Feingold addresses crude oil prices

[undeterred]

Opening statement of U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold, D-WI, hearing on "Exploring the Skyrocketing Price of Oil” Senate Judiciary Committee

“Americans may have a hard time believing this, as they fill up their cars, but the U.S. is the third top oil producing country in the world, exceeded only by Saudi Arabia and Russia. We produce four times more oil than Iraq, three times more oil than Venezuela, and over double the production in Canada, Mexico, China, and Iran.

“And yet we have never been able to meet our needs domestically because the U.S. consumes more oil than any other country in the world. Our annual consumption of 20.7 million gallons of oil a day is three-fold the consumption level of the next highest consuming country. In short, we have an insatiable appetite. An appetite that cannot be met even by adding an amount equivalent to all the oil in the top-oil producing country of Saudi Arabia. Even President Bush famously declared the United States is addicted to oil. The problem is clear. Now we need solutions. We do not need economists in the room to explain the basic principles of supply and demand. Given ever-increasing global demand and predictions of continued skyrocketing oil prices, we need to start the long-term transition to renewable energy and alternative fuels immediately.

"Mr. Hofmeister, President of Shell Oil, stated in an NBC interview last year that he too agrees we must and can get over our addiction to oil ‘over decades’ and that Shell Oil ‘will be there’ when it comes to renewables and alternative fuels. However, his colleague, Mr. Simon, President of Exxon-Mobil, declared at a House hearing last month that oil and gas will represent 80% of our energy portfolio in 2050, over four decades from now. So how many decades from now are we talking before your companies will seriously invest in alternative fuels and renewable energy? Three years ago, the same oil companies testified before the Senate’s Energy and Commerce Committees and had similar discussions. And yet, based on April 2008 data published in the Oil and Gas Journal and distributed by the American Petroleum Institute, over this time period your companies invested more in marketing than renewable energy. Mr. Chairman, I ask that this data be submitted for the record.

“Obviously you are private companies looking to make a profit. And succeeding -- we’ve all read the headlines regarding your companies’ record-setting profits, $123 billion for 2007. Meanwhile, my constituents are facing financially challenging times – from our farm fields to the grocery stores and gas pumps, Americans are feeling the effect of record oil prices. They are looking to us for help. There are some things we can do to provide some short-term relief, such as no longer filling the strategic petroleum reserve and preventing market manipulation. We recently made some progress in both these areas. We also need to pursue policies that encourage renewable energy, alternative fuels, as well as energy efficiency and conservation, and last year’s energy bill moves in that direction. But more is needed, and I hope that oil companies will step up and be part of the solution, finally.

http://www.fdlreporter.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080521/FON0101/80521048/1985

[tama]

1. What!?

A politician talking and actually making sense?!!!