Looking for an alternative to oil...?

pottssteve

President Obama wants Americans to get out of their cars and on their bikes:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... tives.html


Next he'll be wanting them to give up semi-automatic weapons. Fat chance!

ilm_zero7

Like all American Presidents, its not what he says it is who is pulling his strings that matters - so agree, no change in the USA!

CrackFox

Felt so Good wrote:

Like all American Presidents, its not what he says it is who is pulling his strings that matters - so agree, no change in the USA!

It's a matter of individual choice - no shady string-pullers required. If the US govmt is willing to spend money to encourage people out of their cars then that's something to be applauded. You can lead a horse to water, but if he'd rather have a chocolate milkshake instead then that's his own private equine business (equininess).

unixnerd

What annoys me is that the US has banned drilling for the moment. But they still want oil. So it'll have to come from countries less able to deal with environmental problems (like Nigeria which has had loads of such problems you never hear about). They've just moved the problem elsewhere, out of sight out of mind.

I'm also a bit pissed off that BP is carrying the can for all this. It's not just BP, but a whole host of folk including Transocean. I think BP make an easy non-US scapegoat. I work with BP a lot and have always been very impressed with their people and the way they do business, at least in the UK cutting corners is not the way they do business and everything is rigorously risk assessed.

I think Obama is genuine about wanting to reduce US oil dependence, it's not the first time he's said it. We'll just have to see what that translates to on the ground.

GiantMike

The trouble with America is that it is designed around the car. It's quite often difficult to walk anywhere and cycling is dangerous because drivers expect to drive along in straight lines without paying much attention. It's a completely different experience to the UK*.

* based on my experience of rural California

rick_chasey

Designed around the car?

Or just bigger?


The UK countryside is hardly car free.

GiantMike

Rick Chasey wrote:

Designed around the car?

Yep. Drive-through food, banks, chemists and off-licences. Hugely sprawled-out development, such as LA, which appears to be 3000 sq miles of 2 storey buildings with major motorways running through the middle.

Rick Chasey wrote:

Or just bigger?

Yep. Designed around the car because it's a lot bigger (see above). Also the reason why civil aviation is so popular.

rick_chasey

Cause or effect.

It was bigger, so they started using cars. Not, they started using cars so spread everything out.

American planning was already pretty developed long before common use of cars was.

(Just play a little red dead redemption )

1footedninja

Obama is just tryna look 'green' to appeal to that target market, he's being told by his autocue to say that, to serve the needs of his masters behind the scenes, the top end people behind mega-corporations.

Like BP and the other oil companies doing the same thing getting on the 'hey! lets look like were green' bandwagon

Like the carbon Co2 tax, its all just one big con, to continue 'their' oligarchy/ plutocracy/monarchy/Corporatocracy.

don't expect things to get any better just yet

hopper1

unixnerd wrote:

What annoys me is that the US has banned drilling for the moment. But they still want oil. So it'll have to come from countries less able to deal with environmental problems (like Nigeria which has had loads of such problems you never hear about). They've just moved the problem elsewhere, out of sight out of mind.

Why is Nigeria less able to deal with it's environmental problems? There's plenty of money in Nigeria, matched by even more corruption! Too easy to take a bung and turn a blind eye...
I'm also a bit pissed off that BP is carrying the can for all this. It's not just BP, but a whole host of folk including Transocean. I think BP make an easy non-US scapegoat. I work with BP a lot and have always been very impressed with their people and the way they do business, at least in the UK cutting corners is not the way they do business and everything is rigorously risk assessed.

BP in the UKNS is hampered by too much paperwork, but this 'risk assessing' is only there to cover the a*ses of people who can't stand up and make a decision!
I think Obama is genuine about wanting to reduce US oil dependence, it's not the first time he's said it. We'll just have to see what that translates to on the ground.

Obama... Genuine!... Bullsh!t!...
The eyes of the world are watching him... Helloooooo :roll:

BP are the focal point because they are at the sharp end of the operation, and therefore, in the eyes of the law, ultimately responsible.

If you think any of the offshore operators, minor, or major, aren't capable of trying to cut corners, you need to remove your blinkers...

MattC59

I think I'm right in saying that BP just leased the production of the Deepwater Horizon. Transocean owned and operated the rig and Haliburton manufactured the faulty BOP.

Guess who has major interests in Haliburton ? That'll be George Dub-ya Bush. No suprise that the finger isn't being pointed in that direction then !!

MattC59

It's also interesting how 'America' reacts when there's a disaster on their shores. Find a culprit and hang them high.

Very different when it's elsewhere though isn't it. Union Carbide over 50% US owned, Bhopal, 1984. They did a runner and covered their tracks pretty quickly, leaving the toxic mess to rot.

Two faced springs to mind ! Maybe they should clear up their messes if they want others to do the same.

Headhuunter

GiantMike wrote:

The trouble with America is that it is designed around the car. It's quite often difficult to walk anywhere and cycling is dangerous because drivers expect to drive along in straight lines without paying much attention. It's a completely different experience to the UK*.

* based on my experience of rural California

Yep I agree with this. Anyone been to Texas? I was in Houston a couple of years ago and not only do they drive, they drive huge 4x4 bus type things which make Hummers look like runabouts. Literally 95% of the vehicles on the roads were these enormous 4x4s driven by little old grannies who could barely see over the steering wheel! There is a general impression that the bigger the vehicle you drive the safer you are. My friend who lives there wanted to buy a Mini, I was there when she was talking about this to her friends and they were all telling her not to, saying that one of said little old grannies in a 4x4 bus would simply absent mindedly run into her and not even notice. I didn't see a cyclist the entire time I was there.

As you say, cities are designed for driving - large, wide, multi lane expressways without pavements and large car parks at every retail outlet or destination, often with valet parking so you can literally drive up to the front of the shop or restaurant, hand your keys to someone and they will park you car. You barely have to walk more than a few steps. It's no wonder so many people are obese!

I walked from my friends place to the local shopping centre. I was going to get the bus, but she told me that no one gets buses apart from illegal Mexican immigrants and that's because they can't get US licences. I literally walked along an expressway where there was no pavement. I got a taxi back. I told her and her friends at a bar later that evening and they couldn't believe what I had done. They were flabbergasted that I had walked to the "mall"....

If the future of the human race is reliant on reducing car use and emmissions then we are truly f*cked because Americans in cities like Houston are wed to their cars. It is as unimaginable to people there to walk round the corner to pick up shopping or to walk to work as it is for us to fly to work by helicopter. Walking simply doesn't enter their mentalities, it's just not an option.

Good luck Obama! You'll need it!

simonaspinall

Alternative fuel....the reserves from liposuction?

The US would be sorted.

desweller

MattC59 wrote:

I think I'm right in saying that BP just leased the production of the Deepwater Horizon. Transocean owned and operated the rig and Haliburton manufactured the faulty BOP.

Guess who has major interests in Haliburton ? That'll be George Dub-ya Bush. No suprise that the finger isn't being pointed in that direction then !!

Funny you should say that.

In theory, Transocean ran the rig, BP owned the well and called the shots on the drilling op and maintenance of the BOP valve. Another company provided drilling services (I think it might have been SLB) and another drilling fluids. So basically the lines of communication were as clear as mud (or perhaps mud emulsified with oil), which wouldn't have helped.

That said, the BOP valve was made and installed by Haliburton, but the valve test and the well casing installation process was selected by BP - against Haliburton's recommendation.