Oil reaches $127.55 a barrel

[Towntalk]

Dennis:

Here's some ammo that you might find useful ... it the transcript for a well documented program on oil.

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0805/17/siu.01.html

[Rick Rowlands]

Dennis,

You may have wonderful ideas and would be an able representative, but if all you do is talk about two issues to the exclusion of all else, the public is not going to believe that you have any other ideas.  I have not read anything that you have posted that did not have the words "green" or "Hagan" in them.  Give it a try sometime and see if you can convince us that you have other ideas or abilities.

Us conservatives chuckle every time a liberal uses the tired old "Rush Limbaugh" defense every time we make a statement that illustrates our point.  If you cannot understand a concept as simple as the relationship between Limbaugh and his audience then I don't hold much hope for your ability to make decisions.

[Towntalk]

Why?Town:

I am well aware of what recycling is thank you ever so much, and I'm also quite aware of the hundreds of reports on smog and air pollution caused by both gasoline and diesel put out both by the EPA and state governments, which I doubt that you have ever taken the time to read.

I've lost track of all the newspaper articles that I have sifted through as I put together my web site on a daily basis, so I am hardly "out of touch with reality" when it comes to this issue.

Just because it isn't the dominent topic that I cover doesn't say that I don't know about it.

As a matter of fact, I had a page up with nothing but articles, reports and links about the environmet, but that page got so few hits that I took it down, and put "green" articles on the National and Economy news pages which get more hits.

And what makes you think that restraunts reuse cooking oil that has already lost its usefulness. For your information health laws require that such oil has to be changed on a regular basis. Would you want to eat food cooked in three day old oil that has been used to fry chicken and other deep fried foods? I hardly think so.

As for "environmental wackos", I'll match your credentials with Irishbobcats any day of the week.

You're certainly entitle to your opinion though, even when you're dead wrong.

[irishbobcat]

Rick:

First, your "general" comments about power sources is something a Rush Limbaigh Dittohead would argue. I would hope you get more info regarding power sources than from Rush.

Second, as a school board member and a principal, I have always been willing to make decisions in the best interests of all of his constituents. I have made decisions that favor labor, but I also have had to make decisions to favor keeping property taxes low for citizens and deny excessive spending that can easily been done as a school board member. I am a board member who realizies that our income is something that can not continue to grow as fast as our expenses do, and I do spend many hours discussing such issues with many people on both sides of the issue to come up with the best plan for our school district. the same can be said on how I help students and parents get the most out their education as possible. I have listened to student and parent concerns, and do at times work with them to overcome a problem even if it may be different than what is prescribed action in a handbook or guidebook.

I believe Bob hagan has done little for this valley and if he didn't have the word Democrat next to his name he would never get re-elected each year. I bring up Green Issues because I believe we must begin to look at them as alternatives to the problems facing our valley and that they can produce answers to some of our problems. Something Bob hagan remains silent on.


I do contribute to Green Issues. i am a member of Treez Pleez, and am working on bringing the Grey to Green Festival to Wick Park this September to show Youngstowners how to make our area greener.

I am sorry if you believe my posts annoy you, but I believe there are progressive liberals out there who are disappointed in the Local Democratic Party who have abandoned them and the poor, working, and middle class of the area, and would like to see a progressive
to face off against Bob hagan who has sold his soul to lobbyists and corporate PACS.

I invite you to attend the next Grey to Green Festival Organizational meeting. And, I do have some conservative fiscal ideas I believe in. Ask my wife when I have a talk with her after she returns from a trip to the mall.

Sincerely,

Dennis Spisak-Green Party Candidate for state representative-60th district

http://votespisak.tripod.com

[Why?Town]

Towntalk,



The use of used fryer oil to power vehicles is called recycling. It's taking a previously used product and using it again. Fryer oil is thick, in order to use it, the vehicle needs to have some modifications done. Some suggest special fuel injectors (prbably the better way but expensive) others add a small fuel tank for dino-diesel and use the main tank for fryer oil after adding a heater to get the viscosity down. You start on the dino-diesel and switch to the fryer oil when the engine warms up.
There are more problems using it at low temps, say below 40 degrees.

The use of fryer oil currently is limited to a small percentage of diesel car drivers, some environmental wackos, college students, etc. Profesional drivers aren't very interested in modifications that can cause headaches and/or downtime.

No restaurant in ther right mind would give this stuff away while it's still usefull to them, so there should be no increased demand for new cooking oil.

you're also somewhat out of touch with diesel reality.   You mention riding "behind an 18 wheeler spewing out diesel exhaust, or for that  matter a city bus". Those engines are HUGE. In the case of busses, too big for the power needed, and in the case of 18 wheelers they are being used to pull large amounts of weight, thus lots of power needed, and lots of fuel to make that needed power. I'm sure I can count on one hand the number of times I've seen black billowing smoke out of one of these the last few years. It used to be pretty common.

If you ever get behind a newer VW with a TDI badge on the trunk, you are following a diesel. you will need to look for that badge because otherwise you will never know you are behind a diesel. you will be folowing a car that gets over 40 MPG easily. That means it's using alot less fuel than almost every other vehicle on the road (even some motorcyles) which is definately a good thing.

[Rick Rowlands]

The only solution that environmentalists would approve of would be for you to kill yourself in the most environmentally friendly manner as possible.   

In their view:
Coal is bad
wood is bad
natural gas is OK but its bad to bring it here from offshore
oil is horrible
nuclear is terrifying
solar is wonderful but not reliable
wind is great, but on second thought windmills kill birds so it is bad

So basically the only solution is death to you and your energy consuming ways.

The more I read Irishbobcat's posts the more I am convinced that he is unfit for public office.  I want a representative who is willing to make decisions in the best interests of all of his constituents, not just the envirowacko fringe. You notice that he has never espoused a solution to any problem that does not involve either impeaching Bob Hagan or investing in green technologies.    I've said it before and I'll say it again, if you love renewable energies so much, then stop waiting for the government to act and invest your own time and money in such a business in the Valley.  I am so sick and tired of people who continue to badger us to do this and do that but will not try to do it themselves.

I am an historic preservationist.  You won't find me here badgering other people to save our local history, but you will find me down on Hubbard Road filthy dirty constructing our little industrial museum with my bare hands.  If you had such committment to green living as I do to local history, then you would make a great contribution to your cause.  And if you were to take an entrepenurial approach to the issue, instead of constantly annoying the 50 or so people who read your posts, I would help you in any way that I could to get the business off the ground.   Contrary to what you may think, I am not against green technologies. 

[jay]

As for alternatives, I'm with Irishbobcat on this one.  Electric cars for local use could be powered by electricity derived from solar panels, wind energy, and hydro.  Also, the same sources of electricity could be used to run a modern trolley transit system.

[Towntalk]

I've seen reports on Geo Thermal heating on "This Old House" and was impressed. Who would have thunk that a gizmo like that could heat a house.

Aside from the initial cost, how much would it cost a home owner to operate per year?

As for coal, what person in their right mind would want to have to shovel coal into a furnace two or three times every day, and do they still make coal furnaces? (A real furnace and not a potbelly stove.) As a kid I remember my father having to go downstairs to shovel coal before going to work, then again when he came home, and finally before he went to bed.

A quick look in the Yellow Pages shows only one retail coal dealer.

As for wood, ooooooooooh now you're stepping on the toes of the environmentalist tree huggers.

When it comes to electric, would you support building new nuclear power plants? The balk of our power plants use coal and the environmentalists hate this with a passion.

As for heating oil, is it being impacted the way other oils are?

[Towntalk]

Three of those fuels are already being used:

Diesel
Ethanol
Electric

Granted their being used to a very limited degree and the price of the cars is higher than with gas driven cars.

Also, at some gas pumps you can already get gas that is blended with ethanol.

As for diesel, remember that it is oil, and a contributer to air pollution. Have you ever driven behind an 18 wheeler spewing out diesel exhaust, or for that  matter a city bus?  There are days when the stench is more than a body can stand. Too bad they don't bring back streetcars, at least they didn't spew out stomach turning exaust.

[jay]

Take home heating for example.  This is a short list of home heating options.

Natural Gas
Propane
Fuel Oil
Electric
Geo Thermal
Coal
Wood

Developing a range of alternative fuels for cars has to start.  Right now almost every car runs on gasoline.  What if our options in the next few years included this list.

Gasoline
Waste Cooking Oils
Ethanol
Diesel
Electric
Hydrogen

As more alternative fuels are developed, the demand for gasoline will decrease.

[Towntalk]

My big problem is that one day we hear "experts" on one side voice their views, and the next "experts" on the other side debunking the view.

Now I certainly know that both sides have their paid lobbyists, and a whale of a lot of propaganda coming from both sides that we have to wade through. Who is right and who is wrong? That is the dilemma that we have to deal with.

Is there a crisis? Certainly there is, and judging from what we are hearing from the environmentalists, time is not on our side. Consider what Al Gore keeps telling us.

Then we have to deal with Wall Street speculators who are dancing on the floor of the NYSE every time oil prices go up. They would be bloody fools if they pushed for alternatives to oil that would impact their bottom line.

Congress has held dozens of hearings on the energy crisis but what has come out of those hearings? Absolutely nothing of any consequence.

Then there is the question about our representatives to Congress. They could take to the floor in Special Orders and rattle on for hours, presenting very convincing arguments, but they are in no position to bring legislation to committee much less onto the floor.

The bigger question is how much contact do they have with the lobbyists that are the real authors of energy legislation.

We know that during Special Orders the only legislators that are on the floor are those who are doing the speaking, and the C-SPAN cameras, so who is really listening to their arguments? The Special Orders are published in the Congressional record, but just how many Congressmen or their staffs bother to even flip through the Record other than to pull out what their bosses had to say.

[irishbobcat]

Towntalk:

I understand your concern about the issue of quantity having an immediate impact on gas prices. I do not have that answer. But I do know we have to start somewhere, and we have to start small.

Rome wasn't built in a day. We can't solve the rising gas prices in a day. But we can start somewhere small and try to start as soon as possible.

Remember when VCR players were $1,000 or more at first, same as DVD players...which you can know get for what....$59 dollars?

The same can be said about this process. It may take time....but if we are truely committed to trying to reduce our energy consumption on gas and oil, we need to start somewhere sometime soon.

Dennis Spisak

At least we are talking about it. Have you heard Tim Ryan, Wilson, Cafaro, Boccheri, Hagan, Gerberry, Harwood, or Letson talking about it?

[Towntalk]

Theres still the question of quantity. How many barrels of veggie oil can be produced per day? Remember the U.S. alone uses millions of barrels of oil per day. If we have to limit the veggie oil used in Asian eateries as opposed to McDonald's, just how many barrels of oil would be available.

If only a small minority of the driving public can avail themselves of this product how would that drive down the price of oil?

An 18 wheeler uses a huge amount of diesel fuel per trip and when you take into account the number of 18 wheelers that traverse our highways per day would not they alone use up most of the veggie oil fuel assuming that it was made available at truck stops? And where would that leave car drivers?

[irishbobcat]

What I am suggesting is what is written in the article I posted:

Piper Avolikita, of Athens, Ohio converted his first car to run on used cooking oil several years ago. "I'm very happy with it. The car runs good, it doesn't produce any toxic fumes; I have my grease connections that will supply me with grease for as long as I want, so I'm not planning on changing any time soon." He and Myers get their oil free, from area restaurants that otherwise would pay someone to haul away their used cooking oil. "You want the non-hydrogenated oil," says Avolikita, "so generally you don't want fast food. Health food or Chinese food restaurants are generally the best, just like eating fast food, you car does not like the bad oil. It might have a heart attack."

These two have banded together with other veggie vehicle owners in Athens and come up with a cooperative approach to filtering the oil for their cars. They take part in a grease co-op at Ohio University's Ecohouse. It works on the honor system. Members can drop off say 5 gallons of oil and fill up on 5 gallons that has been run through a filtration system. "Otherwise you have to do it yourself, you have to pour it through filters, grease gets everywhere, this system's really clean, it works really well," claims Avolikita.

People are visiting these eateries anyway. If they are willing to let people take the oil away free then the eateries save money and could either lower prices or pay higher wages.

Plus, if we could get people to buy a store front or old gas station and put this filtering system they could maybe charge a $1 a gallon to sell the veggie fuel.....

Just trying to think outside the box.....

Dennis Spisak

[Towntalk]

Here is another drawback about recycling cooking oil for car fuel:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/booster_shots/2008/05/what-shall-we-b.html

Are you suggesting that in order to have enough cooking oil to feed into the system that we should patronize greasy spoon eateries so that they use up more cooking oil thus contributing to the problem of more people getting fat, and as the above article suggests, contributing to global warming, and more illnesses due to their weight problem?

How would you propose solving this sticky problem?