The Price of Oil and what to do about it
Certainly if you look at the chart above there is correlation between problems in the Middle East and the cost of Crude. Consider another idea, for the most part, the price of Crude is the result of manipulation by the Oil Companies themselves. I have not heard about OPEC doing any massive cutback of the amount they are pumping out of the ground.
I realize there are forces such as supply and demand, plus the fact I believe we have reached peak production of oil that is easy to get out of the ground, still the rest of the reasoning has to do with simple greed. The OIl Companies want more and more of more and more.
So, what should be done. I want to make a suggestion that willl apply to Canada. I'm not going to say anything about the States, since the President is so deep into the hip pockets of Big Oil its a waste of time.
The PM, or the Minister of Industry should invite all the automotive makers that produce cars in Canada to a little meeting, the topic an Electric Car. The meeting should have an offer, build an electric car in Canada that is able to withstand the typical winter, be efficient and be reasonably priced. The government which is making a whack of cash off the price of gasoline through the GST, can give financial incentives. I would say give the automotive companies a set period of time -1 year to concept, 2 years to availability. The first company to make it to concept will get another amount of money. Also the government will enter into partnership with the producer so they gain a bit of money from each unit sold.
So the government will give funds to develop an electric car and then invest into the winner.
Now as I thought about this I considered the fact there may be problems from the partners in NAFTA. if there is a complaint, announce the intention to leave NAFTA.
The WTO has a problem. Show them the door. That too is another organization that is more involved with ensuring global capitalism and continue to screw everybody over equally. Besides how does WTO membership help? I understand China is not a signature to the Trade Agreement and they seem to be doing well.
I know all of this is probably simplistic but then again we are always told how challenging the problem is, but no one has ever explained how it is a challenge.
The reason why the effort should go into electric cars, rather then alternative energy such as hydrogen or biofuels is because the delivery system is already here. A plug and an extention cords gives you the ability to charge the car. With the fact that the majority of travel is either within a community or between nearby communities, I think as it is right now it will meet the need.
Just my thought for today.