USGS Finds ~20,000,000,000 Barrels Worth of Oil Under Texas
97 replies, posted
[QUOTE=PrusseLusken;51382323]You pay 47 cents per litre of petrol. In Norway, with a shitload of oil, we pay $1,64. It's nothing but insane.[/QUOTE]
That's because Norway (and most of the EU) properly taxes the CO2 output from fuel while the US doesn't give a shit.
Anybody ever watch old Walt Disney clips of him talking about Nuclear Power?
If that guy was alive today, he would probably fucking bash his head into a wall with how stunted let the industry become.
[QUOTE=BlackMageMari;51382025]Please no, we need to move on from oil, not drill up more of it to poison the atmosphere.[/QUOTE]
We're not gonna "move on from oil" anytime soon, even when 90% of cars on the road are electric and all the buildings have solar panels and all the corner stores are free-range GMO-free or whatever, oil will still be necessary for other things. Planes are responsible for quite a portion of oil usage. There's not really a viable alternative for turbine engines for long-distance plane travel, or hell, even medium-range. Not to mention plastics, etc. Petrol isn't just used for vehicles. Oil usage isn't gonna go away completely in our lifetimes, at all.
[editline]16th November 2016[/editline]
[QUOTE=DiBBs27;51382091]This is a very sad realization. People care more about their immediate economic status than the literal life and death of the planet they are even barely allowed to exist on.
Humans are very self centered.[/QUOTE]
That's because the world doesn't spin on pure idealism alone. Going kumbaya around a campfire and tossing a hackey sack isn't how progress is made, "immediate economic status" is the fucking essence of our civilization.
If Venezuela collapses, we might also have a ton of rigs being opened in that area as well.
Hopefully we'll still invest into algae-based oil production, as it tends to be quiet useful.
[QUOTE=BlackMageMari;51382025]Please no, we need to move on from oil, not drill up more of it to poison the atmosphere.[/QUOTE]
That's great and all, but I'd rather not have to watch society collapse on itself due to not being prepared for a total switch to alternative fuel.
Until everyone can buy a Tesla or electric Ford or whatever other brand of car, including public transportation and shipping companies and etc, we're gonna need to keep drilling.
[QUOTE=niiiiiiiiok;51382336]they dont give a shit about the future, they don't want to starve or have to live on foodstamps after losing their jobs now[/QUOTE]
Yet another reason for basic income so people can move over professions without being fucked.
[QUOTE=Morgen;51382514]Yet another reason for basic income so people can move over professions without being fucked.[/QUOTE]
I don't think basic income is even remotely pheasable in a country with 320,000,000 people
The US goes through 20 million barrels of oil in a single day. This is not news.
[editline]16th November 2016[/editline]
[QUOTE=Kartoffel;51382140]Not a big thing, but I'd like to point out the number in the thread title is actually 20 million, when it should be 20 billion. Might wanna fix that. :smile:[/QUOTE]
Whoops. That is very important, disregard the last point.
[QUOTE=Judas;51382553]I don't think basic income is even remotely pheasable in a country with 320,000,000 people[/QUOTE]
Well, you could get rid of most other forms of welfare along with it, cutting money to go towards UBI and also saving money because of efficiency, since UBI is much simpler. And per capita we're one of the wealthiest countries around, so population doesn't matter.
[QUOTE=wystan;51382212]Texas continuing to be the best state.[/QUOTE]
Honestly if I were to move to the US, no state seems better than Texas. I like almost every single thing about Texas.
[QUOTE=*Freezorg*;51382580]Honestly if I were to move to the US, no state seems better than Texas. I like almost every single thing about Texas.[/QUOTE]
Believe it or not, we welcome legal immigrants with open arms. Texas is fantastic, and because it's so large and varied geographically, politically, and culturally, I believe there is a slice of Texas perfect for everybody.
Yeah Texas is pretty good except for the weather being hell, unless it's your thing. The people depend greatly on the area you live
US oil truly is unsinkable. Get fucked, Saudis.
[QUOTE=Judas;51382553]I don't think basic income is even remotely pheasable in a country with 320,000,000 people[/QUOTE]
it probably would be easier when you cut down on the insane military budget.
Fixed your 19.98 billion barrel discrepancy in the title.
[I](which is worth about $885,313,800,000 holy shit)[/I]
[QUOTE=Naught;51382725]it probably would be easier when you cut down on the insane military budget.[/QUOTE]
Really? let's take the 2016 military budget at 524b, for the purpose of the hypothetical let's say we reduced the budget by 100%, which would provide an annual basic income of $1,627 per person. My math tells me not that feasible.
[QUOTE=BlackMageMari;51382025]Please no, we need to move on from oil, not drill up more of it to poison the atmosphere.[/QUOTE]
Once we are carbon neutral or off setting it'll be nice to have to derivative products - plastics and the like especially
how long until we declare war on texas
[QUOTE=Map in a box;51382988]how long until we declare war on texas[/QUOTE]
Probably when [del]the Cubs win the World Series[/del] California leaves the Union.
[QUOTE=DiBBs27;51382091]This is a very sad realization. People care more about their immediate economic status than the literal life and death of the planet they are even barely allowed to exist on.
Humans are very self centered.[/QUOTE]
Humans want to live, and sadly when it comes to choosing between them personally starving to death, and the potential to save untold lives centuries in the future, they'll opt to keep what they know (them) going.
[QUOTE=DiBBs27;51382091]This is a very sad realization. People care more about their immediate economic status than the literal life and death of the planet they are even barely allowed to exist on.
Humans are very self centered.[/QUOTE]
Oh yeah, you try letting your family go hungry because of some problem looming centuries away. Christ.
You'd do the exact same thing in their shoes, stop trying to be some moral superior to everyone else.
[QUOTE=New Cidem;51382066]You're not going to convince anybody in Texas, especially West Texas, to abandon oil until there's literally none left. If oil stops being a valuable commodity, you're looking at hundreds of thousands of unemployed workers with no training in other fields suddenly popping up. I'm not defending the use of oil or its effect on the environment, but you must understand that a large amount of people base their entire lives upon it.[/QUOTE]
Automation is going to slowly but surely eat up a majority of jobs anyway, any Luddite resistance to that would simply delay the inevitable:
[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Pq-S557XQU[/media]
Current economic systems which require high employment rates to function will be unsustainable in a decade or two, might as well start transitioning now and use the opportunity to change your energy policy. At least that's what sensible politicians would do. But that's not gonna happen, at least not in the US that's for sure.
[QUOTE=New Cidem;51382066]If oil stops being a valuable commodity, you're looking at hundreds of thousands of unemployed workers with no training in other fields suddenly popping up[/QUOTE]
this is a trash argument and I see it in all sorts of conversations over newer safer technologies
[QUOTE=Judas;51382553]I don't think basic income is even remotely pheasable in a country with 320,000,000 people[/QUOTE]
Why is population even relevant? You have a big population but also a big economy to match. You have a higher GDP per capita than countries with social security systems far better than yours.
Drill, baby, drill! Daddy's hot rod needs somethin' to drink!
[QUOTE=_Axel;51383125]Automation is going to slowly but surely eat up a majority of jobs anyway, any Luddite resistance to that would simply delay the inevitable:
[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Pq-S557XQU[/media]
Current economic systems which require high employment rates to function will be unsustainable in a decade or two, might as well start transitioning now and use the opportunity to change your energy policy. At least that's what sensible politicians would do. But that's not gonna happen, at least not in the US that's for sure.[/QUOTE]
I'm really curious to see what will happen if automation really does become such a wave of change that we have to start making those big decisions.
I mean, the only two ways I can think of to handle this is to either have everyone mutually agree to hit a limit on automation to sustain jobs for humans (unlikely), or to embrace it and give everyone a basic income they can live off of happily without having to work, and hopefully in not dystopia 'everyone is poor except the very few rich' conditions.
Maybe I'm just not being imaginative but I can't see how our economy can work with half the country unemployed. Sure, it's cheaper to produce everything but at the same time people need money to actually buy your product.
And what would the effect be on people's health and psychology? I don't really think people are built for not having jobs. There is a depression that forms when one isn't contributing. Would people simply wallow in depression or take to the arts, if not for money then for their mental health? Like how we give old people art projects and plants to grow to help keep them happy. But at the same time, all the stresses of the hard labor jobs would be gone from most people's lives. Would drug use rise as a way to cope with boredom? Would crime be as bad anymore? Is there much reason to rob a guy if you already have an income whoever you are? Would homelessness be able to vanish as a problem? Not to mention if we did do that it would almost certainly in my mind be a major upheaval to how the country's economics would work.
I wonder how long until this is a thing. It seems distant and hard to imagine now, but hell, in 1996 I don't think anyone could imagine that anyone would have a phone with a big colorful screen that could play games, videos, connect to the entire internet and so on. And then just a little over 10 years the iphone was released. Who am I to say what massive change could happen by 2026?
[QUOTE=New Cidem;51382066]You're not going to convince anybody in Texas, especially West Texas, to abandon oil until there's literally none left. If oil stops being a valuable commodity, you're looking at hundreds of thousands of unemployed workers with no training in other fields suddenly popping up. I'm not defending the use of oil or its effect on the environment, but you must understand that a large amount of people base their entire lives upon it.[/QUOTE]
The US oil industry has taken a nose dive ever since the OPEC oil glut and the price of oil per barrel tanked.
Unless the price of oil goes back up to what it was, don't expect big oil tycoons to up and start drilling right away.
[QUOTE=Mister Sandman;51383390]I'm really curious to see what will happen if automation really does become such a wave of change that we have to start making those big decisions.
I mean, the only two ways I can think of to handle this is to either have everyone mutually agree to hit a limit on automation to sustain jobs for humans (unlikely), or to embrace it and give everyone a basic income they can live off of happily without having to work, and hopefully in not dystopia 'everyone is poor except the very few rich' conditions.
Maybe I'm just not being imaginative but I can't see how our economy can work with half the country unemployed. Sure, it's cheaper to produce everything but at the same time people need money to actually buy your product.
And what would the effect be on people's health and psychology? I don't really think people are built for not having jobs. There is a depression that forms when one isn't contributing. Would people simply wallow in depression or take to the arts, if not for money then for their mental health? Like how we give old people art projects and plants to grow to help keep them happy. But at the same time, all the stresses of the hard labor jobs would be gone from most people's lives. Would drug use rise as a way to cope with boredom? Would crime be as bad anymore? Is there much reason to rob a guy if you already have an income whoever you are? Would homelessness be able to vanish as a problem? Not to mention if we did do that it would almost certainly in my mind be a major upheaval to how the country's economics would work.
I wonder how long until this is a thing. It seems distant and hard to imagine now, but hell, in 1996 I don't think anyone could imagine that anyone would have a phone with a big colorful screen that could play games, videos, connect to the entire internet and so on. And then just a little over 10 years the iphone was released. Who am I to say what massive change could happen by 2026?[/QUOTE]
I think some kind of basic income is going to be absolutely necessary. As for the boredom and depression part, I think there needs to be an emphasis on volunteering. It can often provide a greater sense of accomplishment than menial tasks do, so I think that would be a step in the right direction.
[QUOTE=_Axel;51383457]I think so kind of basic income is going to be absolutely necessary. As for the boredom and depression part, I think there needs to be an emphasis on volunteering. It can often provide a greater sense of accomplishment than menial tasks do, so I think that would be a step in the right direction.[/QUOTE]
Yes, and STEAM education (even beyond younger generations, through things like classes and community organizations like makerspaces and such) can also help by introducing technology skills and inspiring more people to pursue creative outlets and hobbies, things that will become valuable in the wake of automation reducing manual labor requirements for people over time.
It sucks that our society is based on acquisition. I get that. It's really terrible that capitalism is completely unsustainable and that there's no real answer to this. Because even UBI, while I support the idea, I also realize that immediately as soon as you create a number, you know what the lowest common rent in all markets would immediately become? that same number, or at least as big a chunk of it as they can realistically take. The poor would remain poor, and there would still be homeless, and there would definitely still be a lot of crime. Probably a lot more fraud related crime and more muggings because getting someone's UBI becomes the main objective and every single person is a mark now, people who wouldn't normally have money are now also a target. And it would essentially be a system where the half of us who are successful pay a shitload in taxes in order to fund the half who don't work. That doesn't sit well with people who have been raised all their lives to believe that acquisition is the central goal in life.
I'm not saying we shouldn't try this, as this is probably the only way to stretch out capitalism maybe another few generations. But it's over soon. I personally think that maybe we could enter into a new type of social democracy or maybe even outright socialism, but through automation. It didn't happen before because humans always need to work and that means that someone gets to be the boss and that means at some point there's a small group who owns and runs everything and so it's essentially the same evil you get with capitalism anyway. But if say one day, we threw a goodbye party for capitalism, in which we promised all current owners and execs of all successful contributing businesses a nice comfy lifestyle exactly like they had before, meaning they get a free pass on everything for the rest of life, in exchange for cancelling capitalism and transferring the control of their automation empires to the state.
this is all retarded and will never happen but I mean I'm just saying I'd rather that than to have half of us or less driving an economy that supports a secondary slave class that does nothing but buy the shit we make for them to buy with the money we give them via taxes.
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