Saudi minister slams costly alternatives to oil

[beltman713]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N07231749.htm

Saudi minister slams costly alternatives to oil

HOUSTON, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Mandating costly alternatives to oil in the name of a cleaner environment could impoverish people and lower living standards, the Saudi Arabian oil minister said on Tuesday.

"I believe that we should not impoverish people in the name of a cleaner environment," Saudi Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi told an energy conference. "Lowering living standards, or limiting peoples' ability to rise out of poverty, in order to improve the environment trades one potential health hazard for another."

He said that would be the result of asking consumers to give up oil for a less efficient and more costly alternative fuel that would otherwise be uneconomical.

Naimi's comments came a few days after U.S. President George W. Bush said America was addicted to Middle Eastern oil. He also committed to raising alternative energy funding by 22 percent for clean coal, wind and solar power, ethanol, and fuel cells.

[beltman713]

This dick is only worried about his standard of living being lowered.

[Gold9472]

This dick is only worried about his standard of living being lowered.

Is it that obvious?

[beltman713]

Yes.

[jetsetlemming]

Why would a saudi government official even bother trying to say something like this? Do they actually think people will listen to him about this?

[jetsetlemming]

I'd more likely trust Bill Gate's opinion on Macs.

[Gold9472]

Exxon: America will always rely on foreign oil
Executive says energy independence is ‘simply not feasible’

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11221159/

Updated: 4:01 p.m. ET Feb. 7, 2006

HOUSTON - The United States will always rely on foreign imports of oil to feed its energy needs and should stop trying to become energy independent, a top Exxon Mobil Corp. executive said on Tuesday.

“Realistically, it is simply not feasible in any time period relevant to our discussion today,” Exxon Mobil Senior Vice President Stuart McGill said, referring to what he called the “misperception” that the United States can achieve energy independence.

The comments, in a speech at an energy conference in Houston, come a few days after U.S. President George W. Bush declared America was addicted to Middle Eastern oil and promised to help the country kick the habit.

Many in the United States believe America should wean itself off oil imports from the Middle East, fearing it makes the country dangerously dependent on an unstable region.

The world’s largest publicly traded oil company, however, says hoping to end foreign oil imports is not only a bad idea, but also impossible.

“Americans depend upon imports to fill the gap,” McGill said. “No combination of conservation measures, alternative energy sources and technological advances could realistically and economically provide a way to completely replace those imports in the short or medium term.”

Instead of trying to achieve energy independence, importing nations like the U.S. should be promoting energy interdependence, McGill said.

“Because we are all contributing to and drawing from the same pool of oil, all nations — exporting and importing — are inextricably bound to one another in the energy marketplace,” he said.

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