Fuel

[John R]

excellent article shelly, thanks.

Ford trying to play Green.

I?ll Take the Sunroof, Rims, and TerraPass, Please
April 27, 2006 03:15 PM - Jacob Gordon, Los Angeles, CA

Greener-Miles.jpg

Paying to offset your car?s emissions is a contentious issue. To some it?s a clever and accessible way to get a little greener. Others see it as a feel-good cop out. The New York Times weighed in on the issue this week and made their opinion clear enough: Gas Guzzlers Find Price of Forgiveness. Of course the issue is more nuanced than that and as the idea of going carbon neutral spreads, the debate will broaden. Ford announced this week that it has joined with TerraPass to educate car buyers about the option of offsetting their greenhouse emissions by investing in renewables. Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury will promote the Greener Miles cross-branding program at their dealerships and on the Web, although Ford ?has no plans to run a broad-based advertising campaign for the initiative,? according to Green Car Congress

TerraPass is one of a host of companies like FutureForests, GreenFleet, and Native Energy that let drivers invest in tree planting or alternative energy programs to counterbalance their emissions. TerraPass is a for-profit company that sells emissions credits it earns though domestic wind and methane energy programs, and was featured in the ending credits of Syriana as a suggested way to a greener life, presumably one that doesn?t fuel Middle East warfare. For those considering carbon neutrality, EcoBusiness has done a bit of comparison shopping.

And for you California folks>> Who Voted Against the Environment 90% of the Time?

 

[TooFarTampa]

SHELLY, great article, thanks. It all makes perfect sense. But here's something I never thought of before:

"The dollar's purchasing power has fallen dramatically, especially in the past few years as the dollar index has fallen from 120 to 87, a decline in the dollar of 27.5%. The falling dollar is just as much a part for the rising price of gasoline as it has been for a ridiculous rise in home prices across the nation."

 

[Excalibur]

SHELLY, great article, thanks. It all makes perfect sense. But here's something I never thought of before:

"The dollar's purchasing power has fallen dramatically, especially in the past few years as the dollar index has fallen from 120 to 87, a decline in the dollar of 27.5%. The falling dollar is just as much a part for the rising price of gasoline as it has been for a ridiculous rise in home prices across the nation."

TooFar Tampa is right on the money about the decline in the value of the dollar. Oil, Gold, Silver, Copper, ect are all denominated in USD. It is not that they are going up in value - their value is fixed. It is our dollar that is declining, ergo it takes more $$$ to buy them........ Iran is opening an Oil Bourse priced only in Euros.............could get quite interesting. Our trade imbalances, 9 Trillion dollars of debt, coupled with the fact it takes several billion dollars a day of foreign investment just to keep our economy afloat is the main reason for the decline in the value of the dollar. Plus our $$$ are not backed by anything - literally, and Bush & Co are printing them like they are going out of style. Each new dollar printed decreases the value of the dollars that we all currently own. March 23, 2006 the Federal Reserve decided to withold for the first time in its history the "M-3" "money supply" data from the US public and the world. Basically, we stopped telling everyone how much dollars we are printing up each week. :shock:

 

[John R]

Each new dollar printed decreases the value of the dollars that we all currently own. March 23, 2006 the Federal Reserve decided to withold for the first time in its history the "M-3" "money supply" data from the US public and the world. Basically, we stopped telling everyone how much dollars we are printing up each week.

it will be quite interesting to watch, and nowhere to run to, when the already struggling dollar falls by the wayside to the euro. since we really export nothing of value except outsourced help desks, there will be nothing solid to back the dollar with, unless george inflates the value of gold a la Goldfinger. we're in for quite a mess. watch intrest rates then. i suppose he could raise the price of wheat

 

[SlowMovin]

If anyone is remotely interested in a nicely written, very current (today) explanation of the current oil/gas story, here is a link:

Energy Economics 101

That really is a good article. Thanks for posting it.

So am I to understand that it is not the oil companies' profits that are driving up gas prices, but their production costs instead?

 

[TooFarTampa]

That really is a good article. Thanks for posting it.

So am I to understand that it is not the oil companies' profits that are driving up gas prices, but their production costs instead?

And the purchase price for the barrel of crude, if I am reading it right. And the dollar being very weak.

So what do we attribute the record profits to? Simple demand? The fact that they are selling more gas than ever, thus more opportunity for the record profits? Not that I want to let the gas companies off the hook ...

 

[John R]

it will be interesting to see the auto-trader and the classifieds in 90-120 days. it already costs $45 to fill up my ford ranger work truck with regular gas. i can't imagine the sting(red hot poker) of filling up an excursion or the like. like dinosaurs dying off, excursions, tahoes, H1, H2, H3, etc, sitting in the driveways of 30a covered with a layer of dust and salt. no more running two blocks to the tom thumb for soda or milk :roll:

 

[beachkids]

If anyone is remotely interested in a nicely written, very current (today) explanation of the current oil/gas story, here is a link:

Energy Economics 101

Suffice to say--there's not much George-the-Lesser or his band of Merry Men can do to "kiss it and maywk it awll bwetter." It's up to each individual to conserve or slurge how they please--depending on how much of their money they want to hand over to the oil company shareholders, execs, or A-rabs.

Good article.

I thought we were supposed to bash big oil like the media says?

democrats want impose a "windfall profits tax" on big oil companies- I bet that will really help drive the price of oil down

How would you like a windfall profits tax on real estate? Many people have made obscene profits in real estate. Senator chuck shoe-mer seems to know how to define obscene profits.

 

[John R]

 

[SlowMovin]

So what do we attribute the record profits to? Simple demand? The fact that they are selling more gas than ever, thus more opportunity for the record profits? Not that I want to let the gas companies off the hook ...

This example is a little simplistic but I think it gets the point across.

Let's say I own an oil company and I typically average a 10% profit margin. For the sake of example we'll say that crude oil has stayed at a constant price for several years. Year after year I spend a total of $100 billion (with $50 billion of that being the result of the crude oil price). My gross revenues are $110 billion of which $10 billion (i.e. 10%) is profit.

Now let's say that one year the price of crude doubles and I now spend $150 billion with $100 billion of that on crude alone. Consequently I raise the price of my product accordingly to cover my new costs so that my profit margin stays the same. If nothing else changes I gross $165 billion...with $15 billion of that (10%) being profit; a record level of profits, perhaps, but the same ROI.