Fighting the oil addiction
Unrest in the Middle East has raised concerns about how dependent the United States is on foreign oil. The price of gasoline has been skyrocketing. And the recession has continued to make many Americans feel more economically vulnerable. Americans continued to feel the painful pinch of gasoline prices in 2010 – and they still do today.
This report updates the Natural Resources Defense Council’s (NRDC) 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010 research identifying the states whose citizens feel the greatest economic pain from gasoline prices — and those states that are doing the most to break their addiction to oil. Like the previous editions, this report again ranks U.S. states in two critical areas related to our nation’s continuing addiction to oil.
First, it calculates gasoline price vulnerability – how heavily each state’s drivers are affected by increases in gasoline prices. Second, it ranks states based on their adoption of solutions to reduce their oil dependence – measures they are taking to lessen their vulnerability and to bolster America’s security.
The data yield some clear conclusions:
Oil dependence affects all states, but some states’ drivers are hit harder economically than others. Drivers in almost every state in 2010 spent a higher percentage of their income on gasoline than they did in 2009, and drivers in the most vulnerable states spent more than twice as large a percentage of their income on gasoline as drivers in the least vulnerable states.
Drivers are being hit even harder right now than they were in 2010.
While some states are pioneering solutions and many are taking some action, many states are still taking few (if any) of the steps listed in this report to reduce their oil dependence.
To curb America’s perilous oil addiction, we need effective government policies that will increase the availability and use of efficient vehicles and clean fuels, as well as promote smart growth and public transit.
ARE YOU ADDICTED TO OIL?
Here is a link to nrdc org issue paper May 2011:
Read more (in new window) at: www.nrdc.org/energy/states/files/Oil_Vulnerability_May_2011.pdf
Read more (in new window) at: www.nrdc.org/energy/states
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Showing posts with label oil. Show all posts
Showing posts with label oil. Show all posts
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Cap on gushing well removed, oil flows freely
BP hopes to install new dome to contain Gulf leak within a few days
by TOM BREEN (AP)
NEW ORLEANS — Robotic submarines working a mile underwater removed a leaking cap from the gushing Gulf oil well Saturday, starting a painful trade-off: Millions more gallons of crude will flow freely into the sea for at least two days until a new seal can be mounted to capture all of it.
There's no guarantee for such a delicate operation almost a mile below the water's surface, officials said, and the permanent fix of plugging the well from the bottom remains slated for mid-August.
"It's not just going to be, you put the cap on, it's done. It's not like putting a cap on a tube of toothpaste," Coast Guard spokesman Capt. James McPherson said.
Robotic submarines removed the cap that had been placed on top of the leak in early June to collect the oil and send it to surface ships for collection or burning. BP aims to have the new, tighter cap in place as early as Monday and said that, as of Saturday night, the work was going according to plan.
If tests show it can withstand the pressure of the oil and is working, the Gulf region could get its most significant piece of good news since the April 20 explosion on the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon rig, which killed 11 workers.
"Over the next four to seven days, depending on how things go, we should get that sealing cap on. That's our plan," said Kent Wells, a BP senior vice president, of the round-the-clock operation.
It would be only a temporary solution to the catastrophe that the federal government estimates has poured between 87 million and 172 million gallons of oil into the Gulf as of Saturday. Hope for permanently plugging the leak lies with two relief wells, the first of which should be finished by mid-August.
For more go to:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38178675/ns/disaster_in_the_gulf
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by TOM BREEN (AP)
NEW ORLEANS — Robotic submarines working a mile underwater removed a leaking cap from the gushing Gulf oil well Saturday, starting a painful trade-off: Millions more gallons of crude will flow freely into the sea for at least two days until a new seal can be mounted to capture all of it.
There's no guarantee for such a delicate operation almost a mile below the water's surface, officials said, and the permanent fix of plugging the well from the bottom remains slated for mid-August.
"It's not just going to be, you put the cap on, it's done. It's not like putting a cap on a tube of toothpaste," Coast Guard spokesman Capt. James McPherson said.
Robotic submarines removed the cap that had been placed on top of the leak in early June to collect the oil and send it to surface ships for collection or burning. BP aims to have the new, tighter cap in place as early as Monday and said that, as of Saturday night, the work was going according to plan.
If tests show it can withstand the pressure of the oil and is working, the Gulf region could get its most significant piece of good news since the April 20 explosion on the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon rig, which killed 11 workers.
"Over the next four to seven days, depending on how things go, we should get that sealing cap on. That's our plan," said Kent Wells, a BP senior vice president, of the round-the-clock operation.
It would be only a temporary solution to the catastrophe that the federal government estimates has poured between 87 million and 172 million gallons of oil into the Gulf as of Saturday. Hope for permanently plugging the leak lies with two relief wells, the first of which should be finished by mid-August.
For more go to:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38178675/ns/disaster_in_the_gulf
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
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