this post was submitted on 20 Dec 2023
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As the world grapples with the existential crisis of climate change, environmental activists want President Joe Biden to phase out the oil industry, and Republicans argue he’s already doing that. Meanwhile, the surprising reality is the United States is pumping oil at a blistering pace and is on track to produce more oil than any country has in history.

The United States is set to produce a global record of 13.3 million barrels per day of crude and condensate during the fourth quarter of this year, according to a report published Tuesday by S&P Global Commodity Insights.

Last month, weekly US oil production hit 13.2 million barrels per day, according to the US Energy Information Administration. That’s just above the Donald Trump-era record of 13.1 million set in early 2020 just before the Covid-19 crisis sent output and prices crashing.

That’s been helping to keep a lid on crude and gasoline prices.

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[–] seaQueue@lemmy.world 90 points 11 months ago (3 children)

The planet isn't going to warm itself you know

[–] Franzia@lemmy.blahaj.zone 29 points 11 months ago

If you're cold, they're cold (picture of icebergs)

[–] Maeve@kbin.social 7 points 11 months ago
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[–] NounsAndWords@lemmy.world 57 points 11 months ago (2 children)

I hate this fucking country sometimes.

[–] BossDj@lemm.ee 14 points 11 months ago (1 children)

There was a hot minute where the propagandist narrative was that we needed to pump more oil to achieve "energy independence" despite the US already exporting, since that's where the money was made

[–] prole@sh.itjust.works 5 points 11 months ago (1 children)

It doesn't help when people blame the president if gas prices go up.

[–] Daft_ish@lemmy.world 3 points 11 months ago (3 children)

I thought we were suppose to let the free market decide. I guess the president isn't government?

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[–] gregorum@lemm.ee 33 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (6 children)

only ~9% of passenger cars in the US are EVs. so, as much as people may wish that oil production would suddenly just stop, it'll be around as long as demand is, and unless you want to pay $5+/gallon again while hearing people screech "ThAnkS BidEN!11!!!", well, this is what you get.

don't blame him, blame people buying ICEs and EV manufacturers charging so much for them.

[–] _number8_@lemmy.world 42 points 11 months ago (4 children)

mandate WFH wherever possible, institute generous EV tax rebates, etc etc

[–] Earthwormjim91@lemmy.world 26 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (2 children)

That takes care of a small fraction of oil.

Plastics production makes up ~45% of all petroleum production.

Then you have shipping. Aircraft. Trucking. Then you have passenger vehicles.

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[–] Uranium3006@kbin.social 13 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Calculate the difference in what it costs to maintain the highway system and what is brought in by the gas tax, and then charge that amount of money to every employer but offer them a tax credit that offsets this new tax if they can prove their Worker Works from home at least 90% of the time, and there will be Financial incentives for employees to report their employers for violating this rule

[–] billiam0202@lemmy.world 6 points 11 months ago

And they'll absolutely eat that cost while mandating "reTURN to OFficE oR else!" if the amount they'd lose in real estate is greater than the amount they'd be charged.

[–] gregorum@lemm.ee 12 points 11 months ago (1 children)

yes, there are things congress could do to greatly improve the situation, but that takes time. and, ya know, congress not wasting all their time trying to expel and elect another speaker or trying to distract the country from the Trump show with their own Biden revenge impeachment and actually doing their jobs.

as a side note, tax rebates are not very helpful when people need to wait until the end of the year (or the middle of the next) for their savings. why not instant tax rebates/saving at the time of purchase?

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[–] AlexWIWA@lemmy.ml 8 points 11 months ago (1 children)

The air in my area was so clean during that first month of covid. Traffic would also be a lot better for blue collar people if all the office workers weren't fighting them for road space.

[–] gregorum@lemm.ee 4 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

in NYC, New York Harbor and the East and Hudson Rivers got so clean that Humpback whales and dolphins came swimming up the rivers again for the first time in almost a century. it was awesome!

unfortunately, so did the sharks around Coney Island and Rockaway Beach, lmao

[–] not_that_guy05@lemmy.world 19 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (3 children)

Oil production will not stop until we have alternatives to other items oils helps produce. I.e. plastics, latex, etc.

Edit: all of you saying it comes from trees might want to check again. Synthetic rubber is used as it can prevent allergic reactions from the natural protein of the plant. Also synthetic rubber is used a little more than natural rubber.

link

[–] girlfreddy@lemmy.ca 5 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Latex is produced from rubber trees, not petroleum.

[–] not_that_guy05@lemmy.world 3 points 11 months ago (1 children)

You might want to check again. Synthetic rubber is used a little more than natural rubber.

stats

[–] NewEnglandBlueberry@lemmy.ca 5 points 11 months ago

Synthetic rubber and latex are different things. Your sentiment isn't wrong, just that specific example.

[–] reddig33@lemmy.world 5 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

A huge chunk of plastics come from natural gas, not oil. Latex comes from a tree. As does natural rubber, which some tire manufacturers are returning to.

[–] skillissuer@discuss.tchncs.de 5 points 11 months ago

PE, PP, PVC, polyacrylonitrile, butadiene rubber can come either from gas or oil, but oil can be more convenient. PS, nylons, PET, polycarbonates, epoxy resins, PMMA, phenolic resins require components derived from oil

[–] gregorum@lemm.ee 3 points 11 months ago

this is a more specific extension of what i was talking about, but that amount of oil used for that dwarfs in comparison to the amount burned as fule and isn't nearly as destructive to the environment.

but you're not wrong.

[–] AlexWIWA@lemmy.ml 15 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Personal passenger EVs won't do much to dent global climate change. Gotta build mass transit and rail shipping, and clean up the electricity grid.

Carnival Cruises (63 ships) emits as much as 300,000,000 cars, and electricity generation and shipping are even more insane. All transportation combined is only 27% of our emissions. And EVs still need a lot of oil for tires and asphalt.

EVs are definitely better than ICE, especially for local air quality, but for global climate they're like deleting a text file to clear up hard drive space, instead of looking at the 400GB rip of LOTR.

[–] gregorum@lemm.ee 7 points 11 months ago (3 children)

No one single thing is gonna make the difference. It’s really the combination of everything together sustained overtime. I mean, you’re not wrong, but it’s really everything working together that’s gonna be the trick.

[–] AlexWIWA@lemmy.ml 4 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I agree. My bad I took your comment as that being the only thing we need to do. Apologies

[–] gregorum@lemm.ee 5 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Yeah, no, it’s fine. I was just speaking within the context of why ramping up oil production in the US is important to the administration, for the sake of offsetting increasing costs from organizations, such as OPEC. If you recall, people in this country have been screaming about gas prices, and blaming Biden for it. Well, it shouldn’t be a surprise that he actually did something about it.

[–] AlexWIWA@lemmy.ml 3 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Ah nah sorry I don't recall. I've intentionally cut myself off the news and most social media. It's made me happier but it can bite me in the ass, like in this thread 😅

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[–] queermunist@lemmy.ml 7 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (8 children)

We're all going to die lmao

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[–] AA5B@lemmy.world 5 points 11 months ago

people may wish that oil production would suddenly just stop

Given the massive size of related industries and dependencies, “sudden” was never on the table. However we should be ramping down. The industry should already know that long term investments such as new pipelines will never pay off.

Gasoline/oil should be getting more expensive, or we’re doing it wrong. The best incentive to figuring out how to switch to options kinder to our environment, is higher prices with the promise of more increases. That doesn’t only apply to gasoline/oil, but heating oil, jet fuel, deisel for farming, construction and heavy trucks, marine deisel, plastics of all types, etc. Holding these prices low may help the economy in the short term but means we’re not going to switch to better choices and the impact will be more serious when it finally hits

[–] reddig33@lemmy.world 4 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Ten percent is still a nice chunk. Especially for just getting started. Add in hybrids to that, and it’s even better.

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[–] agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works 24 points 11 months ago

But the caterpillar was still hungry

[–] Sabre363@sh.itjust.works 16 points 11 months ago (1 children)

How else are we supposed to save the planet from the horrors of green energy and renewable resources

[–] Bob_Robertson_IX@lemmy.world 6 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

No, this is actually a good thing for the environment because this way we'll hit 'peak oil' sooner and the world will be forced to look for energy elsewhere.

/S

[–] randon31415@lemmy.world 13 points 11 months ago

Yet Trump wants to send US troops to Saudi to protect their oil fields because he still remembers the 70s oil embargo.

[–] jordanlund@lemmy.world 11 points 11 months ago (4 children)

"Last month, weekly US oil production hit 13.2 million barrels per day, according to the US Energy Information Administration. That’s just above the Donald Trump-era record of 13.1 million set in early 2020 just before the Covid-19 crisis sent output and prices crashing. "

Sounds like a lot... until you realize we burn over 20 million barrels per day, and the 13 million figure isn't all reserved for domestic use, just under 10 million per day is exported.

https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/us-crude-output-rise-by-less-than-previously-forecast-2023-eia-2023-11-07/

https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=727&t=6

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[–] OldWoodFrame@lemm.ee 8 points 11 months ago

I watched a TED Talk in 2008 that said the US is the Saudi Arabia of nega-barrels, and we could build efficiencies like lighter cars that would reduce our dependence on foreign oil.

Instead we fracked our way to being the Saudi Arabia of normal oil and Saudi Arabia bought golf. I feel like Al Gore got monkey paw'd.

[–] Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world 8 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Most climate-friendly president ever.

[–] agitatedpotato@lemmy.world 11 points 11 months ago (6 children)

That was never intended to be true, same with the most progressive president line. They just know that no one can call him out on it because they'll just be drowned out by people who are terrified of Trump.

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[–] krakenx@lemmy.world 4 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

What should he be doing instead? If he somehow had the legal authority to make companies cut production in the US, gas prices would increase drastically, the price of everything made with oil or transported with oil (which is basically everything) would spike, and consumption wouldn't even go down much.

What needs to happen is to have an alternative to oil first, and Biden's infrastructure bill was a big step in that direction, at least compared to every other president before him.

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[–] june@lemmy.world 7 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Feels like stockpiling for wartime…

[–] SCB@lemmy.world 3 points 11 months ago (15 children)

The US is the world's largest exporter of oil. There's no "stocking up"

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[–] AlexWIWA@lemmy.ml 6 points 11 months ago

Burning the world so that some random bums can be the richest man in their town of 10,000 people.

[–] pan_troglodytes@programming.dev 5 points 11 months ago

gotta pump those numbers up I guess?

[–] gogogadgetfork@lemmy.world 5 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I know the tech is still developing and yet I feel like there's a conspiracy to put out bad EVs too

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[–] DemocracyForUSA 4 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Guns and oil. Fuck yeah 👍

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