Here We Go Again

The House just approved ANWR drilling...again. But how long will it take the Senate to kill this? Freaking Northeast Liberal Republicans will bend over for the enviro-whackjobs...again.

You'd think with gas prices being what they are they'd strap on a pair and make this happen. I'm not holding my breath.

Hat Tips: HotAir and RedState

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Gas Prices And Adjusted Expectations

$3.09/gallon this afternoon at my local "bargain" gas station. Eh, what can you do? Drive less, sure. But how much less? I don't think I drive all that much to begin with.

Oddly enough, despite the pain of filling up SUVs are in higher demand than ever. These huge vehicles keep sucking down gas at alarming rates but it hasn't stifled America's desire to drive them. Doesn't this kind of fly in the face of logic? Not if you consider that fact that most drivers seem to be getting used to the new price level. According to a Newsweek article today, $3.00 or more per gallon doesn't send shudders down our spines the way it used to.

Detroit once thought $3 gas would be our ultimate pain threshold, forcing us to finally give up the keys to our big rigs. But it turns out our oil addiction is harder to kick than anyone expected. Although pump prices have nearly doubled in the last three years, we're driving more than ever. Today's cars average 12,190 miles on the road annually, up 24 percent from 1980, according to federal statistics. And the models we buy now have more horsepower and heft than those of a generation ago, which explains why gas mileage is headed in reverse. Today's new cars and SUVs average just 21mpg, down from 22.1mpg in 1987. When it comes to paying up at the pump, Americans have proved they can rationalize just about anything. "When prices are lower in June," says energy analyst Tom Kloza, "people will brag, 'I got my gas for only $2.75'." Now Detroit is recalibrating its threshold. The new CW: "Prices have to get to $4 and maybe even higher—and stay there for at least a year—before we'll see a substantial shift in what we drive," says J.D. Power's Tom Libby.

Before Katrina hit last fall, people payed on average just over $2.00 a gallon (let's say, $2.25 for argument's sake). A fill-up would go for about $30-35. Nowadays it's more like $45-50. So let's say, on average, we're paying $10-15 more a week (or $40-60 more a month) on gas. It looks like we, as Americans, have found out we can make up this amount by "sacrificing" other things that aren't all that important to us. Think about all the little things you routinely spend small amounts of cash on - a breakfast sandwich, a bottle of water or soda, candy or gum, a bag of chips with lunch, a video rental, impulse-purchases in the supermarket, a Dunkin' Donuts Smoothie or an Iced Coffee. There are lots of little "rewards" that we give ourselves all the time. These are nice-to-haves. Gas is something we need to have. It sucks to have to pay more for it and there'll still be plenty of bitching to go around.

But it seems that our overall expectations - not to mention our lifestyles - have changed to the point where rising gas prices don't seem to affect us as much as we thought they would. Or maybe I'm totally off the mark.

There's currently a poll in the sidebar about how gas prices are affecting your behavior (if at all). Take a scroll over and register your vote.

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Bush Announces Energy Breakthrough!

President Bush announced that the U.S. in on the verge of technology breakthroughs in energy that would "startle" most Americans.

One of Bush's proposals would expand research into smaller, longer-lasting batteries for electric-gas hybrid cars, including plug-ins. He highlighted that initiative with a visit Monday to the battery center at Milwaukee-based auto-parts supplier Johnson Controls Inc. (JCI)

During his trip, Bush is also focusing on a proposal to increase investment in development of clean electric power sources, and proposals to speed the development of biofuels such as "cellulosic" ethanol made from wood chips or sawgrass.

This is really something. If we can develop this kind of techno...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
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Posted by: Gary at 08:07 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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House "Moderate" Republicans Fudge Their Shorts Over ANWR...Again

Well, once again Northeastern Republicans stabbed their party in the back. The so-called "moderate" members of the GOP, fearing attack ads from the Sierra Club and other Environmentalist whacko interest groups next year, pressured the House Rules Committee to pull the ANWR provision from the budget bill. And this, after the Senate GOP finally strapped one on and passed the meaure in the upper chamber.

Nice. Well, it's back to the drawing board. Too bad these cretins (and I strongly suspect that my Congresswoman is part of this) are too focused on their reelection next year to face up the problems of foreign oil dependency to actually do something that would help alleviate them in the years to come. Now with this winter expected to be a bitch and home heating fuel prices eating such a huge chunk out of family budgets, the twenty-five Republicans who threatened to vote against the budget if the ANWR provision were not removed will just look to their constituents and shrug their shoulders.

BullDogPundit hits the nail on the head:

Think about it. What good is a GOP majority if they can't pass tax cuts, can't slightly reduce the rate of growth in spending, and panic because enviro-kooks object to drilling in a barren, snow-covered wasteland?

Indeed.

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Time To Drill, Baby!

See this picture?

Now look closely. See that little bitty red part inside the little blue part at the top of Alaska? That's where we will soon be drilling! Despite all the whining and moaning from the environmental whackos, it looks like it takes a slap in the face (and the wallet) to make people realize that we need to start drilling from our own sources.

I wrote a heads-up that this was coming down the pike back in August. Now it looks like its finally going to happen in the next couple of weeks. What a perfect time, when the Democrats are already flailing. Now the GOP can finally put an end to their perennial ANWR filibuster. You want to play around with Senate procedures, guys? We can play that game too.

UPDATE: The Senate just passed the motion! Now the House and Senate versions must be reconciled.

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