A Watermelon update: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&sid=arSRWU0yDL7M&refer=columnist_hassett

The unintended consequence of bio-fuels.  Gee, what else can we subsidize to save the planet.

As I have said before, part of the rising gas prices is our failure to build any new refineries in decades, not drilling for oil in domestic locations, implementing new low sulfur regulations and  reformulating gas in 40 US locations including special formulations for winter and summer.  Also taxation at all levels - 18.4 cent federal gas tax and 24.4 cent diesel tax, average state tax of 21.8 cents (New York state tax is 8 cents per gallon, plus 8 percent state
sales tax and a Petroleum Business Tax of 15.2 cents per gallon. There
is also a spill tax of 0.3 cents per gallon and a petroleum testing fee
of 0.05 cent per gallon levied on gasoline).   All of these factors raise domestic prices. 

Biofuel development using food sources is causing world wide starvation and, for you greenies, to provide this fuel source, ancient forests are being
cut down, threatening extinction for many species. And most troubling, eduction of
greenhouse gases is lost when carbon-capturing forests are cut down to
make way for biofuel crops, worsening the problem of global warming.  Even Nuclear is better than biofuel.  Fusion power produces no troublesome emissions, is safe, and has few, if any, proliferation concerns. It creates no long-lived waste and runs on fuel readily available to all nations.

   Taxes on oil remain stable, as they are calculated in cents per gallon, not as percentages of the price per gallon.  I'm not sure if local sales taxes apply to oil and gasoline.  Does anyone know for sure, if it does or doesn't ? 

   The price of oil, and what is responsible for the increases since 2003 and the huge ones very recently, are many factors, the largest being the trading on the petroleum and mercantile exchanges.  Demand from the rapidly growing economies with huge populations such as India and China, are the main factors there.  The war in Iraq, the War on Terror, and other various anticipations, all add to the reasons.    

   What people tend to forget, is that it takes oil and gas to transport oil and gas to their destinations.  Higher initial purchase prices leads to higher transportation costs, which leads to higher prices for the stuff at its destination(s).

   Oil pricing affects the price of everything in the world's economy.  In addition to the transportation costs, manufacturing everything from Twinkies to the F-22 Raptor, uses oil in some fashion.  Look at all the manufactured items which are made directly from petroleum, such as most plastics, and the bases for medicinals and cosmetics.

   As far as the soaring food prices go, oil pricing is a huge factor.  Many other things contribute though.  Droughts in large food growing areas, trading on commodities exchanges, growing demand from more mouths to feed due to population increases, caused by more births with lower infant mortality rates, longer lifespans, more people eating more food due to newfound increases in standards of living, just to name a few, and yes, the food production reduction due to the ethanol production from maize.

   The oil and energy companies with those record profits, along with governments should putting tons of R & D money into developing the high production technolgy needed to use switchgrass and not food crops, for ethanol production.  Switchgrass has something like four times the biomass yield per acre and a similar bang for the buck, with about that much less in energy consumption required for it's conversion to ethanol.

   By the way calling those who are enviornmentally conscious "greenies", uses the same mindset (though not necessarily the same attitude and associated beliefs) as those who would use economic class, social, religious, ethnic, origin, and racial slurs.  It all comes from the need to differentiate in a demeaning manner, those who think, believe, have different views and values, and/or who are different, from theirselves and those who think and/or are like them.  They all share the same root system.

  I'm not calling you out on this, larryd.  I'm sure you meant it to be taken in a humorous way, and for it not to be offensive (hopefully).  Just use a little judgement when trying to make a point.  Being polite and respectful goes a long way towards having a constructive debate, conversation, or discussion, on boards such as Queens West.com.

Charlie.      

Hay Charlie, that response deserves me buying you a beer on the upcoming pub crawl!  Are you going?

Regards,