Russell says:

Believe it or not, I just got a call from a Gingrich staff member asking me to make a donation to him so that he could take his new bill on energy to Congress. For a donation of $100 or $200 you will receive an autographed copy of his new book and a bumper sticker. What a snake oil salesman. After watching this video I was thinking he might be an alright guy, but he’s just a politician. I guess if you can’t get your payoffs from the oil companies then you should get them because of the oil companies.

ArianeB says:

Newt Gingrich is an IDIOT!!!!

1. The US uses 20 million barrels a day, our “Strategic Reserves” is 800 million barrels

Do the math people thats 40 days of reserves!! Once we use it, its GONE!! The strategic reserves will only be used by the military or emergency services. Using the strategic reserves to lower the price of gas is quite possibly the dumbest suggestion anyone can make.

2. As soon as anyone mentions “Shale Oil” I immediately know that person is an idiot. Bottom line it is impossible to get the oil out of the shale without expending more energy to extract it than you get from the resulting oil you produce. It is what we call the EROI problem (energy return over input) and any EROI less than 1 is completely worthless.

By the way it is not illegal, Exxon is trying it on an experimental basis, but is not very hopeful.

The oil off the coast of Brazil is currently unproven reserves. A couple of successful wildcat wells have been drilled, and some are speculating that there is a huge pool in between the wells, but no one has proven it yet. And btw it is Brazil that says whether people can drill there.

All of the other places he mentioned have environmental or economic concerns that may prevent exploration.

3. The only one that makes sense is this point, but it relies on technological advancements that may or may not ever come to be. All forms of ethanol and biofuel either eat up resources we need for food, or are highly experimental. (The only one that shows promise is Algae based biofuel, but that is the experimental one)

Hydrogen has an EROI below 1, and because it is significantly more volatile than gasoline, we have no really safe way to transport it.

The proven technologies are solar, wind, geothermal, and nuclear. They produce electricity, not fuel. Luckily electric engines are more efficient than internal combustion engines (just look at trains, they run on electricity — with diesel powered generators that can be replaced with electrified rails).

JPV says:

The real reason that oil, and other commodities, are so expensive is that the dollar has lost HALF IT’S VALUE since the year 2000.

Why is this not being talked about?

And drilling for more oil won’t solve the problem. We aren’t having a supply issues. I have yet to see lines at any gas stations.

Malcolm says:

Most of this is BS and wishful thinking.
1. Shale oil is still too expensive to get.
2. If offshore drilling were given the greenlight tomorrow it would be AT LEAST a decade before the first drop hit the mainland.
3. The strategic reserve is there for a reason. NOT to teach some speculators (good Republicans all) a lesson. At best a factor in the market for one quarter.

Newt is slimy, short sighted and wrong.

MikeN says:

#5, the oil rigs in the Gulf are where the shrimp fishers go in Louisiana.

MikeN says:

Even if it takes 10 years to get the oil out, with the futures markets, the prices would drop right away.

Earl says:

For anybody that’s really interested in the topic of energy consumption, I would recommend reading “Beyond Oil and Gas: The Methanol Economy” by nobel prize winner George Olah, and “Consuming Power: A Social History of American Energies” by David Nye.

Olah gives a pretty thorough overview of both conventional and alternative energy sources, including reserves, potential capacities, and economics, before going into a detailed account of his proposed methanol economy.

Nye’s book is kind of a painful read, but I think it makes some valid points about the nature of our energy usage and the mechanics of transitioning between energy sources.

Jim in Seattle says:

Jagermeister>> It does no one any good for Greenspan to shoot off his mouth and undermine any and all work that Bernanke is TRYING to accomplish as Fed chairman. Paul Volker didn’t run around blabbering when Greenspan took his chair because he knew better. As for being “lied” to, markets are based a lot on “perception”— you talk a lot about bad news, the markets are going to respond. The rise in oil prices is based on speculation which is based on the safety of supply—-so when one nut case shoots a few oil workers in Africa, the specs go crazy and bid up the price.

juwain says:

Perhaps we need government “interference” in the market by requiring that a randomly-chosen 50% of oil futures buyers to accept delivery on property they own, like: “you gotta tank, Mister, or should we just pump this crude into your swimming pool?”