Take a Tesla S for a spin around the block, then tell us how stupid the enviro-nazis are. Oil is Evil! Prove me Wrong…
Where do you think plastic comes from? How much lubricant is in an electric car? How long can you make a rechargeable battery last? I won’t even get into the battery chemicals! Oil may not be the “forever” answer but batteries just suck!
Henry Ford made plastic body parts from hemp oil in the 1920’s. Not sure but guessing a couple quarts. Around 2,000 cycles. Li-On batteries are somewhere around 95% recyclable. FLA’s do suck, agreed. AGM/Li-on much better. (No holes in clothes, or popped tops, hydrogen …)
Kicking myself for not buying their stock a year ago!
Yeah, me too… No shit, take one out for a spin… Kind of spooky, fast as as hell and totally silent. Oil isn’t going away anytime soon, but the alternatives are enticing…
http://www.google.com/search?q=tesla+stock+price&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&client=safari
Right on ZDriver, back in the early '90’s I thought if i could get to 300 a day that would be all i would ever need to make! I’m making more than double that, and only wish c/c was on time every time and I had more time to spend at home with the family to help them spend all this money I’m making! LOL!
[QUOTE=“tengineer;116386”]
You are silly if you think the “enviro-nazis” control the drilling in the USA. They haven’t enough money to control anything. There is more than enough oil in the GOM to keep everyone busy for many years to come as recent drilling contracts prove; besides that if you want to work close to home why in the world would you want to be a mariner? That is like saying I want to be a sailor so I can be close to my wife.[/QUOTE]
They have stopped every attempt to allow offshore drilling off the east coast to date so they must have some power.
[QUOTE=Capt. Phoenix;116405]They have stopped every attempt to allow offshore drilling off the east coast to date so they must have some power.[/QUOTE]
The oil companies haven’t started pouring their millions onto the politicians pockets yet or they would be drilling off Virginia. They wanted to drill in Alaska and the “enviro-nazis” couldn’t stop them, never stood a chance against oil money and politicians. These oil companies will drill where they want if it makes long term economic sense but they are not going to drill themselves down to $50/bbl oil.
[QUOTE=tengineer;116407]The oil companies haven’t started pouring their millions onto the politicians pockets yet or they would be drilling off Virginia. They wanted to drill in Alaska and the “enviro-nazis” couldn’t stop them, never stood a chance against oil money and politicians. These oil companies will drill where they want if it makes long term economic sense but they are not going to drill themselves down to $50/bbl oil.[/QUOTE]
It’s a combination of various factors including the influence ofspecial interest groups, (for example NIMBY groups, environmentalist, oil companies) and public opinion. Public opinion is swayed by events such as gas lines, price spikes or large oil spills, fear of climate change.
Actually Va was very close to drilling until the BP accident. Now Va is ready to drill again, but they are taking it slowly (for now). I have a feeling with all the government cut backs, things may speed up a little!
Lets hope so. Warner and butt boy Kaine are for it so maybe it will happen.
Oh, perfect… Kind of like digging your own grave, for a dime…
Its news to me. I have lived in Norfolk my whole life. Certain parts of town always flood on a very high tide. Always have and always will. Just like after a very heavy rain certain roads are impassable.
What do you suggest we do? We cant live without oil and more environmentally friendly sources are decades out. Oil is what we have for now.
And it’s the same thing in Portsmouth! Some areas always flood during a good storm, it’s been that way for years… well before “global warming.” Funny none of these “experts” write about how the warming and cooling trend has happened through out the history of earth.
[QUOTE=ryanwood86;116493]And it’s the same thing in Portsmouth! Some areas always flood during a good storm, it’s been that way for years… well before “global warming.” Funny none of these “experts” write about how the warming and cooling trend has happened through out the history of earth.[/QUOTE]
It is well known that global warming and cooling has happened throughout history, anyone that has ever picked up a book realizes that. The thing that alarms the scientists and even semi-informed people is the RATE of warming that is occurring now which is unparalleled in history and should concern everyone. Viewed as a challenge to technology this could prompt many new innovative ways of doing things, reduce energy costs for individuals and in general be a win-win for everyone for generations to come. I personally look forward to new technology and less pollution. Though the new technology has been challenging to me as an engineer it hasn’t hurt me a bit to learn some new things and realize that what I learn today may not be the final or ultimate solution it sure hasn’t hurt my brain to learn a new thing or two. Anyway, I’ve never been a big fan of dirty air, water or even litter so I’ll give some new ideas a try.But then I had a cell phone when they weighed 5 pounds and you had to carry them around in a bag.
[QUOTE=“tengineer;116527”]But then I had a cell phone when they weighed 5 pounds and you had to carry them around in a bag.[/QUOTE]
Geezer… 
I thought this was worth a bump. We knew this day was coming. Why is everyone surprised?
[QUOTE=Capt. Lee;154282]I thought this was worth a bump. We knew this day was coming. Why is everyone surprised?[/QUOTE]
If you hold a cat by the tail, you learn things that cannot be learned in any other way. - Mark Twain
Lots of folks going to end up with scratch marks…
[QUOTE=z-drive;116301]
But then again, how many thousand foreigners with licenses are sitting at home with their thumbs up their ass? I continually read the mariner “shortage” is universal. In my ivory tower I would like to think you could replace a DPO with a foreigner easier than someone who moves a 100k BBL barge through pilotage water theirself, but thats just my uninformed opinion. If you disagree that foreigners don’t make less then why the hell do they want them so bad? There has to be savings.
[/QUOTE]
Z-Drive,
Hiring foreign mariners anywhere is more expensive than hiring local mariners. It only makes good business sense to hire local workers. You work in Brazil, Brazilians. You work in Mexico, Mexicans. You work in America, Americans. I know it doesn’t always work out that way for many reasons, but the fact is it costs more money to work a foreign mariner outside of his host country. The US is no exception. You have visas, travel, Taxes paid to the host country on behalf of the mariner by the company and their salary. You hire a local and most of that goes away.
[QUOTE=Capt. Lee;154296]Z-Drive,
Hiring foreign mariners anywhere is more expensive than hiring local mariners. It only makes good business sense to hire local workers. You work in Brazil, Brazilians. You work in Mexico, Mexicans. You work in America, Americans. I know it doesn’t always work out that way for many reasons, but the fact is it costs more money to work a foreign mariner outside of his host country. The US is no exception. You have visas, travel, Taxes paid to the host country on behalf of the mariner by the company and their salary. You hire a local and most of that goes away.[/QUOTE]
I believe that foreign unlicensed seamen make less than their US counterparts but the cost advantage for officers is not there for them to work in the US…especially for North Europeans. The biggest single reason that Americans aren’t wanted is that we are protected under the Jones Act for claims of unseaworthiness to an extent that many vessel owners consider us Americans as a huge liability they don’t want to assume even though I do not believe American mariners are all lawsuit crazy just looking to soak it to some vessel owner. Unfortunately though most owners of these foreign vessels have a mistaken impression that we are but what they really are seeing are all the lawyers who specialize in Jones Act claims who advertise full page ads in the yellow pages and put up billboards anywhere mariners might be driving frequently.
Much as I believe in the Jones Act, I see this ancient law protecting American seamen as dating to the days of sail when owners would kill crewmembers and not pay any penalty. This is one part of the Act that actually penalizes us Americans. If Congress rewrote the law to take away the automatic validity of a claim of unseaworthiness and made it one where the seaman had to prove it, I see many jobs now being held by foreign nationals in the GoM going to Americans.