I have been hearing clips apparently from the debates of Zero and Rmoney talking about “energy independence” for the US, to wean us from “foreign oil”. Each side emphasizing that they have a “cunning plan” to magically remove the United States from the global oil market.

Both sides are piling up a large steaming pile of manure – not the composted and dried version that you mix with your garden soil, but the fresh, fragrant, plops that you shovel out of the barn.

Drilling for more oil in the US will never make us energy independent, because it is sold on the world market. The oil coming out of the oil fields of the North Slope of Alaska is all sent to Asia. The recent increase in oil production in the US is being refined and the end products are going to Europe. The diluted bitumen that they want to transport in the Keystone XL pipeline will also go to Europe where the prices are higher.

The only way the US can achieve ‘energy independence’ is by nationalizing the oil business, and that isn’t going to happen. This is just another fake concern created by the oil industry to give it access to more Federal lands to plunder and pollute for private profits.

Position: 23.0N 51.8W [10PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: North [355°] near 9 mph [15 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 35 mph [ 55 kph].
Wind Gusts: 50 mph [ 80 kph].
Minimum central pressure: 1006 mb.

Currently about 765 miles [1235 km] Northeast of the Leeward Islands.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]

Position: 12.7N 78.6W [10PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: Stationary.
Maximum sustained winds: 45 mph [ 75 kph].
Wind Gusts: 55 mph [ 90 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 70 miles [110 km].
Minimum central pressure: 998 mb ↓.

Currently about 385 miles [ 620 km] South-Southwest of Kingston, Jamaica.

A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for Jamaica and Haiti.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]