Is history repeating itself?

[SkyWriting]

The day joe took office - 1.95
]

I'd prefer we buy Foreign Oil until they run out. Then we will have our own left and they will come asking for it.

 

[Wolseley]

If it's too expensive for you, don't buy it. Problem solved.

I wonder if we could get Congress to abide by this maxim?

 

[Sophrosyne]

You do know that Texas refineries are SHUT DOWN????

Texas refineries slowly restart after last week's deep freeze | Financial Post

The freeze knocked out power for millions of Texans and idled nearly a quarter of national refining capacity. The storm’s effect on refining rivaled that of 2017’s Hurricane Harvey, but also brought the added problems of freezing natural gas and water lines that will make it harder for facilities to restart safely.

That price hasn't changed much over the last 2 weeks here it was $2.39 BEFORE the TX freeze.

 

[Sophrosyne]

BTW Tulsa has a refinery in the city.

 

[hislegacy]

BTW Tulsa has a refinery in the city.

more than one.

 

[OldWiseGuy]

I wonder if we could get Congress to abide by this maxim?

Congress is reactive. Citizens need to be proactive and reduce the need for government spending. We need better citizenship by our people.

 

[The Barbarian]

You do know that Texas refineries are SHUT DOWN????

There you go again, muddying up the discussion with facts.

 

[The Barbarian]

We should also maintain good coal reserves.

There are more known coal resources in the ground in the United States than Saudi Arabia has known petroleum resources. Unfortunately, Donald Trump shut down Obama's Clean Coal Initiative, and it's going to have to be rebuilt in order to use much of the coal, much of which is dirty-burning in the unprocessed state.

 

[The Barbarian]

Iran is #8 on the list of oil-producing countries. At #1, we produce over 4x what they do. But again, don’t let facts get in the way of your propaganda.

List of countries by oil production - Wikipedia

The US is actually a petroleum-exporting nation now. But the horrendous weather really impaired the supply to pumps and so prices went up.

It's not as interesting a story as the one some people are peddling, but it has the virtue of being true.

 

[Albion]

Since you’re already on GasBuddy, you can look at the historical charts and see that prices started going up around Thanksgiving, a month and a half before Biden took office.

But after the election of the candidate who had promised to phase out oil and gasoline. That's the way pricing works, and not just with energy.

 

[OldWiseGuy]

There are more known coal resources in the ground in the United States than Saudi Arabia has known petroleum resources. Unfortunately, Donald Trump shut down Obama's Clean Coal Initiative, and it's going to have to be rebuilt in order to use much of the coal, much of which is dirty-burning in the unprocessed state.

We sell a lot to China, then the smoke blows our way.

We should gradually shut it down but only as fair employment is found for displaced workers in the industry. Or we can simple use worker attrition. Anyway if we're going to sequester carbon we have to leave the coal in the ground unless we need it in an emergency.

 

[The Barbarian]

We sell a lot to China, then the smoke blows our way.

No. For one thing, China has gotten serious about reducing emissions. It's starting to be a health problem.

We should gradually shut it down but only as fair employment is found for displaced workers in the industry. Or we can simple use worker attrition.

In the last few years, black lung benefits have been curtailed, so "attrition" has been working better than before.

Anyway if we're going to sequester carbon we have to leave the coal in the ground unless we need it in an emergency.

Technology for clean coal use is still new, but it's promising to be better than previously expected.

And there's this:

Researchers at Argonne National Laboratory say they’ve found a breakthrough way to recycle carbon dioxide into energy-rich ethanol fuel. The secret is an electrified catalyst made from copper and carbon, which the researchers say can be powered using low-cost off-peak or renewable energy. What results is a process that’s more than 90 percent effective, which they say is far higher than any similar existing process.

Northern Illinois University professor and participating Argonne researcher Tao Xu says the new catalyst isn’t just a single stop that can produce ethanol—it’s the first step down a possible long list of ways to turn carbon dioxide into other useful chemicals. Despite the obvious plenitude of carbon dioxide, recycling it effectively into new things has been hard because of how stable and chemically stubborn the molecules are.
Scientists Turn Carbon Dioxide Into Ethanol | CO2 to Ethanol

Scientists often say that pollution is a resource out of place. Maybe so...

 

[Emmabecker]

There are many aspects that we can take a look at because there are just some aspects of history that will repeat. There are a lot of events that will happen because there are just some aspects of gas prices that can fall down lol. I hope that there are some improvements for everyone because there are just some aspects that are doing well. I think that there is some history that we can see repeating especially with the pandemic and its effect in any industry from today heading into the future.

 

[Emmabecker]

 

[OldWiseGuy]

No. For one thing, China has gotten serious about reducing emissions. It's starting to be a health problem.

China Building Hundreds Of Coal-Fired Power Plants Abroad : NPR

 

[The Barbarian]

China Building Hundreds Of Coal-Fired Power Plants Abroad : NPR

Yes. Abroad. If it's not in China, they don't see it as a health problem. They produce coal, BTW. When Trump withdrew the United States from involvement with the rest of the world, China stepped in to take our place. That will be a huge problem for America in the future.

China’s $900 billion New Silk Road. What you need to know
China’s $900 billion New Silk Road. What you need to know

 

[OldWiseGuy]

Yes. Abroad. If it's not in China, they don't see it as a health problem. They produce coal, BTW. When Trump withdrew the United States from involvement with the rest of the world, China stepped in to take our place. That will be a huge problem for America in the future.

China’s $900 billion New Silk Road. What you need to know
China’s $900 billion New Silk Road. What you need to know

Yikes!

 

[The Barbarian]

Yikes!

Yes. Isolationism is a really dangerous path for America now.

 

[OldWiseGuy]

Yes. Isolationism is a really dangerous path for America now.

We're hardly isolated from China with an annual trade deficit in the $billions. That's how they're paying for their expansion. So we've paid for the rope they are going hang us with.

 

[The Barbarian]

We're hardly isolated from China with an annual trade deficit in the $billions. That's how they're paying for their expansion. So we've paid for the rope they are going hang us with.

Not from their POV. Their economy is now hugely dependent on ours. If we were to shut off trade with China, it would be really damaging to us, but a catastrophic hit on them. Even the Trump recession was a major hit. From last March:

Yet the economic damage to China is severe, and its prospects for recovery—even with massive financial support—remain uncertain. Sustainably restoring China’s productive capacity in the coming weeks would require an unlikely revival of U.S. demand. China’s recently announced economic indicators for January and February were much weaker than market watchers had forecast. Year over year, retail sales fell by 20.5 percent and industrial production by 13.5 percent—China’s worst numbers on record.
China’s Economic Growth Now Depends on the West

This is worse for them than it is to us. In the scheme of things, trade deficits are a problem only if an economy is not creating wealth to pay for it.