The interesting part is that an enbargo of gasoline exports to Iran has often been mentioned as a possible sanction if Iran does not stop enrichment.  Instead of a budget issue, a suspension of gasoline imports may be Iran's way to prepare for forced lower domestic consumption and a way to neutralize the threat as a negotiating tactic.

Here is a reply I sent to a reply I received from Grey Zone on a different thread here...

I can tell by your name that you are cerebral. You read all of my posts? Could you not have stepped into the conversation sooner? If you noticed this site uses blog software and it is not suited well to involved conversations. It is difficult at best to reply and respond since the thread becomes fragmented.
Your comments are cleaver and I'll bet you have to work hard at being that cleaver? You commented that my plan is nonsense. Then you commented that I went off topic. Then you said that if I'm serious about my nonsense then nature's cull of Homo sapiens is an example of why humans will be culled. Mr. Grey Zone, I hope that you are able to locate help for your issues prior to the cull.

I can go off topic or choose to discuss topics that go in a lighter direction. Some may laugh and others may be too cerebral or clever. As it happens I had been talking with another member for some time and I decided to break the cold w/ warmth and a smile.

I don't know if you envy me or maybe you have a lot of pride but it has been a while since I have been called a useless parasite. Possibly that was a threat based on the words you elected to use. You believe that I would purge you or something like that.

You could point out to me the place I used the word 'purged' and then query me as to what I was talking about. Here is your comment, "If you come to "purge" me, be forewarned that I plan to purge useless parasites like you first."

"If you come" -this opens a conditional statement used to catch my attention since you are about to follow up with some dick waving.

"to "purge" me" -here you twist words that were never directed to you and conclude that when I say, "Purge" I am threatening you with death or punishment.

"be forewarned that I plan" -now you threaten me with a warning and state that you have a plan.

"to purge" -using this does two things. #1 It verifies that you feel that purge means murder, harm, kill and #2 it defines your plan.

"useless parasites like you" -in this you claim that my penis is smaller then yours in an attempt to induce me to take the bait.

"first" -(this is the best part) here you claim that after you kill me or dispense with me there are more people on your list to "purge" this shows that you are not stable at best and possibly a killer.

You have issues good luck with them!

My point is that we need a plan. The graphs and all are depressing. Here is how depressing PO is as people I don't know decide that threats will help things. I love debates but threatening to PURG me is not a plan. I read back over my posts to look at how I used "purge" and this is what I said...

I see it as fair that housing, food and energy for all would be free. Those that are determined to do as little as possible will not earn any credits. They will have the basics and not be lying in the streets. Over time this sort of lifestyle would be purged. The social issue of the day is that the middle class are disproportionately burdened by taxes and consumer prices.

Grey Zone is frustrated. He does not like learning that we are like rats or mice on a wheel. He has become a doomer. There are many doomers these days...

1. Weather Doomers
   
2. PO Doomers
   
3. Bible Doomers
   
4. Disease Doomers
   
5. Magnetic Reversal Doomers
   
6. And on and on and on...

Come on in the sky is falling! Holly shit we are all gonna die... Well yea we are so what is your plan till we do? Will you purge me? Will you purge hope? We happen to be on a journey and we don't know exactly what will happen. As I said several times in that thread, "Tell me your plan or help me with mine!"

Americans living lonely, isolated lives

Americans have a third fewer close friends and confidants than just two decades ago -- a sign that people may be living lonelier, more isolated lives than in the past.

In 1985, the average American had three people in whom to confide matters that were important to them, says a study in today's American Sociological Review. In 2004, that number dropped to two, and one in four had no close confidants at all.

"You usually don't see that kind of big social change in a couple of decades," says study co-author Lynn Smith-Lovin, professor of sociology at Duke University in Durham, N.C.

The reason?

More people live in the suburbs and spend more time at work, Putnam says, leaving less time to socialize or join groups.

Also, people have more entertainment tools such as TV, iPods and computers, so they can stay home and tune out.

We need to use an additive for co2.  The coal gases and particulates from coal is an obvious wake up call to the citizens of Peking.  The poison is everywhere and the people are dying from it.  Unfortunately,   co2 is odorless and colorless, so those who are not in an obvious high pollution zone, are blissfully unaware that co2 is even more dangerous than the particulates and oxides that come with the burning of coal and other fossil fuels.

Make CO2 noxious to the visual and olfactory senses. Make it ugly and make it smell.  Then, perhaps, we would start doing something about it.

The report from the Royal Society of Edinburgh, on which the Scotsman article is based is here.

John Brown, a born-again Christian who believes the Bible will guide him to oil and gas in Israel, is planning to test the faith of investors in the U.S. in the next few weeks. The Texas-based novice oilman who founded Zion Oil & Gas is aiming to raise between $2.45 million and $14 million in an initial public offering, tentatively slated for July, to fund drilling at a kibbutz northeast of Tel Aviv. God, Brown says, "has promised in the Bible to bless Israel with one of the world's largest oil and gas fields."

It may take some Divine help for him to pull the venture off. Hundreds of wells have been drilled in Israel in the past 60 years, but none has yielded significant production. Explorers turned up natural gas off the southern coast in recent years, but British Gas walked away from its drilling rights there in recent years. And locals are dubious. "The Israelis are skeptical," says Eldad Weiss, founder and board member of an Israeli oil and gas services provider, Paradigm. He cites "a great history of disappointment for oil and gas companies in Israel."

Apparently Anadarko wants to get into deepwater drilling.

"An all-cash deal, it was unexpected and a very bold move," said Fadel Gheit, an analyst at Oppenheimer. "But I have faith in (Anadarko CEO Jim) Hackett. This is the crown achievement of his career, and he's not likely to buckle."

Gheit cited Kerr-McGee's extensive deepwater drilling expertise, saying the firm could go "head-to-head" with any of the bigger oil companies in the Gulf of Mexico.

"He's buying companies with complementary resources and tremendous upside potential," Gheit added.

Also in CNNMoney: Oil consumption seen soaring: Much of world's growth will take place in Asia, although U.S. will still use the most; OPEC needed to meet bulk of demand, EIA says

No surprise here for TODers, but I do want to note that this is part of a bigger CNNMoney special on the Gas Crunch 2006 (not sure if this has already been mentioned).

Is there some form of downloadable archive of the site content available which could be obtained via SFTP or some such?

If so does include a copy of the graphics contained in the msg's.?

U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman says he'll tap the SPR if needed.  

The Worst Case Scenario Is Not About Us

Admit that even if you have a hammer not every problem is a nail. If energy costs are the major culprit in increasing inflation and in worries about future inflation, then raising interest rates seems a strange way to fight energy-produced inflation. To reduce energy prices by hiking interest rates you have to raise them high enough to slow growth across the entire economy. Wouldn't it be better to try to reduce energy demand -- which would reduce energy prices -- by using programs that increase the efficiency of energy use in the economy? That way we might get lower inflation and economic growth, too.

Of course, I can rant on this page all that I want -- so can you from any soapbox you can commandeer -- and the Federal Reserve doesn't have to do a thing or even listen. These bankers don't stand for election. They're appointed for 14-year terms. They're never accountable to voters. For that matter, they aren't even accountable to the people we do elect.

What we've done is put some of the most important decisions about how our country is run in the hands of officials over whom we have no control.

It's a lousy way to run a democracy.

http://www.worldwatch.org/node/4141

Choices:

# 1 - a  possible near-term solution to our energy and climate crisis

# 2 - over-hyped; it's not clear how biofuels will contribute to sustainable development

# 3 - a disaster that would drive up food prices and destroy remaining tropical forests

# 4 - not sure

Rick

GM, which has trailed some of its competitors in offering fuel-efficient hybrid vehicles, is looking at a new version known as "plug-in hybrids" not yet on the market, which can offer drivers even better mileage, according to someone familiar with company plans.

ETHANOL INVESTING: COUNTERPOINT

Readers of TOD will recognize some of the arguments about ethanol, E85, and Brazil, but I also took a long hard look at Pacific Ethanol in the last section of the essay.

RR

http://www.sciencemag.org/current.dtl

The full letter - Energy Returns on Ethanol Production - is behind a pay wall, although I have been sent a copy. Hopefully, when he gets finished traveling, he can make it available here for discussion. The letter is a rebuttal to the recent pro-ethanol articles published in Science. The truth is spreading.

RR

Oil and electricity consumption across the world could easily be cut by half, with major benefits for the environment, if clean energy technologies that are currently available were applied, an international watchdog said.

"A sustainable energy future is possible, but only if we act urgently and decisively to promote, develop and deploy a full mix of energy technologies... We have the means, now we need the will," said Claude Mandil, executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA).

He was presenting an IEA report written in response to a call last year from G8 leaders who asked the agency to develop and advise on alternative scenarios and strategies for a clean, clever and competitive energy future.

The IEA report was published ahead of next month's Saint Petersburg summit of the G8 group of the world's leading industrial nations, which is expected to focus largely on energy questions.

The mix of technologies the IEA advocated included improved energy efficiency, carbon dioxide capture and storage, renewables and -- where acceptable -- nuclear energy, said Mandil.

The report said record high oil prices raised concerns about the long-term balance of supply and demand. Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions have increased by more than 20 percent over the last decade, it noted.

If the future is in line with present trends, CO2 emissions and oil demand will continue to grow rapidly over the next 25 years. Extending this outlook beyond 2030 shows that these worrisome trends are likely to get worse, said the IEA report.

Energy efficiency is essential to mitigate growth in energy demand and CO2 emissions, added the document from the Paris-based IEA, which was created during the 1973-74 oil crisis to advise industrialised countries on energy questions.

"Improved energy efficiency is an indispensable component of any policy mix, and it is available immediately," said Mandil, presenting the report titled "Energy Technology Perspectives: Scenarios and Strategies."

Accelerating energy efficiency improvements alone can reduce the worlds energy demand in 2050 by an amount equivalent to almost half of today's global energy consumption, said the report.

To achieve this, however, "governments, in both OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) and non-OECD countries, must be willing to implement measures that encourage the investment in energy-efficient technologies," Mandil added.

Another key technology is the capture and storage of CO2 emitted from power-generation or industrial processes. The IEA study pointed out that the early demonstration of carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) in full-scale power plants should be a high priority.

"If we do not succeed in making CCS viable, the cost of mitigating CO2 emissions will be much higher," Mandil warned.

Deploying CCS, along with more renewables, more nuclear and more efficient use of natural gas and coal, can significantly decarbonise global electricity generation by 2050, according to the report.

"With the right policy incentives we think there is scope for renewables to quadruple by 2050 and for nuclear to gain a more important role in countries where it is acceptable," said Mandil.

Rising oil prices and supply concerns, as well as the growing need to combat global warming caused by greenhouse gas emissions, have raised the profile and economic viability of some renewable energy sources.

Those concerns have also sparked renewed interest in nuclear power as a source of climate-friendly energy.

At last July's G8 summit in the Scottish resort of Gleneagles, the group issued a statement that said: "We will act with resolve and urgency to meet our shared multiple objectives of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improving the global environment, enhancing energy security and cutting air pollution."

Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse

What do ya know the problem is solved just like that...DING

   Now, I think I know why some of what is happening in the U.S. seems so difficult for outsiders (even ones who come from there) to encompass -

------------------------------------------------------------

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Americans are more socially isolated than they were 20 years ago, separated by work, commuting and the single life, researchers reported on Friday.

Nearly a quarter of people surveyed said they had "zero" close friends with whom to discuss personal matters. More than 50 percent named two or fewer confidants, most often immediate family members, the researchers said.

"This is a big social change, and it indicates something that's not good for our society," said Duke University Professor Lynn Smith-Lovin, lead author on the study to be published in the American Sociological Review.

Smith-Lovin's group used data from a national survey of 1,500 American adults that has been ongoing since 1972.

She said it indicated people had a surprising drop in the number of close friends since 1985. At that time, Americans most commonly said they had three close friends whom they had known for a long time, saw often, and with whom they shared a number of interests.

They were almost as likely to name four or five friends, and the relationships often sprang from their neighborhoods or communities.

---------------------------------------------------------

I won't even bother to wander among my various beliefs and obsessions, but it seems as if America has become a fairly unique social construction - and one of such stunning human poverty that is difficult for me to imagine.

And I came from there. Imagine someone growing up in a normal place, something like the America of pre-1985.

And that is the stunning tie-in to me about peak oil and America. By any reasonable measure, America's drive for conservation/alternatives had been run into the ground at roughly the same time a new framework of growing social isolation was taking hold.

This almost belongs in the social capital thread, since at this point, America clearly lacks the normal framework of most other human cultures. Talking about social capital in the face of such stunning results is just more whistling past the looming graveyard.

I still remain fairly unconvinced about die-off in the sense of mass starvation, but my fear of a war led by a resource starved America has gone up another few very quantifiable notches - in a society where 25% seem to have no interests larger than themselves in terms of other people, the appeal of smash and grab for personal benefit likely seems not only logical, but required, since if you don't, another person as alone as you will.

I think Jevon's paradox is possible to avoid in a society with enough self-awareness and interconnections - after all, if you use it, your children can't is certainly one perspective which avoids the paradox among people who care about the future. But in such an isolated social framework, Jevon's paradox is likely to cause all sorts of problems. A tiny glimpse - as the rest of the world conserves, America continues to burn fossil fuels to its maximum capacity - I can imagine an ultimatum from the world's conserving societies (1/3 of humanity? 1/2? with most of the rest in collapsed societies) focused squarely on the dangerous one with an attention deficit. And if the climate was clearly turning into a run away catastrophe, an ultimatum backed by the potentially lesser evil of nuclear war becomes at least imaginable - and now I am too seeing die off, not as a cynical game among the rich/rulers/owners, but as a desperate attempt to preserve some future among those who see no other choice. A nuclear powered powerdown, a truly appalling pun.

Simply from reading about something seemingly normal for most Americans to experience in their daily lives, which was not imaginable to me last night.

No wonder that much of what I write seems so skewed in American eyes. Sometimes, societies turn sociopathic - I live in a place where that happened too recently. And this little piece of information is the sort of fact which likely will be scrutinized by future historians looking at cause and effect.

For Iran, with its millennia of history as a civilization behind it, eight weeks mean nothing as a period of reflection. For the United States, with its compressed, intense history, one-sixth of a year is an awful long time.

This "clash of civilizations" over time and space colored the Iran-US discord this week. Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad, while addressing a small town audience in the western province of Hamedan on Wednesday, made a reference to the European Union package of "carrots" regarding Iran's nuclear program (specifically to get it to stop uranium-enrichment activities) awaiting consideration in Tehran.