Please reread the last line of my comment. We really need campaign finance reform before any major sensible energy policy is possible. Still, on a state by state basis, some progress is being made. States like NY, California, and Massachusetts have about a third the energy intensity of states like Nebraska and Indiana.
The oil market is global. If consumption drops anywhere, worldwide consumption drops. Russia can sell its hydrocarbons anywhere, but if the world supply exceeds the demand by 2% the world will run out of storage quickly and the price will drop.
So you think you are going to get *world* hydrocarbon usage to drop 2%? Not just the US, but the world?
Again, how do you propose to accomplish that? Let's take the last sentence of your original paragraph as true. OK, how do you fix that, what makes you so sure that it will accomplish the drop in global hydrocarbon demand, and how long will that take?
I didnтАЩt say hydrocarbon, but oil. The US uses ~20% of the world oil supply. If we cut our use by 10%, then 20% x 10% = 2%.
No idea how long it could take, but about 5% of our demand is wasted simply because of people speeding on the highway. Americans could drive the speed limit and cut world oil consumption by 1%. Zero lead time, zero capital investment.
The rest would be straightforward work like weatherization and increased gas mileage standards.
Okay, let us know how you plan to accomplish that.
Meanwhile, Russia can sell hydrocarbons elsewhere. The US is hardly its biggest customer.
Please reread the last line of my comment. We really need campaign finance reform before any major sensible energy policy is possible. Still, on a state by state basis, some progress is being made. States like NY, California, and Massachusetts have about a third the energy intensity of states like Nebraska and Indiana.
The oil market is global. If consumption drops anywhere, worldwide consumption drops. Russia can sell its hydrocarbons anywhere, but if the world supply exceeds the demand by 2% the world will run out of storage quickly and the price will drop.
So you think you are going to get *world* hydrocarbon usage to drop 2%? Not just the US, but the world?
Again, how do you propose to accomplish that? Let's take the last sentence of your original paragraph as true. OK, how do you fix that, what makes you so sure that it will accomplish the drop in global hydrocarbon demand, and how long will that take?
I didnтАЩt say hydrocarbon, but oil. The US uses ~20% of the world oil supply. If we cut our use by 10%, then 20% x 10% = 2%.
No idea how long it could take, but about 5% of our demand is wasted simply because of people speeding on the highway. Americans could drive the speed limit and cut world oil consumption by 1%. Zero lead time, zero capital investment.
The rest would be straightforward work like weatherization and increased gas mileage standards.