First, I only read done to this post and may not get the chance to get back to it for sometime. So of you might understand my current situation and realize why I might have limited time to frequent the forum.

Second, America is a bit different from many countries in that it is very common to live extremely far from locations that you need to travel to on a daily basis. Therefore gas prices will affect you whether you use privately owned or public transportation. Those who live within reasonable distances often due get up off their "arse". Edit - I also meant to say that I never complain about gas prices. I don't feel the right to when I chose my two prime vehicles that usually get under 20 miles per gallon (especially the way I drive). The car I owned that I gave to my daughter was an economy car and I drove that for 13 years. I may buy a motorcyle in a year or so and that will be my economy car then. For now I am saving so much money not driving my vehicle. Especially how much and how I drove it. I assume nobody needs to see the pictures again (even though I love to post them)!

Third, it's unfortunate that your comments about nature are probably not satire. Drilling in Alaska, specifically the arctic tundra, does nothing to "destroy nature" unless your definition is so liberal as to consider digging a hole in your yard the same. In fact it has been shown that arctic wildlife will often flourish. For example, elk will come near pipelines due to the warmth they offer. However, this is a "Wildlife Refuge" so drilling in desolate tundra areas is evil. I've always found it amusing that media reports so often show pictures of sprawling forests and cute animals frolicking when telling stories about this debate instead of the actual desolate areas this drilling will take place in.

Hell, this isn't a debate for most people in Alaska. They're probably pissed it's taking so long.

Oh, and if you do become an "eco-terrorist", I'll be looking for you on our target lists.

The profit went up because they had to raise their prices. Do you know why they did that, and what they will do with the profit? They have to use the profit to fix their oil refineries and platforms, so that supply doesn’t go way down and gas doesn’t hit 5 bucks a gallon. Profit does not equal CEO wage.

So apparently the oil industry is price gouging us and the US government isn't doing anything to stop it. In fact, they're helping the oil industry by actively suppressing other forms of energy that we could be using so that the oil industry can maintain a monopoly on power in this country. So what is CaptBevvil's solution to the problem? Let the government take total control of the oil industry! That way they won't be merely conspiring with the oil industry against us.

Even if the Government did that, it won't control the oil itself because 75% of the oil the US consumes comes from foriegn sources. If we had the oil, then that might work, but we don;t.

Exxon's sale of its shares in Gasunie contributed $1.6 billion to its revenues and profit. The remaining $8.3 billion of profit is a 45% increase from Q3 2004's $5.6 billion, slightly outpacing a 30% increase in revenues from $76.38 billion to $99.12 billion.

"Price gouging" would effect a significant jump in profit margin, yet this quarter's 8.4% is merely a slight increase from 2004's 7.3%.