PHIL BOYER: 40% OF AOPA MEMBERS ARE SIGNIFICANTLY DECREASING THEIR FLYING DUE TO FUEL PRICES

"LD" == Larry Dighera writes:
LD But AOPA has a plan to
LD swell the ranks of private pilots

I wonder what that would be....a free picture of the interior of a
bizjet to anybody who requests? Maybe a signed photo of Thomas Haines
getting checked out in another jet...

--
To me, boxing is like a ballet, except there's no music, no
choreography, and the dancers hit each other.
- Jack Handey

"kt" == kontiki writes:

kt Sir, the United States has lots of oil, coal and gas
kt resources. We siply do not exploit them as other countries
kt do. We just pay through nose and make them rich.... and they
kt are very happy. They are buying up property in the US as we
kt speak with the wealth they obtain.

Ahhh...a target-rich environment.

- Global warming. Turns out if we release hundreds of millions of
years' worth of carbon back into the atmosphere in less than 200
years...**** happens. Bad ****.

- Oooooo, the bogeymen are buying our property! Personally it bothers
me more that we're paying for both sides of Bush's war.

- We have exploited everything in this country lately except our
can-do attitude. Not can-exploit-the-hell-out-of-the-same-stuff
attitude, no, the one we haven't exploited is the
can-be-intelligent-and-create-alternate-energy-sources attitude.

- Get a clue, any fookin' clue. Please.

--
Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared
impossible before they were done.
~ Louis Brandeis

On 2008-06-15, kontiki wrote:
Sir, the United States has lots of oil, coal and gas resources. We
siply do not exploit them as other countries do.

Not all crude is the same, and the United States is already drilling for
quite a lot of oil. The remaining large oil fields that aren't being
exploited currently are not *cheap* oil, but expensive oil.

In any case, the oil companies that prospect and drill and refine this
oil will sell it on the world market along with all the other oil.
Unless the US takes the socialist approach of nationalizing it.

On 2008-06-15, Larry Dighera wrote:
Are you so naïve as to believe the public is capable of, or indeed
even interested in, thinking ahead and planning for the future?

Indeed the levels of credit card debt aptly demonstrate the lack of
planning for the future.

On 2008-06-16, wrote:
Maybe if George Bush hadn't vetoed drilling in ANWR back in 1995 and
worked so hard to put so many areas off limits to drilling, we would
be swimming in oil now.

You wouldn't be swimming in oil: that oil would be traded on the global
market for oil along with all the rest of it. The amounts of oil from
that drilling would be minor compared to world demand.

It would require the socialist approach of nationalization for it to
have any particular impact on the US.

Not all crude is the same, and the United States is already drilling for
quite a lot of oil. The remaining large oil fields that aren't being
exploited currently are not *cheap* oil, but expensive oil.

At current prices, almost all known oil reserves in the US are viable.

Economics have little to do with our domestic energy policy, or our
dependency on foreign oil. The Left has, over the past 30 years, made sure
that their environmental policies have become intertwined throughout our
bureaucracy (the folks who REALLY run this country, day-to-day), knowing
that this day would come. And come it has, as inevitable as the rain.

We now find ourselves completely paralyzed by these regulations, and unable
to respond in any logical, timely, or responsible way. All according to
plan. It's been remarkably predictable.

My father -- who worked with gas & electric utilities for 38 years --
predicted this day thirty years ago with remarkable clarity and accuracy.
He knew then that all the laws being written back in the '70s (ironically
during the "energy crisis") would one day come back to haunt us -- and, wow,
was he right!

We can no more use our own domestic energy supplies now than we can walk on
Mars tomorrow. The mere threat of litigation, and the intertwined mess of
often-conflicting regulations that can take years to unravel, has made sure
of that -- no company in their right mind would attempt it, in the current
regulatory environment.

All according to plan.

You've got to ask yourselves this: At what price level do "We the People"
rise up and throw the bums out? At what price point do "We the People"
take control of our government and reassert common sense? At what point do
"We the People" start making use of our known domestic energy resources, and
say "To hell with the snail darter"?

It's going to happen -- as sure as the rain -- but when? $5/gallon?
$10/gallon? When we can no longer afford to drive to work, and the entire
economy comes to a screeching halt?

Sadly, neither party seems to have any clue how desperate people are getting
in the heartland. But they will find out, sooner or later.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Americans are a reactive bunch. If prices were to come back down, those
SUVs would probably start flying out the door again. When prices spiked
back in '03, smaller cars became the top sellers in the U.S., but only for
about 6 months. As soon as prices came back down, the trucks and SUVs
went
right back to the top of the shopping list.

That's because trucks and SUVs are more useful than itty-bitty cars.

Bottom line: SUVs can do all sorts of things that econocars cannot, while
SUVs can do everything that the econocar can do, better. With one
exception: Fuel consumption.

I think we'll see a short-term boom for small-car manufacturers, as
consumers shift to multiple vehicles, and use the ones that make the most
sense for the task at hand.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Not all crude is the same, and the United States is already drilling for
quite a lot of oil. The remaining large oil fields that aren't being
exploited currently are not *cheap* oil, but expensive oil.

This says it all, I'm afraid:

Democrats reject call to lift ban on off-shore oil drilling:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080618/...h/offshore_oil

So long as Congress is controlled by these people, nothing will change.
(Hell, nothing would probably change even WITHOUT them in control, but at
least there'd be a tiny, miniscule *chance* of change....)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

On Jun 15, 4:27*pm, kontiki wrote:
Martin Hotze wrote:
kontiki schrieb:
I just think its stupid to bankrupt a nation
for the sake of a religion... *and observe nation that *are* producing
energy soak up money from hard working Americans.... when it doesn't
have to be that way.

1) What do you want to do? It's their oil. For sure it is not yours or
ours.

Sir, the United States has lots of oil, coal and gas resources. We
siply do not exploit them as other countries do. We just pay through
nose and make them rich.... and they are very happy. They are buying
up property in the US as we speak with the wealth they obtain.

2) What will you/we (in 1 or in 10 or in 50 generations?) do when all
the oil is gone?

Sir, yes, the oil (gas and coal) may perhaps be gone one day many years
hence. Hopefully we will have used what the sun provided in a wise way.
Either way, its there... in the earth. It is ours to be used for good
and to provide for a way of life. Other countries are utilizing their
resources rather effectively, wouldn't you say?

If the price of corn went up to $50 dollars an ear would you whine
and complain... *starve yourself and say "the days of much corn are
gone, but that is good because the sun will burn out one day...."
or would you plant more corn and prosper?

Oil isn't a seed crop.

You don't plant a barrel of oil in the ground and grow more which is
your implication...and no, we don't have proven reserves to accomplish
more than fractionally what you suggest and that's not a matter open
to unbridled (read: uneducated) speculation.

On Wed, 18 Jun 2008 16:31:15 GMT, "Jay Honeck"
wrote in
nLa6k.159640$TT4.153699@attbi_s22:

Not all crude is the same, and the United States is already drilling for
quite a lot of oil. The remaining large oil fields that aren't being
exploited currently are not *cheap* oil, but expensive oil.

At current prices, almost all known oil reserves in the US are viable.

Economics have little to do with our domestic energy policy, or our
dependency on foreign oil.

Are you referring to this energy policy?

http://www.whitehouse.gov/energy/Nat...rgy-Policy.pdf

Where is the president's call for legislation creating a viable urban
transportation system? The National Energy Policy calls for
rebuilding the electric grid, but fails to see that that may be
unnecessary if on-site generation were implemented throughout the
nation. It recommends construction of new nuclear energy facilities
despite their 25-year useful life span, and our nation's inability to
find an acceptable system of safely sequestering the enormous amount
of radioactive waste they create. This National Energy Policy
supports an insignificant budget increase of $39.2 million for the
Department of Energy’s research and development of renewable energy
resources. That's not support; that's camouflage.

the Bush administration is so blinded by their pro-oil point of view,
that they are incapable of creating a viable national energy policy
that is sustainable and environmentally responsible.


The Left has, over the past 30 years, made sure
that their environmental policies have become intertwined throughout our
bureaucracy (the folks who REALLY run this country, day-to-day), knowing
that this day would come. And come it has, as inevitable as the rain.


And what has the right done to switch our dependency on the finite oil
reserves, be they domestic or foreign, to renewable energy? (Please
don't say gasohol; that scientifically unsound boondoggle is never
going to replace petroleum.) The right has done nothing to avert us
from an unsustainable dependence on petroleum. But Bush HAS attempted
to suppress scientific information that damns petroleum dependence:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6341451/
http://www.space.com/news/bush_warming_041027.html

We now find ourselves completely paralyzed by these regulations, and unable
to respond in any logical, timely, or responsible way. All according to
plan. It's been remarkably predictable.


You forgot 'laudable.' The time has come for the US (and the rest of
the world) to begin to seriously develop sustainable energy sources.
It's inevitable; why not tackle the issue head on, rather than waiting
before it becomes a crisis?

The run up in fuel prices is not a reason to abandon responsible
environmental policy and start building unsightly oil platforms along
our scenic beaches; the run up in fuel prices heralds the absurdity of
our petroleum dependency.

My father -- who worked with gas & electric utilities for 38 years --
predicted this day thirty years ago with remarkable clarity and accuracy.
He knew then that all the laws being written back in the '70s (ironically
during the "energy crisis") would one day come back to haunt us -- and, wow,
was he right!

We can no more use our own domestic energy supplies now than we can walk on
Mars tomorrow. The mere threat of litigation, and the intertwined mess of
often-conflicting regulations that can take years to unravel, has made sure
of that -- no company in their right mind would attempt it, in the current
regulatory environment.

All according to plan.

Whether that is was the original plan seems unlikely and is certainly
open to debate.

What is not open to debate, is the fact that what little oil remains
under US control on the north American continent should be reserved
for future contingencies. If, in the unlikely event, the US were to
become involved in a conflict that interrupted the flow of foreign oil
into our nation's tanks, where would our nation obtain the petroleum
our military is so dependent upon? The Strategic Oil Reserve only
contains 60-days supply. That will be woefully inadequate for a
long-term conflict.


You've got to ask yourselves this: At what price level do "We the People"
rise up and throw the bums out? At what price point do "We the People"
take control of our government and reassert common sense? At what point do
"We the People" start making use of our known domestic energy resources, and
say "To hell with the snail darter"?

At what price point do "We the People" abandon our irrational
dependence on a finite commodity and embrace responsible renewable
energy policies?

Don't worry about "throwing the bum out," he's only got 215 days 10
hours and 14 minutes left in office.


It's going to happen -- as sure as the rain -- but when? $5/gallon?
$10/gallon? When we can no longer afford to drive to work, and the entire
economy comes to a screeching halt?

I don't share your belief that abandoning responsible environmental
policy is inevitable at all. What is inevitable is the fact that the
oil supply will begin to dwindle and prices will continue to rise as a
result. Anyone unable to see the truth in that statement, is
delusional.


Sadly, neither party seems to have any clue how desperate people are getting
in the heartland. But they will find out, sooner or later.

Oh, I think they've got a clue. They just don't want to be the ones
to voice what is sure to be an unpopular if inevitably necessary
remedy. But often a distasteful elixir is necessary for recovery.
Take your medicine like a man, and you shall be healed (instead of
big-oil being well-healed).