The price of gas compared to the days of my youth are outrageous. When it was $.19/gal and a few bucks got you around. Now that prices are far higher, we now have better engines, tires, body styles, oils, electronics and you name it, anything to get more miles out of gal. of gas. It doesn't matter where that gas comes from, but it certainly does at the pump. We're VERY LUCKY to sit on our own oil reserves no matter what the type and can make use of it. Then there's Canada and Mexico as well to supply US with oil. The only reason we use Mid-east oil is because it usually "sweeter" and they want to sell it to us. What else do they have, really. That's oil it also part of the "energy picture" which we have moved on and not just talk. When we drill for oil we get gas as well. That gas has to be sold, you can store only so much. One big reason that "gas fired" electric plants are around us now. Also, during refining gas is produced and if a place can have it piped to another source for gas for electric plants uses. I'll guarantee you if other countries we're the position we are, they'll make the same decisions. Of course, getting to oil/gas is a messy business so continued clean efforts should be imposed, otherwise falling back on coal will wipe out any emissions stds.. But getting oil/gas isn't as messy as coal. The whole energy picture is all about that to include solar and wind, even if they are small players they reduce the dependence on sole sources of energy. Enjoy it for now the gas prices, they won't stay low for that long. Any energy saving we have in oil is being sucked by China, the next customer down the line. They have little oil reserves and coal is their prime energy source. You can see that their skies are dirty as heck. One reason, they're into oil exploration now in a big way is to gain access using cheaper drilling tools or accepting foreign payments far lower than normal and/or gaining footholds in foreign markets in order to export back to China, gee whiz Louise. We're here now only because of something Prez. Carter started in trying to have better energy planning or wean ourselves from being energy hogs. It took this long to get any benefits and usually only because of hammering at it. When not hammering, everything went back to cheaper or less govt. interference, but that won't produce anything in the "long run". In these situations the results are from long yrs. of plans and sticking to the plan especially when the govt. is involved, usually does for any benefit to arise. off soapbox -----Willy ![]()
At least one news program so much as inferred this might be the case by stating that the break even point of shale oil was about 60 bucks a barrel...and that the Middle Eastern oil producing nations were allowing the price to drop in an effort to make it too expensive to extract oil this way. So maybe we're not seeing the results of government success in creating energy independence but just a war between giants to see which one will lord over us.

Chowhound
Comic Vine
GameFAQs
GameSpot
Giant Bomb
TechRepublic