Scout by... Volkswagen ?!?!?!? Electric, no less.

[MossRoad]

Yeah, pretty much, I can think of many downsides too if I want to pick holes at this stage, but like your dads advice, I will roll with it, prob because I have an electrical background and understand all the aspects.

Electric is not without cost or pollution, people need to ack that, but short to medium & even long term, using the suns energy really is a good idea, and if it runs out nothing will matter anyway.

To be frank, the US and West should keep oil as a backup, backup for war or if we have a nuke winter or other event that reduces what we get from the sun temporarily. I do think that has been the US position for a while, but, EV should be transitioned to ASAP, it is finally happening.

Anyway, the scout probably would be a good thing, if not too expensive.

My only issue with cars or small AWD 4WD vehicles and EV is water, water is bastard where electrics are concerned. The mechanics will remain busy I suspect.

By taking away drilling rights and cheap oil leases from private companies since all that oil in the ground belongs to the U.S., not those private companies that sell it on the open market, right?

 

[MossRoad]

That doesn't get much attention.

An old guy told me he used to ford the upper Feather River (NorCal) in his Willys Wagon at a well maintained logging truck ford. Had to remove the fan belt, so the the fan wouldn't throw water on his ignition.

Don't try this in your Tesla.

We had to remove the fan belt because the water put too much load on the fan blades and they'd bend forward and eat the radiator.

 

[Hay Dude]

The issue with fuel/oil, is it is a finite supply, we cannot wait another million years to produce more once it has gone.

Electric and hydrogen are alternatives.

So may as well get used to electric as that is what Elon has managed to get traction on, down under we were working on hydrogen.

Hmmm….always wondered about that…..

Was all the oil made in one short period of the earth’s existence? Or is oil currently being “produced” as we sit here and debate the viability of Chinese solar panels and cars powered by deadly dirty Lithium batteries? Isn’t more oil and gas being “formed” all the time?
I watched videos of scientists explaining how oil is escaping from the bottoms of ocean, bay and gulf floors right now. Yep, the earth just naturally pumping black sludgy oil into the water, right off the California coast and the gulf of Mexico. It’s like there’s an endless supply.

Nuclear is an option that needs heavy use and exploration. We’re too stupid to use it.

 

[EddieWalker]

Except the "government, canceling drilling, permits," etc have nothing to do with the price of oil, that's just a red herring the industry propaganda pumps out. Ask how many millions and millions of acres of public land that are already permitted for drilling and isn't being exploited. It's called making a profit. Price gets too low, stop extracting and bring the price up.

The flaw to your position is that it doesn't reflect reality. The process from getting a permit to actually being able to drill costs millions of dollars and takes at least ten years. At any time, there is the risk of the permit being canceled. Just like a million acres of Federal Land had their permits where canceled just last week in Alaska.

 

[Patches]

My question on EV's, living as I do in the northeast, what kind of "mileage" can you expect during winter storms when you need wipers, cabin heat, headlights, defroster etc. I can't imagine it would be much

 

[cqaigy2]

The flaw to your position is that it doesn't reflect reality. The process from getting a permit to actually being able to drill costs millions of dollars and takes at least ten years. At any time, there is the risk of the permit being canceled. Just like a million acres of Federal Land had their permits where canceled just last week in Alaska.

There isn't any flaw Eddie, there are millions and millions of acres of public land already permitted for them to drill. They aren't developing these. They aren't developing them because they don't need to. They don't need to because the price of oil is high enough to support their business model. It's how smart businesses work. Then hire a good pr company to deflect the negative aspects of your business practices and get people to think it's not the, that's keeping the price high, but some other dude.

 

[KennyG]

Yes, there is a lot of land which could be drilled on but is not at this time. There is a lot of land under lease, but I don't think most of it is permitted. It's just an economic calculation. There is only a limited probability that the land will yield a valuable well, there is the permitting and drilling cost and time. There is a need to predict what the oil price and production costs will be years in the future, not right now. Oil companies aren't evil entities that single mindedly drive prices up. They do calculations and predictions to see what will be profitable. That's the purpose of business.

When an oil company makes record profits, it's on page 1. When they have a huge loss, it's on page 5 of the financial section.

 

[barts]

Was all the oil made in one short period of the earth’s existence? Or is oil currently being “produced” as we sit here and debate the viability of Chinese solar panels and cars powered by deadly dirty Lithium batteries? Isn’t more oil and gas being “formed” all the time?

The vast majority of oil was formed via anaerobic decomposition of the remains of plankton and vegetation, starting some 500 million years ago. There are some proposed theories about abiogenic (non-biological) oil formation, but these ideas have no real evidence backing them. The vast majority of coal/oil/gas that has been discovered is clearly of fossil origin.

- Bart

 

[Patches]

KennyG; profit is money made over and above actual costs. losses are not monies lost but "(predicted) gains or profits" not realized

 

[KennyG]

KennyG; profit is money made over and above actual costs. losses are not monies lost but "(predicted) gains or profits" not realized

Not true. Losses are shortfalls of income over expenses. Less money in the bank at the end of the day. Everyone who has run a business knows this. Predicted profits not realized is just underperformance, not a loss.