GAS WAR – an idea that WILL work

if you received the email GAS WAR – an idea that WILL work, consider this:
 
Saudi Arabia has 25% of the world’s oil. Iraq comes in second
 
While there are quite a few “oil companies” in the world, there are really only a handful of conglomerates who control distribution and pricing:  BP, Shell, Total, and ExxonMobil. All of the names you find on the pumps are subsidiaries of these umbrella companies. Of them, Shell is the most realistic about their role in the environment; their CEO admits that unless the world begins extracting carbon from the atmosphere and returning it to the subterrane, the outlook is grave.
 
CITGO is owned by the national oil company of Venezuela, who nationalized all oil related industry in 1977. Venezuela has the fifth largest reserves in the world, and is the fifth largest supplier of US oil, after Canada, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, and Nigeria. They currently are in negotiations with China, the fastest growing consumer market.
 
At current rates of consumption, only 40 years of oil reserves remain. 
 
Brazil is on the verge of announcing energy independence. The country already satisfies nearly half of its domestic passenger vehicle fuel demand with ethanol from sugar cane. The refineries that produce the ethanol are powered by waste from the ethanol production process. 

Corn is the only source of raw material for ethanol production in the US, and most studies indicate it takes nearly as much energy to produce the corn ethanol as the fuel provides. Ethanol accounts for approximately 4% of US fuel consumption.

As far as pricing goes, brand-name boycotting is an ineffective mechanism. These are wealthiest companies on the planet controlling the most valuable commodity on earth. If you boycott one company, they will purchase the name of the company you are buying. Get a clue!
 
And lastly, STOP YOUR WHINING, you lazy, self-absorbed imbeciles! You cannot have your cake and eat it too. Your grandchildren will pay the price of your indolence. 
 
Quit driving. Buy local. Grow your own foodstuffs. Reduce.

You must be the change you want to see in the world – Mahatma Gandhi

Happy Earth Day – April 22, 2006

Dear Mr. Tanner Thomas

I recently read your article in Teen World News. After reading it, I felt compelled to redress several points.

First, a war cannot be stupid. Ridiculous, yes. Absurd, certainly. But stupid describes a trait of the mind, and a war cannot be stupid any more than it could be boisterous or happy or intelligent. I grant that in modern English, stupid and meaningless are often utilized interchangeably, but I must note that a promising young writer such as yourself ought to get in the habit of using the words that truly capture the essence of what it is they are trying to express. As I am confident that you believe the war does have meaning, or at least some point, be it good or bad, I feel that a quick visit to the thesaurus would better allow me to grasp what it was you actually wanted me to comprehend.

Second, I must state that the reason we went to Iraq, and continue to remain in Iraq, is because you and I both want us there. Regardless of how you perceive your feelings over the matter to be, the facts of your actions, and the actions of all Americans, dictate that we invade and conquer Iraq. The deaths of Marines and Iraqi civilians to which you allude in your article are the direct result of your own daily choices, and mine. Every time I pull up to the gas pump and fill my tank with gasoline shipped here from Iraqi oil fields secured by American troops, I am stating explicitly that I want to be in Iraq. Every time you drive anywhere, you are supporting the foreign policy that provides the cheap oil products that get you there.   

I wholeheartedly agree that we should not be in Iraq. But I am tired of the hypocrisy of those who cry for peace while they continue to demand the lifestyle only war can ensure.

If you want to change the world, change yourself.

Thank you for the excellent article.

Sincerely,

Cobey Williamson