How the spotted owl increased the price of gas

I am glad gas prices are where they are at. Really, I have a good reason besides the projected 30% pay increase I will recieve in '07. I'm just a dumb ole oil field hand that could use the money. Truth is as gas prices go up so does the price of goods and servies. Eventually wages increase. Then the economy tends to balance out. The U.S. economy is okay, but it needs to grow. It may be a hard pill to swallow, but our economy is directly tied to oil prices. We all need to calm down and realize our economy is growing and that it will find a balance. Not that I think the Fed is good at managing anything, but rather I know first hand how much money these oil companies are spending on developing the oil fields. I am talking about billions, yeah with a B. We are currently working in a field where just one well has the potenial to produce 250,000 barrels a day for the next twenty years. Thats a lot of oil; Thats right here in the Gulf of Mexico. The U.S. isn't hurting for oil, we're hurting for refineries. There hasn't been a new refinery built in like thirty some odd years. So here's the rub, if there is plenty of oil, and the economy tends to balance out, why aren't we building new refineries. We need them to keep up with our growth as a economic giant. Seems to me that it is the liberal, tree huggin, owl watch'in (don't mean to be name call'in please forgive) but our environment watch dog friends tend to get in the way of a little progress. Sure a refinery is a big ugly beast of a machine, but it is one that serves a purpose. Today's technology in oil refining is so much safer for the environment than 30 years ago. I blame the environmentalist for the shortage of gas, that drives up the price of everything. Well it's only my theory anyway.

Originally posted by hammerhead1791...owl watch'in

Why do you hate owl watching?

[edit on 27-12-2006 by H82CAGE]

So let's build refineries a few hundred miles away from critical ecosystems?

Really - we transport the stuff from halfway around the world - surely we can work out a such a scenario with the stuff extracted here at home.

I don't want a species to go extinct so I can save 20 cents at the pump.