Problems created by the govt

[cutterone]

Seems no matter what the govt puts it's nose in it finds a way to stink it up and create problems. What would you consider the most detrimental laws, regs, etc that the govt has imposed to farmers/ranchers?

 

[George]

I feel the law on monoplies that was greated to control them. It states that if an industry is needed for the good of the people then any one group cannot control more than 25%

This has had the effect that we have 4 major ( and a very few small ) oil conglomerates.

When the power is consentrated on such a small group there is no need for compitition and so we have artifically high prices.

If they were broken up into groups of no more than 5% they would still be large enough to act efficiently and yet they would compete with each other and the proof is in history.

Before they were regulated into such an elete group we used to have gas wars and low prices.

When I came home from the Marines (1971) Indiana had 30 small oil refineries and we had reasonable prices. If one had a problem and could not produce for a while the effect was not seen on th public as the rest steped up production to fill the gap. But now there is only one refinery in Indiana and it gives out quotas to the people with the oil wells. Most independent oil wells in the state are only allowed to pump 3 days at a time and only 4 times a year. We now have only 30 refineries in the nation.

Lets get back to a free market economy - - - that is what made this country but we have been governed into a non sustainable state!

This would be good for the entire economy which Ranching is a part of.

 

[cutterone]

Good thought. For me the #1 is manipulation of the markets through the tax structure, credits, and subsidty.

 

[mrj]

Everything the EPA has done, much of which affects virtually ALL families, commerce, and business in so many ways........and probably has more to do with high oil prices than any of us can imagine!!!!

mrj

 

[Anonymous]

Everything the EPA has done, much of which affects virtually ALL families, commerce, and business in so many ways........and probably has more to do with high oil prices than any of us can imagine!!!!

mrj

The reason- as testified to Congress by all the major oil, energy, and investment firms over the last many years is that we need a "Long Term" ENERGY plan that sets out a direction for these energy folks and their investors to go- over the next 20-85 years.....

Why build windfarms or coal generators if the government/courts won't allow building transmission lines- or the government won't back financing the building of the electric grid that is years outdated?

And on the same note- why build coal generators ( that could power the US for hundreds of years) if they will not be allowed to operate 10-20 years from now....

The major thing we need is a "long term" energy plan that lays out a longterm plan to take our energy requirements out of hands of foreign cartels/big oil corporate profit taking- and develops the huge energy availabilities we have in this country-- coal, oil, solar, wind, thermal, etc. etc.......

I've been told over and over- that if we had the electric grid available-and the laws that allowed the investment into "clean coal" that the states of WY, ND, and MT have enough coal to power the nation for 500+ to 1000 years....

But both parties (cults) are scared to do anything- because it moves into areas of where their lobbyiests (energy, military industrial complex, wallstreet, and enviros) that fill their pocketbooks- and there are few if any true statesmen let- most are all just politicians looking to get reelected....

" A politician thinks of the next election. A statesman, of the next generation" James Freeman Clarke

 

[Ben H]

The number one thing that has totally screwed us, was the Supreme Court decision on Wickard v. Filburn. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wickard_v._Filburn We need to fix that somehow and then we can bleed the Feds of their power grab.

 

[Oldgoat]

I spent many years in the oil industry.

On the doiwnstream side(refining and marketing) the EPA promulgated regulation after regulation on refineries so that the cost of keeping up with them was more than the business was worth. We closed some refineries and sold others to companies that were willing to deal with the EPA. Valero is the largest refiner now, build with refineries acquired from majors. The oil money is not in refining, anyway. It is easier to import products from other countries than cope with the regulations is this country.

On the upstream side - producing and exploration - the costs of developing offshore fields is so huge that no small company dare go it alone - they are literally betting their entire company. The BP Macondo incident last year would have bankrupted a smaller company.

And remember that the Obama administration who sat on their hands before Macondo refuses to grant drilling permits since. And those large companies have billions of dollars invested in their offshore leases that is sitting there idle.

In the early 1980s. the government granted oil companies the right to lease offshore in the Bering sea where a giant oil bearing structure was presumed to be. Oil compaies ponied up a billion dollars for leases, then jointly drilled a COST (Continental Offshore Stratigraphic Test) well. This well was dry. Total cost was $1.3 billion. Oil companies then concluded it was cheaper to buy a competitors reserves than attempt to find new oil.

About the same time, they were allowed to drill a well in ANWR - Alaska Northwest Wildlife Reserve. This well was successful and a new field about the size of Prudoe Bay was discovered. Congress, as you know, prevented the development of this field although technology existed that would have allowed its safe development.

So oil companies increasingly explore overseas. The technology to develop shale reserves - Barnett, Baakus, Marcellus, Niobrara - now exists and great volumes of oil can now be produced from these sources, but environmentalists are fighting it tooth and nail.

I guess my thoughts are that the oil is still there and when gasoline gets to eight or ten dollars a gallon, Salazar and others will ease up.

Known oil reserves will last longer than I will.

 

[lefty]

Seems common sence should be called uncommon sence . its a rare bird indeed .

Every member of the government should watch the movie (brave heart )twice ....History lesson .