater…

This week: Political theater instead of real oil price reform; $200 per barrel will change our way of life; a new turbofan jet engine; data center power to increase 13x by 2012; insurers dropping coastal properties; BLM suspends solar permits for 2 yea…

By: Dr. Denny

Dr. Denny — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 14:27:39 +0000

One of your best Carbos … but it’s so damn depressing.

By: Lex

Lex — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 14:16:31 +0000

So the moral of the $200/bbl oil story is that change is coming…whether we want it or not. Every ending is a new beginning; death begets life. While we should have been proactive about preparing ourselves for the end of cheap oil a long time ago, we can still alleviate some of the worst upheavals if we get down to business now. Unfortunately, i fear that we will sit around and hope that things get “better” (i.e. return to the past). When they don’t we’ll don the sackcloth and scatter the ashes.

By the way, Brian, did you catch last week’s “Technology Quarterly” in the Economist? It proposed that the future of alternative energy is much closer than we think. Of course this week’s article about not extending solar tax credits kind of took the wind out of those sails.

By: Brian Angliss

Brian Angliss — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:35:50 +0000

Sure! The geared turbofan is good news, and if people are going to move away from the coastlines (and flood plains) of their own accord due to high insurance rates, then that’s good news too – fewer people to be dislocated if the feds have to condemn entire coastal towns.

I do try to mix the good or ambivalent stuff in with the bad stuff – it’s just that some weeks there’s more bad news than good, and other weeks I figure pointing out banalities (like the House’s resolution) is more important than throwing in a feel-good story.

Like the fact that an ethanol plant is going to be testing, at commercial scale, carbon sequestration in a saline aquifer that could store a century’s worth of emissions from the entire midwest. That’ll be next week if I can fit it in.

By: Dr. Slammy

Dr. Slammy — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:20:24 +0000

Do you have any stories that DON’T make me want to jump off a bridge?