Monday, January 30, 2006

Free money for everyone (who owns an oil well)

In the meantime, oil prices are approaching $70 per barrel again. Exxon is turning record profits, and not a record just for the oil industry, but for any company ever in North American history. It wasn't that long ago that Microsoft and Cisco were fighting it out for the company with the biggest market capitalization.

(Did anyone hear about a conference last week in Ottawa, involving Ottawa Mayor Chiarelli, regarding a future energy crisis and how it would affect home heating, transportation, and just about everything? I heard it mentioned on CBC radio news on Saturday, but nothing is showing up on the web since. In fact there is no longer any record of the reporter ever existing. Just kidding, about the reporter, not about the future energy problems)

The Alberta Oil Sands are going to solve all of the United States' energy problems. (Warning, article linked contains cliches about Canada. What? There's somewhere even further north than Montana?) The article includes discussion with T. Boone Pickens, an energy expert (ie. oil expert) from Texas who was quoted about 2 years ago saying that Saudi Arabia's oil fields are on the decline, regardless of what the royal family is announcing.

The article ended with an ironic twist, whether intentional or not, by comparing traditional oil wells to the locomotive.

"The wells are still pumping but they belong to the past, like the iron horse that once rode across these prairies."

Train transportation may not be so antiquated after all.

Darren J 1/30/2006 05:18:00 p.m.

3 Comments:

Too bad so many former train routes have had the tracks ripped out.
railbeds - perfect for bike trails across the land!
I didn't know they actually removed the tracks. Why would they need to do that, unless they were interested in reusing the tracks?

Even if there are bike trails on the tracks, like the West Toronto Rail Path or the Rails to Trails program in the US, I would have thought there would be enough clearance along side for a couple cyclists. On the web site for the West Toronto Rail Path it says that it won't interfere with the planned rail link to the airport. Of course that may just be specific to this one path.

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