Thomas Elias: The Russians are coming - to force LNG on California

For much of the last three decades, California companies like Sempra Energy and Pacific Gas & Electric have tried to foist expensive, environmentally questionable liquefied natural gas onto this state's consumers.

[WOW]

This guy is a total hack for the oil industry monopolists, and his arguments are moronic jingoistic twaddle. The greatest likelihood you will pay more as oil becomes more costly is to listen to this idiot and keep natural gas out of America and California.

Natural gas reserves are rising worldwide while known economical oil reserves are falling dramatically. Costs of natural gas recovery are falling, costs for oil recovery are rising.

Most countries who sell us oil hate us and hold us in political and economic bondage. Most of the countries with rising natural gas reserves are in a competitive fee market economy-including countries like the USA?

Natural Gas is much much cheaper on a BTU gallon equivalent basis than gasoline or diesel. We have tens of thousands of vehicles operating on CNG or LNG in California that are polluting far less and costing less to run and maintain.

So this pathetic hack writes this piece of oil company propoganda (even using phoney "environmental" concerns?) and attempts to invoke goofy jingoistic fears that the now capitalist "Russian Bear" will forcie us to take and use "cheaper" natural gas.

This really is a quaint nostalgic propoganda piece designed to appeal to the "good old days" of the cold war stupidity--buit it is complete twaddle.

[Dont Be Stupid]

Wow has an opinion directly from the PR arm of those foreign devils that want to enslave Californian's economically.

First, almost all large concerns in the entire former Soviet Union are run by mobsters. Their criminal activities make the Mafia look tame. There is no reason for them to be selling gas to the US, except they can manipulate the market and suck money from the US like they had a straw in our wallets.

Next, the stone age did not end because we were out of stones. The oil age will not end because we are out of oil. The only thing that will stop the use of oil is if an economical alternative is found. The world reserves are not dwindling. Proven reserves in Alaska are greater than when assesed in 1965. As you pull oil from pools in the earth, the tremendious pressures below ground force new oil into the pools. This is occuring almost everywhere oil has been taken from the ground.

On an average basis oil costs about $4 a barrel to pull it from the ground. The huge multiplier added by OPEC is the result of market manipulation much like Standard Oil did in the 19th century. The way to stop this is to allow competition. Stop the minions of OPEC from stiring political instability in Africa and Afganistan. There is more oil there prime for the taking than anywhere in the world. Political stability would permit investment to build the production equipment and pipelnes necessary to exploit the oil.

Using natural gas as a motor fuel is not desirable or economic for consumers. The cars have a lot less power, they need frequent refueling that takes too long compared to a gasoline pump. The facilities are few and far between. The storage of LNG at fixed locations is dangerous, and the tanks in vehicles are like transporting a bomb in the trunk. Most of the time it is OK, but if it goes off, the results are not pretty.

The vehicle itself has a much shorter life because of the corrosion in the fuel system. Fleet operators that only keep a vehicle for a short period, or those that get an incentive from government can enjoy some savings, but it is not enough for individual consumers to get excited.

Keep Russia out of our distribution system. Don't let the Bear near the Honey packing factory.