Drill Baby drill...oh shoot...

I'd love to think that if any good came out of the oil spill in the Gulf it might be someone will finally tell Sarah Palin to shut up and go home.

Drilling for more oil is not the short or long term solution to America's energy problems.

The technological marvel that is deepwater drilling is showing the dangerous side. If things go catastrophically wrong, there is pretty much nothing we can do about it quickly enough to stop massive environmental disasters.

President Obama correctly put other deepwater well's on hold until more is found out about what happened to cause this disaster and what can be done to prevent future ones.

Even if there is only a 1/10000th chance of this sort of thing happening again, can we risk it for the miniscule gain?

Don't kid yourselves, we cannot raise domestic production to levels that will make a difference. We can't drill fast enough to have any real effect on gas prices. The kicker is too, we have limited (and aging) refinery space to handle any new oil coming in. (This is a bottleneck that frequently drives up the price of oil.)

Oil is necessary, we aren't getting away from it anytime soon. But, if we keep feeding our addiction for little gain (except the pockets of large corporations) no real change is going to happen.

We MUST invest heavily in alternative fuel sources while creating incentives for people to carpool, use mass transit, or buy highly efficient small commuter vehicles.

Change is hard. But it must happen.

More thoughts on the state of things.

Continuing on from yesterday's ramblings, its just frustrating. Partially, I'm frustrated with Daimler's handling of its Chrysler division. We have some great vehicles on the road. The 300/Charger/Magnum is a solid vehicle. Our minivans are pretty good. The new Caliber and Sebring are fine as well. The Jeep line is, well for people who want a Jeep. You know who you are.

But, even though its been obvious for a number of years now that the price of gas is only going to go higher, they along with other manufacturers, have been slow to realize this. Part of the problem is what I addressed yesterday. People want things that are almost mutually exclusive with today's technology. Also, people don't realize how much their own driving habits effect their gas mileage. But, while this has been going on we've introduced only 2 smaller cars. The Caliber and the Sebring. The Compass by Jeep technically fits into this area as well.

The problem Chrysler now has to overcome, even though they now offer a number of vehicles that get good gas mileage, especially with our "shiftless" CVT transmissions, is of the lumbering truck and SUV builder. This image will be tough to shed. Toyota, which makes a number of large trucks and SUVs that get atrocious gas mileage, is viewed as being a more fuel efficient manufacturer. This is true in that the Corolla, Yaris, Prius, and other cars and small SUVs get great MPG. However, as a whole, their lineup isn't that far ahead of Chrysler's in overall MPG. Part of Chrysler's problem would be the drag down from vehicles in multiple lines. (ie. the Durango/Aspen, the Nitro/Liberty, etc.)

Chrysler, while continuing to look to the future (and hopefully get a hybrid out on the road as well as some clean diesels out there), needs desparately to change their overall image.

This leads me into their global position however. Daimler has done some great things for Chrysler's quality. Our transmissions aren't junk anymore being a big point. But, since their labor costs in the US are so high, many parts are built all over the world, usually by the lowest bidder I would assume. (Or the cheapest labor spots.) This has lead to some quality issues that should have been easily avoided. Sensors have been an issue, often built in Mexico or Eastern Europe. They are not huge problems. But little annoyances are what make people not buy a brand again. I understand globalization, don't get me wrong. BUT, quality has to take precedence over price at some point.

Parts will fail, that is assured. There is no such thing as reaching 100% quality. But even if most of the parts fail under warranty, its still annoying to the customer. They want to drive their car, not sit at the dealership.

This is why I'm so concerned about Chrysler's partnering with a Chinese car company. I'm concerned that in pursuit of profits they will end up shooting themselves in the foot. America can't compete with Chinese labor costs. And, so far, Chinese quality is not that good. That and the fact they are a repressive communist regime with an atrocious human rights record at home and abroad. (Think Darfur...) This is getting long and really rambling. I apologize. But we all need to wake up. Americans need to wake up. DaimlerChrysler needs to wake up. The world is constantly changing I understand. American doesn't provide for itself anymore. We trade with other countries. We do need to remember though, we must produce SOMETHING in order to survive as the nation we are. Everyone can't have a service job. I guess we'll see.

The environment and webcomics

Alright. First, a little frustration to vent. I'm frustrated at rich celebrities, of any stripe, who are suddenly jumping on the "green" bandwagon. I guess I should have stated that I fully support sensible environmental action. Spewing toxins and carbon dioxide into the air is bad. Cutting down too many trees is bad. Over-fishing is bad.

However, I have a problem with many of these people. They buy a Prius, or 'biodegradable' clothes or the newest 'green' appliances. All of that is well and good. BUT! Do you really need a 15,000 square foot home? AND a vacation house?

The response is "I buy carbon credits." As if that somehow makes it ok. What many people, especially wealthier people do not seem to understand about preventing environmental change is that it is going to require a change in lifestyle. A DRASTIC change in lifestyle. We must reduce consumption, not just buy a clean conscience. All that does is push all the real changes off onto the poor people who cannot buy credits.

I am not against credits. Say a singer or movie star or politician has to fly alot for their job. Ok, buy some carbon credits to off-set that. That's great. But, when you go to build a house, build it 'green' yes, but conserve too. I don't care how 'green' a house is built, it'll be a lot more green at 3000 sq ft. than at 15000 sq. ft. All you'll do if you have more space is fill it up with stuff that no matter how energy efficient is going to use energy. It seems the "REDUCE" part of "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" is being forgotten. And that is not good. I'm concerned that being 'green' is becoming so trendy, that it will become just that, a trend, and not have a lasting impact.

I understand that we NEED to change, but we aren't. We're still just consuming and cosuming and consuming. We must consume some to keep the economy going, BUT at what environmental cost? I'll write more some other day.

The other part, webcomics. Ahh, such wonderfulness. (That is now a word.) Check out PvP. (http://www.pvponline.com/) Check out Sheldon. (http://www.sheldoncomics.com/) Check out Starslip Crisis. (http://www.starslip.com/) Check out Schlock Mercenary. (http://www.schlockmercenary.com/) What artistry, what wit, what fun! If you enjoy the funnies, webcomics is where it is at because aside from Get Fuzzy and Pearls Before Swine and maybe one or two others, there ain't much out there. And they are all so heavily censored and I don't just mean cursing. The web is where creativity is completely allowed to roam free. Check these guys out and others. Then, if you like them, buy a book, or a shirt, or an original art piece. These guys are good.