State Of Denial Address

[john1701a]

All right, I've had it! Now I'm really angry.

We got the token comment about the need to press on with battery research, but that was it for hybrids.

The solution he just proposed (literally minutes ago) to reducing our "foreign oil" and "gas usage" problem is to expand the use of biodiesel, improve & increase the production of ethanol, and to step up domestic oil production.

Most disturbing was this: "At the same time, we need to reform and modernize the fuel economy standards for cars the way we did for light trucks." What in the world is that suppose to mean?

[Rangerdavid]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(john1701a @ Jan 23 2007, 09:52 PM) [snapback]379837[/snapback]</div>

All right, I've had it! Now I'm really angry.

We got the token comment about the need to press on with battery research, but that was it for hybrids.

The solution he just proposed (literally minutes ago) to reducing our "foreign oil" and "gas usage" problem is to expand the use of biodiesel, improve & increase the production of ethanol, and to step up domestic oil production.

Most disturbing was this: "At the same time, we need to reform and modernize the fuel economy standards for cars the way we did for light trucks." What in the world is that suppose to mean?
[/b]

It means he still doesn't have a clue, actually he probably doesn't even realize what that part of the speech meant, he's just happy he read it well ..........

Even Jim Webb in the Demo rebuttal just said that they look forward to working with the President to achieve independence from foreign oil.... yeah, good luck with that.

F*%$# it, I'm voting for Hillary!!!!

[etkal]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Rangerdavid @ Jan 23 2007, 11:15 PM) [snapback]379842[/snapback]</div>

F*%$# it, I'm voting for Hillary!!!!
[/b]

F*%$# it, I'm voting for Obama!!!!

[Beryl Octet]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(john1701a @ Jan 23 2007, 09:52 PM) [snapback]379837[/snapback]</div>

Most disturbing was this: "At the same time, we need to reform and modernize the fuel economy standards for cars the way we did for light trucks." What in the world is that suppose to mean?
[/b]

Probably thinking about the E85 loophole, the one that counts Tahoes for CAFE purposes as getting 27 MPG since they can run on E85.


Oh man, I'm so wishing I'd watched it tonight.

[jhinton]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(john1701a @ Jan 23 2007, 09:52 PM) [snapback]379837[/snapback]</div>

Most disturbing was this: "At the same time, we need to reform and modernize the fuel economy standards for cars the way we did for light trucks." What in the world is that suppose to mean?
[/b]

That would be the new light truck CAFE regulation that he got through Congress last year. It split trucks up into categories by weight, reduced the fuel mileage for larger trucks (F150) and increased the fuel mileage for small trucks (Ranger). The combined average went up about a 1/2 mile per gallon. Of course that depends on the mix of trucks. If smaller trucks become more popular the total fleet mileage goes up. But if the mix shifts towards larger trucks and SUV's the total fleet mileage continues to go down. Conveniently these new regulations came out as GM was introducing their new full size SUV's and Trucks.

[jyl]

The only meaningful proposal in the SOTU, relating to energy anyway, was the proposed mandate of 35BN gal of alternative fuels by 2017. Whether a good or bad idea, it is a major change from current law and policy.

The rest seemed like status quo. Drill in ANWR, could've mailed that one in. Battery research, check. Reform CAFE but be flexible, i.e. let Detroit slide by again.

My favorite - double the Strategic Petroleum Reserve by 2027. Lets see - suppose we take no real action to decrease oil usage, so that oil imports increase, say, 3%/yr. 3% compounded over 20 years is nearly a double already. So the ration of SPR oil to daily oil imports will be - well, basically unchanged.

I just read about these parts of the SOTU, I did not listen to the SOTU live. I've lost interest in what Bush has to say. His "political capital" is negative and his influence on the domestic agenda is rapidly disappearing.

[TonyPSchaefer]

I didn't watch it, but I'm guessing that what he said was something like this:

We must also change how we power our automobiles.

We will increase our research in better batteries for hybrid and electric cars and in pollution-free cars that run on hydrogen.

We will also fund additional research in cutting-edge methods of producing ethanol, not just from corn but from wood chips and stalks or switch grass.

Our goal is to make this new kind of ethanol practical and competitive within six years.

Breakthroughs on this and other new technologies will help us reach another great goal: to replace more than 75 percent of our oil imports from the Middle East by 2025.

By applying the talent and technology of America, this country can dramatically improve our environment, move beyond a petroleum- based economy and make our dependence on Middle Eastern oil a thing of the past.[/b]

That quote is exactly one year old tonight.

[darelldd]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(john1701a @ Jan 23 2007, 06:52 PM) [snapback]379837[/snapback]</div>

and to step up domestic oil production.
[/b]

Yeah well. This will help us reduce our gas usage how? And it has the potential to reduce our oil imports by more than an insignificant amount how?

Hello?! What we need is a REAL energy policy in this country. Something that we simply have not had since... well... since we've needed one. I think it was Nixon who first said that during his presidency we would find a way to be energy independent - and would no longer need to import any oil. And here we are, struggling to reduce our imports by 0.0001%?

[Alric]

"Let us build on the work we have done and reduce gasoline usage in the United States by 20 percent in the next ten years – thereby cutting our total imports by the equivalent of three-quarters of all the oil we now import from the Middle East.

To reach this goal, we must increase the supply of alternative fuels, by setting a mandatory Fuels Standard to require 35 billion gallons of renewable and alternative fuels in 2017 – this is nearly five times the current target."


Very sneaky! Reduce gasoline use by 20%. I bet he is not including the oil used to fertilize all those crops for biodiesel or the diesel used by agri-trucks.

Also he separated the section when he mentions "batteries for hybrids" from the section of what we can actually do to reduce gasoline usage by 20%. Suggesting they are independent issues.

In the end isn't this what a policy like Kyoto would have accomplished if the Bush administration had not turned its back on it.

Cheers!

[Godiva]

What did all of you expect?

I'm not going to listen to an amateur with a lousy accent and little talent read from a script. They should hire the guy that does the voice overs for the movies. Or maybe Peter Graves. Geez, even Howie Mandell would be better.

I stopped listening to the man in 2003. Can't even stand the sound of his voice anymore. Content? You wanted content? Forget it. You can read what his speech writers wrote for him to say.

So, did he make everyone feel better and more confident? No? Well, then, he's not doing his job. Fire him.
Can't wait until the markets open tomorrow. Should be fun.