happycajun

U.S. Policies, Especially Energy, Should Be Much More Strategic

Hi Alan, I met Matt several years ago when he was on the board of Kerr-McGee. As you & I have both personally experienced, the "oil patch" suffered a great depression between 1985 and 2000 that makes the current general economic setback look like a mere correction. More than half of the oil & gas professional population permanently left the industry, and the university programs in petroleum geology and petroleum engineering were decimated. Only recently have Pet E programs started to garner interest from folks other than South American and Middle Eastern nationals who intend to return to their homelands for a career. I know a number of physicians and attorneys who have degrees in petroleum engineering and geology from the late 1980's.

Jimbo - doublegun answered you question quite well - I don't trust government to allocate funds efficiently. Never have and never will. When it comes to "incentives" I prefer some form of tax credit or special deduction which prevents the funds from flowing through the politician's sticky fingers. I also firmly believe that "incentives" should be a catalyst that facilitates some initial resistance then goes away. If the economics are terminally bad - then as my daughter would say - DOHHH let's not do it! If the economics WILL be there once the inertia is overcome to get things rolling, then MAYBE an incentive is a good idea. Many have seemed to confuse incentive and subsidy (or as we used to say a HANDOUT).

U.S. Policies, Especially Energy, Should Be Much More Strategic

Son, you are clueless if you consider slapping a tax on any commodity a "strategic" step. At best, such a move would be considered tactical, albeit foolish. At bottom, energy is a component of all production. To the extent that a tax is placed on a form of energy, that tax becomes a part of the cost of production. Because other players in a global economy (the Chinese?) do not add this element of cost into their cost of production, they have an advantage. At the moment, the supply of oil and natural gas is more than adequate, but the US economy is in a major recession. NOW, you advocate the brilliant STRATEGIC step of slapping a major tax on a fundamental commodity? Nice "strategic" plan ace.