President Obama's Weekly Address 5/7/11: Clean Energy to Out-Innovate the Rest of the World

WASHINGTON – Speaking to the American people from Indianapolis, Indiana, President Obama said that clean energy companies like Allison Transmissions will keep the economy growing, create new jobs, and make sure America remains the most prosperous nation on Earth. Clean energy is also part of the ultimate solution to high gas prices. Until we reduce our dependence on oil, we will be held hostage to the ups and downs of the oil markets. That means we need to continue to invest in clean, alternative sources of energy – like advanced biofuels and natural gas – and more efficient cars, buses and trucks. See an infographic explaining the President's short and long term approach to high gas prices HERE.

President Obama's Weekly Address 4/23/11: Stopping Oil Market Fraud, Beginning a Clean Energy Future

WASHINGTON – In his weekly address, President Obama laid out his plans to address rising gas prices over the short and the long term. While there is no silver bullet to bring down prices right away, there are a few things we can do. This week, the Attorney General launched a task force dedicated to rooting out fraud or manipulations in the oil markets. The President called for finally ending the $4 billion in taxpayer money that the oil and gas companies receive annually. And, we need to continue safe, responsible production of oil at home. But in the long term, we need to invest in clean, renewable energy. That is why the President strongly disagrees with a proposal in Congress that cuts our investments in clean energy by 70percent.

CBS: Did Wall Street speculators create oil price bubble?

Raw Story - One of the most inexplicable economic events of the past year involved the doubling of the price of oil last spring and summer from $69 a barrel to nearly $150 -- driving gasoline and heating oil costs through the roof -- followed by its even more rapid collapse this fall to under $50

60 Minutes looked into various theories of what happened and concluded that "many people believe it was a speculative bubble .. and that it had more to do with traders and speculators on Wall Street than with oil company executives or sheiks in Saudi Arabia."

Oil is traded on the commodities futures market, whose original purpose was to enable farmers and manufacturers to stabilize their expenses and receipts. But in 2007, those markets began to behave erratically.


Read More about it >>>HERE

Slick John McCain and the offshore oil ruse

"Slick John McCain and the offshore oil ruse"
The safety and economics of offshore drilling are distractions from the much larger
challenges that humanity faces: Climate change and peak oil.
so says Slate.com's Andrew Leonard

Click on the headline to read all about it.

Gas prices fuel some skipped first aid calls

The Asbury Park Press is reporting that the high cost of gas is causing some members of the Holmdel First Aid Squad to miss calls for help. It seems that a number of the First Aider's are on fixed incomes and can not afford to respond to calls.
Officials in town are stating however, that all emergency calls are being responded to and that no one is currently in danger.

This seems like a real problem, how long before the public becomes effected? And is this an isolated situation or are other towns in the Bayshore experiencing the same problems? I would like to know because something needs to be done about it before some one dies.

Is it possible for towns to reimburse some of the fuel costs to their emergency responders, maybe $20-$25 dollars a month or maybe on a per mileage, per call basis ? I don't know, but this issue needs to be looked at if towns are going to rely on volunteers to provide emergency services.

Click on the headline to read the story

Why Oil Prices Skyrocketed

With the cost of crude oil surging to record highs, a heated battle of blame is in full swing, with a lineup of suspects that includes the oil industry, Congress, commodity speculators, environmentalists and developing countries in Asia....

So opens the article that I was reading on Livescience.com.
The article is a quick rundown on the reasons why the cost of oil has risen so much over the past year.

Click on the headline to read the article