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Political stuff: how'd this slip through the cracks?


El Karacho1647545492

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Seriously how did I not hear about this before the election? Amazing shit, apparently hasn't been resolved yet.

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/30/AR2008083001538.html

 

CHICAGO -- The American Petroleum Institute and four other business groups filed suit Thursday against Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director H. Dale Hall, joining Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's administration in trying to reverse the listing of the polar bear as a threatened species...

 

Interesting. Its obvious why, but I'm curious....why specifically?

 

One of the plaintiff in Thursday's lawsuit, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), lauded the choice of Palin as the Republican vice presidential nominee for reasons including her advocacy of Alaskan oil and gas exploration, which many fear could be affected by the bear's protected status...

 

Those poor little oil companies, their $40b/annual profits don't stand a chance against those big mean polar bears and their insidious Fish and Wildlife service.

 

"This could significantly curtail oil and gas exploration," especially on Alaska's North Slope, he said. "It's discrimination against the state of Alaska..."

 

Wait...I thought...polar bears are discriminating against Alaska? SOMEONE PLEASE EXPLAIN

 

Kassie Siegel, climate program director for the Center for Biological Diversity, which originally petitioned to list the polar bear as an endangered species in 2005, decried the assertion in the Alaska suit that science does not prove polar bear populations are declining. The center is also suing the federal government, seeking to change the polar bear's official status from "threatened" to "endangered."

 

 

 

"The amazing thing about this litigation is that the governor of Alaska is so anti-environmental that she is suing the Bush administration over a claimed overabundance of protections for the polar bear," Siegel said. "It's just amazing."

 

About this time I'm hoping someone buys all the land around Sarah Palin's house and puts oil rigs on all sides. filing lawsuits against the Bush admin to deny the simple fact that THERE AREN'T VERY MANY POLAR BEARS LEFT (not like I'm passionate about the cause, its just important to realize that people went out and counted...) and that enough should be reason to put them on the endangered list with their habitat melting? good thing this crazy bitch didn't get the chance to change this from the white house.

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I need oil more than I need polar bears... just my $.02[/QUOTe]

Congratulations, you just won the "Most ignorant comment of the day" award.

 

You have been entered into the drawing for the grand prize, a trip to the local library. Yay!

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http://www.polarbearsinternational.org/ask-the-experts/population/

 

Seems to me this guy claims the reason for PB decline is "over harvesting". He even admits to Ice declining some places but building in another areas.

 

Drill for the fucking Oil. We are quite a ways from the electric car days....

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I respectfully disagree. But this is probably a discussion for another thread.

 

We ain't producing a sub 20k electric car for quite some time homie. In order for it to be electric car time in my book it has to be available for the masses. Hell even Tesla's sedan is going to 50k.......

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We ain't producing a sub 20k electric car for quite some time homie. In order for it to be electric car time in my book it has to be available for the masses. Hell even Tesla's sedan is going to 50k.......

 

With all the bells and whistles, probably closer to low 20s. The base model Focus is 15K. 100-150hp electric conversion is about 10K. Pull the engine and simplify the transmission (only need one or two gears) and you could probably have an electric Focus sedan for 22K or so. Start taking out some of the luxuries that people take for granted now (power windows, 10 speaker systems down to 2, etc.) and you'll save money, weight, and extend the range. And this is on a compact sedan. The conversion will go farther and be cheaper in one of those really small cars you see running around europe. (And will soon be here via Fiat.)

 

Granted the range will be about 50 miles or so. But honestly, how many people NEED more than that to get to work and back?

 

You can double the range for a work commute by charging the car while at work. Give businesses a tax break for running power out to their parking lots, and I bet you'll see it happening rather quickly.

 

We have the technology to make it work, but the drive to do it isn't there.

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Like I said it's not electric car time, keep proving my point.

Well, yes, it isn't now. But my disagreement is with your statement that it would take a long time for electric cars to become viable. They're technically feasible now, and if the government made it profitable to make and support them, I bet we'd see an electric car on the lots in short order.

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its simple, if its an endangered species its harder to get oil exploration set up because it could ultimately 'hurt" their habitat. The reason why they're pissed about that is because oil drilling and environmental factors don't kill polar bears, hunters do, so why should energy production be halted for a problem its not causing?

Our country has energy, lets use it. Global warming will kill the bears before oil drilling ever does :rolleyes:

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Congratulations, you just won the "Most ignorant comment of the day" award.

 

You have been entered into the drawing for the grand prize, a trip to the local library. Yay!

:funny::funny::funny: that made my day thanks, i laugh so hard :eek::funny::funny:

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With all the bells and whistles, probably closer to low 20s. The base model Focus is 15K. 100-150hp electric conversion is about 10K. Pull the engine and simplify the transmission (only need one or two gears) and you could probably have an electric Focus sedan for 22K or so. Start taking out some of the luxuries that people take for granted now (power windows, 10 speaker systems down to 2, etc.) and you'll save money, weight, and extend the range. And this is on a compact sedan. The conversion will go farther and be cheaper in one of those really small cars you see running around europe. (And will soon be here via Fiat.)

 

Granted the range will be about 50 miles or so. But honestly, how many people NEED more than that to get to work and back?

 

You can double the range for a work commute by charging the car while at work. Give businesses a tax break for running power out to their parking lots, and I bet you'll see it happening rather quickly.

 

We have the technology to make it work, but the drive to do it isn't there.

 

stop lying to yourself, The hydrogen fuel cell Honda Clarity is a million times more capable in daily life. Your examples assume that people never drive over 50 miles away from thier home. Untill electric cars are able to refill in a couple minutes and drive 200 miles before needing said fill-up they just are not viable as a primary car.

 

Does everyone know that we are running out of oil? that's what scientists in teh 1930's were telling us. Scientists in the 1970's said we were heading toward an iceage. In no way do i think that cars should be as ineffient as the 60's but when we live under a government that allows a 600+ hp corvette on our roads yet handcuffs a company from brining over 50-60+ MPG diesel cars, there is something wrong.

 

Well, yes, it isn't now. But my disagreement is with your statement that it would take a long time for electric cars to become viable. They're technically feasible now, and if the government made it profitable to make and support them, I bet we'd see an electric car on the lots in short order.

 

this is where your view of the role of government is fucked up. The gov. is not there to make things profitable! The more government stays out of our lives the better. Government healthcare, does not work, no matter what Micheal Moore told you, government telling banks that they must lend to people, does not work! look around, that's what got us here.

In the real world we will change when we have too, or when companies can make money off of it.

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stop lying to yourself, The hydrogen fuel cell Honda Clarity is a million times more capable in daily life. Your examples assume that people never drive over 50 miles away from thier home. Untill electric cars are able to refill in a couple minutes and drive 200 miles before needing said fill-up they just are not viable as a primary car.

I'm not convinced of hydrogen's viability. There's too many sources of energy loss. Rather than using electricity from the power plants directly for use, it's instead used to break down water (at less than 100% efficiency), then compress the gas, move the gas, pump the gas, then there's another conversion to get electricity back (at less than 100% efficiency).

 

As for the range, we are not a representative sample of the driving public. A lot of people drive from home to work, and out to do errands. They hate driving and do as little as possible. These people could benefit from an electric car since their fuel bill will be nearly eliminated. And how many families have just one car? A normal petrol-based car would compliment an electric car. They would cut their fuel expenditures in nearly half, and still have a long-range vehicle for the occaisional trip.

 

I'm NOT advocating switching to electric cars only. Screw that. But making electric cars viable would put a huge dent in our oil consumption (co-incidentally leaving more for us.)

 

Does everyone know that we are running out of oil? that's what scientists in teh 1930's were telling us. Scientists in the 1970's said we were heading toward an iceage.

The fact that we don't have a problem now (which is debateable) doesn't mean we should wait until we have one to start working on solutions.

 

In no way do i think that cars should be as ineffient as the 60's but when we live under a government that allows a 600+ hp corvette on our roads yet handcuffs a company from brining over 50-60+ MPG diesel cars, there is something wrong.

No arguments there. All the stupid Nerf-ing and generalized tree-hugging going on is giving us two-ton cars that get marginal mileage. Hopefully Fiat's extortion will get those lighter and more efficient cars to us.

 

this is where your view of the role of government is fucked up. The gov. is not there to make things profitable! The more government stays out of our lives the better.

I think you misunderstood. Less government is good. The problem is that unless the govenment does something, private companies aren't going to do anything. What you think I'm saying is that the government should regulate/manage/etc. I'm not. What's been shown in the past is that when the government takes its hands (and taxes) OFF, profits go up. To "make it profitable" means offer tax deductions/cuts/credits/etc that the companies can use to increase profits.

 

Of course, the likelihood of this is rather slim... but possible.

 

Government healthcare, does not work, no matter what Micheal Moore told you, government telling banks that they must lend to people, does not work! look around, that's what got us here.

Dunno where healthcare or bank lending came from. That's a whole other thread, and I agree with you for the most part.

 

In the real world we will change when we have too, or when companies can make money off of it.

This is my point. Give companies an incentive to build an infrastructure for electric cars. Use the carrot, not the stick; less taxes, not more regulation.

 

 

Ultimately, all I'm saying is that it IS possible. We (meaning the general populace and our government) just don't want to.

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