forwarded with permission - Scott --------------------------------------------------------------------------
I ran across this factoid while perusing the 'net a bit ago. This explains because why we don't have oil extraction taxes in California, why the US will do anything to get more pipelines built anywhere there's some Texas Tea to ship, why government kisses up to BP et al. The oil companies are "de facto" arms of the US government yet subject to little control or regulation. ~Via Indeed, the U.S. Department of Defense is the largest purchaser of oil on earth, and reportedly consumes more than any other governmental department or body worldwide. Obviously, the effect of such a huge driver of global demand on the global oil price certainly isnt zero. Read more: http://articles.businessinsider.com/2012-03-12/news/31146825_1_pentagon-for-oil-spill-pentagon-spending#ixzz1ygI2u5hH Another link, older with the same claim. http://www.energybulletin.net/node/13199 There have been talks in Washington of cutting the militarys budget by about 500 billion over the next ten years. In spite of the fact that this amount is laughably small, the military is claiming that the global oil price, which the military itself is pushing up, will make even a tiny reduction difficult. We can consider this along side the much ballyhooed effort by the Pentagon to go green and slash its use of fossil fuels. It also promises to cut greenhouse gas emissions by ten percent. This cut, however, "exempts the militarys bases in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as the jets, ships, and ground vehicles that swallow up 75 percent of the militarys fuel supply." So, the Pentagon will be cutting emissions except when its not. And by cutting its reliance on fossil fuels, it can presumably get to work driving up the price of non-fossil fuels. Whether or not the reduction of fossil fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions should be a goal of public policy is debatable, but in typical fashion, the reality of the effort to go green hardly matches the PR. Read more: http://articles.businessinsider.com/2012-03-12/news/31146825_1_pentagon-for-oil-spill-pentagon-spending#ixzz1ygIggAz0 ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Deborah Lagutaris, JD, BA ~~~ -Never underestimate the power of a small group of committed individuals to make a difference. Indeed, that's the only thing that ever has. - Margaret Mead ------------------------------------ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: <mailto:laamn-unsubscr...@egroups.com> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe: <mailto:laamn-subscr...@egroups.com> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Digest: <mailto:laamn-dig...@egroups.com> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Help: <mailto:laamn-ow...@egroups.com?subject=laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post: <mailto:la...@egroups.com> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive1: <http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive2: <http://www.mail-archive.com/laamn@egroups.com> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: laamn-dig...@yahoogroups.com laamn-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: laamn-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
