Oil Booms in North Dakota

[ScottM]

I'm thinking when they hit oil near our family land by Parshall, I just might have to buy a big used Hummer. Make that 2, one for me and one for MplsBison!

Hell, if you plant a few trees you can give yourself a nice "carbon offset", just like Al Gore.

[Oxbow6]

Hell, if you plant a few trees you can give yourself a nice "carbon offset", just like Al Gore.

And if the Hummer's green, do I get "eco" cred for that as well?

[Goon]

Good! They should take all of it for the damage that fossil fuel combustion does to the environment.

What a dolt.

[MplsBison]

http://www.fastcompany.com/1593916/better-...-by-the-numbers

One thing I am convinced of: internal combustion engines in passenger vehicles have one foot in the grave. It might not happen soon, but in my lifetime we will see 100% passenger vehicles operating on total battery power.

[Oxbow6]

http://www.fastcompany.com/1593916/better-...-by-the-numbers

One thing I am convinced of: internal combustion engines in passenger vehicles have one foot in the grave. It might not happen soon, but in my lifetime we will see 100% passenger vehicles operating on total battery power.

Lunacy!

ZERO percent chance that'll happen.

[Big A HG]

One thing I am convinced of: internal combustion engines in passenger vehicles have one foot in the grave. It might not happen soon, but in my lifetime we will see 100% passenger vehicles operating on total battery power.

The problem with this comment is that the faster and harder you push technologies that aren't reliable, and have very little in the way of energy output, the greater the chance it will fail. If you let capitalism run its course, someone is going to have a breakthrough beyond what we can imagine right now, and then getting rid of all our combustible engines is then something viable. We just don't have the technology to do that until one of these major breakthroughs happen. Yes, there are methods to creating clean energy right now, but none of them can do what fossil fuels do. Once you obtain a way to provide cheap renewable energy that has as much output as fossil fuels, then we can start getting rid of fossil fuels. You'd destroy America by trying to replace everything before there is a good enough technology in place...but what progressive liberal isn't trying to destroy America these days?

[MplsBison]

"...it might not happen soon..."

The only thing capitalism guarantees is that oil companies will try to squeeze as much profit out of oil as they can, for as long as they're allowed. It doesn't matter a cow pie to them if they hold us back another 50-100 years in progress, so long as they get their money.

[LeftyZL]

"...it might not happen soon..."

The only thing capitalism guarantees is that oil companies will try to squeeze as much profit out of oil as they can, for as long as they're allowed. It doesn't matter a cow pie to them if they hold us back another 50-100 years in progress, so long as they get their money.

That's called capitalism. If you don't like the way something is run/built/whatever, come up with a better product/function/whatever. Go Ahead and build it. Make it cheaper and more efficient than a standard vehicle. If it was so easy, there would be more alternatives. Give the people something worth while to purchase. Not an electric vehicle that costs $40,000 and goes 40 miles on a charge before kicking over to a gas engine(Chevy Volt).

Battery/Solar/Electric vehicles aren't even in the same book as vehicles now-a-days.

Until then, supply and demand baby.

[Goon]

That's called capitalism. If you don't like the way something is run/built/whatever, come up with a better product/function/whatever. Go Ahead and build it. Make it cheaper and more efficient than a standard vehicle. If it was so easy, there would be more alternatives. Give the people something worth while to purchase. Not an electric vehicle that costs $40,000 and goes 40 miles on a charge before kicking over to a gas engine(Chevy Volt).

Battery/Solar/Electric vehicles aren't even in the same book as vehicles now-a-days.

Until then, supply and demand baby.

We don't have the power grid to charge all of those batteries.

[MplsBison]

The Volt is not a game changer, no one was claiming that.

I said in my lifetime. Give it 20 years. Sheesh.

[LeftyZL]

The Volt is not a game changer, no one was claiming that.

I said in my lifetime. Give it 20 years. Sheesh.

Why not make it 10? How bout 5? Go do something about it yourself. Sell people on your own ideas if you got something real. Don't wait for anyone else. Be an innovator.

Then, once you do, sell it an auto manufacturer for $XXX Million-Billion-Gajillion dollars!

[MplsBison]

People are doing that now. Give it time.

Passenger cars are already moving towards electric engines for their obvious advantages over internal combustion.

[Cratter]

The Volt is definately not a game changer.

But Tesla Motors is. If you want one you will have to join the waiting list.

[dlsiouxfan]

The problem with this comment is that the faster and harder you push technologies that aren't reliable, and have very little in the way of energy output, the greater the chance it will fail. If you let capitalism run its course, someone is going to have a breakthrough beyond what we can imagine right now, and then getting rid of all our combustible engines is then something viable. We just don't have the technology to do that until one of these major breakthroughs happen. Yes, there are methods to creating clean energy right now, but none of them can do what fossil fuels do. Once you obtain a way to provide cheap renewable energy that has as much output as fossil fuels, then we can start getting rid of fossil fuels. You'd destroy America by trying to replace everything before there is a good enough technology in place...but what progressive liberal isn't trying to destroy America these days?

As a progressive liberal I can't think of any that are trying to destroy American. I have seen quite a few teabaggers conservatives that seem dead set on secession or armed insurrection. They seem more like the group that's dead set on destroying America.

[MplsBison]

The Volt is definately not a game changer.

But Tesla Motors is. If you want one you will have to join the waiting list.

It's not about the car itself. As long as you have a decent design and you're good at manufacturing, you can make a car economically.

It's not about the engine. Electric motors have been superior to internal combustion for 100 years.

It's always been about the energy supply. You can store 15 gallons of gasoline at a cost of only ~90 pounds, get 300 miles out of it and refuel in ~5-10 minutes. Battery packs weigh many hundreds of pounds, only give ~40 miles on a charge and take hours to recharge.

But we will figure out how to bring the numbers close enough to be acceptable where people will buy. I think people will live with giving up a thousand pounds from the car to lug around the battery pack, so long as the charge will go far and you can recharge or swap the pack in a reasonable amount of time.

Home/work/street charging is fine and probably will be utilized to some extent, but I don't see the paradigm of refueling/recharging at a station going away. Too much investment in that infrastructure and business.

[MplsBison]

As a progressive liberal I can't think of any that are trying to destroy American. I have seen quite a few teabaggers conservatives that seem dead set on secession or armed insurrection. They seem more like the group that's dead set on destroying America.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/27/opinion/27blow.html

A bit "in your face", but pretty much dead on accurate.

[Big A HG]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/27/opinion/27blow.html

A bit "in your face", but pretty much dead on accurate.

I didn't read it, but was already laughing when I saw two things:

1) New York Times

2) "Op-Ed"

[ScottM]

Keep up the "politics" and you can see this thread get closed too.

[Big A HG]

Keep up the "politics" and you can see this thread get closed too.

What's not political about oil to begin with? The thread should have been locked from day 1.

[MplsBison]

It's a commodity that's traded in markets and when burned it kills the environment.

I don't see politics in that either.

[Bison Dan]

It's a commodity that's traded in markets and when burned it kills the environment.

I don't see politics in that either.

I wish you pea brains would think what life would be like without it.

[sultan]

Since Bison Dan is a pea brain too, isn't his statement in a way putting down himself?

[LB#11]

I wish you pea brains would think what life would be like without it.

Right on Bison Dan.

[MplsBison]

I wish you pea brains would think what life would be like without it.

Life would go on. We have a lot of smart people in the world and we'd figure something out that worked.

The reason we haven't now is not because a solution doesn't exist. There's no pressure to find the solution.

[Oxbow6]

We have a lot of smart people in the world and we'd figure something out that worked.

So with that rational, I can only guess which side of the healthcare issue your on!