# Mild Fossil Fuel Rant

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mild-fossil-fuel-rant/342390>\
**Category:** The BBQ Pit\
**Created:** [January 31, 2006, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mild-fossil-fuel-rant/342390 "2006-01-31T19:00:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\
**Post date:** [February 3, 2006, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mild-fossil-fuel-rant/342390/21 "2006-02-03T03:59:08Z")

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> [@Kimstu](#):
>
> Nah, I don’t think that argument’s really gonna fly with the public.

Nor should it. In fact, it’s pretty annoying hearing it from your customer and supplier who’s raising the price on what they sell you to make their product, but won’t let you raise your price when you sell it back to them.

However, I hold the federal government equal as causing record oil company profits. If, instead of flooding crude oil into the market, they’d incentivize the building of new refining capacity in the US (preferably somewhere _not_ in LA or TX), that could actually affect consumers’ gas prices.

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**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\
**Post date:** [February 3, 2006, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mild-fossil-fuel-rant/342390/22 "2006-02-03T04:01:49Z")

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Good God. I actually used “incentivize” as though it were a real word.

Corporate life has finally eaten my soul, alas. ☹

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**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\
**Post date:** [February 3, 2006, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mild-fossil-fuel-rant/342390/23 "2006-02-03T12:57:44Z")

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> [@Kimstu](#):
>
> However, they can’t expect that position to endear them to the average US oil consumer. “Hey folks, we’re simply reaping the obscene profits that naturally result from the supremely uncompetitive market that we’ve managed to achieve for our product. Since we have you, our captive market, over a barrel (yuk yuk), it would be simply incompetent of us to refrain from screwing you as hard as we can. You wouldn’t want us to be incompetent, would you?”
> 
> Nah, I don’t think that argument’s really gonna fly with the public.

Not that the public is aware of it, nor would be able to do anything about it if they did.

Instead of being informed, John Q. Public prefers to be drunk on cheap beer that tastes like piss, & watch TV programs that make _The Gong Show_ look like clever, intellectual fare by contrast.

And _nobody_ in Government or the private sector has a vested intrest in changing things.

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