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News today on BP oil
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government banned BP Plc on Wednesday from new federal contracts over its "lack of business integrity" in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, possibly imperiling the company's role as a top U.S. offshore oil and gas producer and the No. 1 military fuel supplier.

The suspension, announced by the Environmental Protection Agency, comes on the heels of BP's November 15 agreement with the U.S. government to plead guilty to criminal misconduct in the Gulf of Mexico disaster, the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history. The British energy giant agreed to pay $4.5 billion in penalties, including a record $1.256 billion criminal fine.

BP and its affiliates are barred from new federal contracts until they demonstrate they can meet federal business standards, the EPA said. The suspension is "standard practice" and BP's existing U.S. government contracts are not affected, it said.

The EPA acted hours before a government auction of offshore tracts in the Gulf of Mexico, a region where BP is the largest investor and lease-holder of deep-water tracts and hopes for further growth. BP is also the top fuel supplier to the U.S. military, the largest single buyer of oil in the world.

smkettner wrote:
Most EV charging will be at home. For myself it must be over 98%.

Public charging will have its place but we will not need a "fueling station" except on a main highway out of town. The rest can be at the distination such as work, grocery, library, amusment park, movie house etc. It is different with an EV in that you are not always looking for a fill up like a gasoline vehicle. Just need enough to get to the next stop and then home for a full charge overnight.

Gasoline is not going to dissappear anytime soon. The real advantage for the country for supporting EVs is using domestic energy. Just imagine a world where we could care less what OPEC does. The same impact will come from large and long distance transportation powered by domestic natural gas.

This is a REAL issue with a solution. You do not have to participate but try not to discourage those that do.

X2

When we drive long distances on the Federal Interstate highway system we are taking advantage of an opportunity provided by taxpayers in generations past. why not extend the same to EVs?

Selling solar power wholesale to a utility that already has plenty of other sources is probably fruitless. Especially now with the reduced demand for electricity. I wonder how much of that reduced demand is from the subsidized CFL lamps?

I look forward to the day when we are awash in our own oil because EVs have helped eliminate the need to import. Then with gas under $1 it will be hard to justify the EVs that created the situation.

OTOH avoiding the retail cost of purchasing the electricity has merit. OK I know solar installations are also subsidized. I might be wrong but I think most solar is being installed on homes and businesses to avoid the retail cost and less solar creating central electric power to sell to the utility for distribution.

Should we also eliminate the home mortgage subsidy? Not to go off topic but just to present one of many examples that has outlived the purpose IMO. I can't say how happy I was when the subsidy of tobacco farmers was finally ended some years ago. I wonder what subsidy was more....

Solar panels provide the electric for the charging stations so the energy comes from the sun.

Not to sound negative, but do you know that the return on investment of solar energy at today's technology level is extremely high and it is the most expensive form of energy out there. These are just simple facts that need to be taken into consideration, The idea is fostered and some obviously believe that solar and wind energy are free. To put it simply, if you spend a $ million dollars worth of solar panels and sell it all back to the power company, they money you get back doesn't begin to pay for the interest in the $ million. If it did, they would be everywhere and not going bankrupt. This even becomes less effective in an application like a public generation station, when you must buy expensive power storage equipment (batteries or others. Realities can be troubling.

Lots and lots of things are subsidized through the tax laws and direct spending. Some better than others. Some continue long after the need or purpose has expired.

I believe the primary "subsidy" to Tesla and Nissan are loans that are to be repaid.

Plenty of vehicles come with freebies. The beauty of an electric vehicle is that the energy is so inexpensive Tesla is building a network for when the vehicles travel a long distance from home. Solar panels provide the electric for the charging stations so the energy comes from the sun. Again I believe most charging will be done at home. Nissan is considering a free gasoline loaner car to EV owners for long trips.

I also believe the jumpstart the government has given electric vehicles is research. The EVs will improve each year that they are in production. Even the 2013 LEAF is rumored to have 10% better range for the Smyrna plant in TN where they will be built. Thats jobs for Americans BTW.

Toyota RAV4 is also available in CA and has almost twice the range as LEAF for those interested.

smkettner wrote:
You do not have to participate but try not to discourage those that do.

I really like that statement. I work with a lot of wonderful people but I'm not surprised by some of the same people who over and over exhibit negative attitudes almost every time I have interactions with them. I don't know why, but I choose to see the glass half full and go from there.

Fuel prices today in Bonney Lake WA, Gasoline $3.01 at Fred Meyer and Diesel was $3.53.

And I'm heading out in the morning with my diesel pickup and truck camper for winter camping on the east side of the Cascades. Hans

Very discouraging to hear somebody say, soon, I will be able to travel coast to coast for free. There is no free lunch. Public charging stations cost about $6500 (in my town) the power lines have to be run, the electricity cost money, they have to be kept up. The cars themselves get subsidies. The companies that make them get subsidies. There is no such thing as free. How can people think that what might be free to them isn't really free, but heavily taxpayer subsidized. If we have subsidized research rather than billions on things that can not survive without taxpayer subsidies, we would be much further down the road.

I will quit discouraging those who support EVs when THEY pay for its non-campitalist development. I'm sick and tired of having my taxes go into DreamWorld, where Solar, Wind and EVs suck billions and produce squat.

Thank you, taxpayers, for helping me pay for a solar room I added on the back of my home in the '80s, if I recall right. It made a great container for our spa, and good ol' gov' gave me a $4000 tax credit.

After all the wasted tax dollars, we still can't find someone to sell and install a solar hot water heater here in Colorado, where we have 300 days of sunshine every year without hiring a PI.

Guess I could go to Europe where they actually use solar.

In the last year and 10k miles of daily local electric driving, I've done all of my charging at home. I get home, I plug in, it's full when I leave in the morning. I drive my 35-40 daily miles, and plug in again at night. repeat.

When I need to go further than my car can go, I drive my van. No big deal.

Your question about what the gas stations will do is a good one, and part of the reason why EV's are being fought so hard.

It is nice though, I no longer really worry about gas prices (bringing it back to the topic :) ) since I only fill with gasoline on vacations.