Money

[JesusNYC]

Okay, since nobody is really chatting all that much in here,..... :-)

 

Did anyone hear about Exxon/Mobil's 100 BILLION dollar profit this year? Their sales are up 75%. Gee I wonder why :-)

 

Yours always,

 

Jesus

[+ friendofsheila]

Chalk it up to the American mentality of "Conserving energy? Mass transit? What's that?"

[RockHard]

RE: The political power of the oil industries

 

Since there is a rule in the Lounge of "NO politics," some of us who try to respect those rules would most likely ignore a thread like this. Hence, not much of a discussion. This subject can easily dovetail into politics...allow me to indulge and get close to crossing a line:

 

I am a voracious reader and a political "junkie," for lack of a better word (although "junkie" seems to fit just fine in some corners of this board). So, yes, I'm fully caught up on Exxon's "quarter of record-breaking profit."

 

It certainly is no secret that many wealthy Republicans, right on up to the White House, have been leaders in the oil business for many, many years. Conservation and/or alternative fuels don't help the men and women who work in oil. There is no incentive for these people and/or their companies to preach and encourage conservative use. Such action goes against all roads to profitability and betrays the very notions of what being in business means.

 

As long as the automobile remains the easiest mode of "escapism" for the majority of Americans and as long as the oil lobby remains in power, common-sense ideas will fall on deaf ears.

 

I'm content I've never had an affinity for large cars and I live in a city where having a car is really not necessary. However, my electric bill this summer increased by 40% with no warning and I can only imagine what heat will cost this winter. Thank goodness I don't live in Montana or Northern Illinois.

 

I can afford to pay my surprise bills but what about the millions of families who live from paycheck to paycheck and can't easily sustain a 40% increase in any expenditure? I sure hope they're registered voters. Voting for leaders who think outside the (oil) box is the only way to address these problems.

[+ deej]

>Chalk it up to the American mentality of "Conserving energy?

>Mass transit? What's that?"

 

It's the "me, me, me" nature of our culture.

 

I didn't drive a car for 20 years because I lived in areas with great transit and lousy parking. People would find out I didn't have a car and wonder how I managed. (I managed just fine, thanks, and had 20 glorious years not making payments or paying for insurance, gas, maintenance, etc.)

 

Even in areas where transit is an option, it often runs half-filled. People with cars just don't think of it as an option. I often walk to the grocery store, and see my neighbors pulling their SUV's into the parking lot to buy a loaf of bread. These are often neighbors I said hello to when we were leaving our apartments, so they can't tell me it's faster to drive if I got there before them.

 

The pain point, price-wise, hasn't been reached enough to make our society change. That will come with time and (unfortunately) more increases.

[OneFinger]

RE: The political power of the oil industries

 

>However, my electric bill this summer increased by 40% with no warning and I can only imagine what heat will cost this winter. Thank goodness I don't live in Montana or Northern Illinois.

 

I've also seen an unjustified increase in my electric bill this summer while the quality of service has decreased. (I.e., more outages, out for longer periods of time, etc.)

 

Most people where I live (in the Rocky Mountain area) heat their homes with natural gas. The Public Service Commission on Friday just approved a 20% increase (effective immediately) for gas. For me that will result in an extra $25/month IF I continue to keep my thermostat set to 65 degrees during the day and 60 degrees at night.

 

Most families and older folks in my area heat their home to about 68 degrees during the day. I don't even want to guess the impact on them.

 

I'm not a big fan of government intervention but I'm starting to lean towards mandatory price freezes. Don't think Congressional hearings and "fact finding" will result in any change. And, while we're at it, what's up with the shortage of concrete because we're selling our supply to China?

 

Is anyone looking out for the common American these days?

 

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

"We need to have more respect for each other. Things have just gone really crazy, out of control. ... We're on a very weird kind of cycle." Stevie Wonder

[handyandy]

>Did anyone hear about Exxon/Mobil's 100 BILLION dollar profit

>this year?

 

Jeezus, Jesus, keep your shirt on.

 

It's only a piddling 10 billion (actually 9.7 billion), not 100 billion.

Not even enough to freeze Bill Gates out of a poker game.

Give the poor struggling company a break!

 

;-) :+