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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: PROLIFE who wrote (697007)	8/16/2005 10:36:57 PM
From: DuckTapeSunroof	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769667

"demand is way up" Yes, it is up... it has been steadily increasing for years. "and it is not because of SUVs." The largest spurs to increasing demand are the economies of China and India rising up the income and development scales... but, demand is ALSO increasing in the US, and fleet fuel efficiencies HAVE fallen over the last decade as the mix of light trucks went from the 20 to the 50 percentage region of the rolling stock, and as consumer use of 'heavy' utility vehicles (whose fuel efficiency is not regulated by government mandate) rose from near zero to today's significant levels. So, YES, the SUV switch is certainly part of the problem in the US... (especially since transportation takes up around half of our entire national energy budget....) "Then blame the greenies for not letting any refineries to be built in 25 plus years." I believe you overestimate the political power of 'greenies'! I'm sure that bankers had a whole lot more to do with the dearth in refinery construction (not a lot of profit in it over the past decade or so....) Yes, we are constrained on refinery capacity, and need to build some newer ones... but mostly to handle heavier, more sulpherous oils... I doubt that new refineries for sweet Texas crude is exactly what we need... considering it's declining production.