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Permalink Reply by Skip Peel - Mineral Consultant on December 19, 2008 at 9:52

Dorcheated. I doubt anyone "likes" the bailout. Except those being bailed out. I am afraid the lack of leadership in our country has put us in a blind corner. Not many "good, safe" choices left. I'll hold my nose and hope that bailing out the Detroit 3 (they no longer fit the Big 3 designation in my book) keeps the economy from spiraling into a true depression. That is a real possibility. Read an article a while ago concerning New York City real estate. Seems many of the major players had their money invested with ................(drum roll), you guessed it, Bernie Madoff. They are sunk. Many of the biggest real estate developers in the tri-state area but particularly New York City. And before anyone is tempted to bash the big real estate developers, they employee tens of thousands of people directly or indirectly. And guess where many had invested the money that they use for their charitable contributions, BM. Drum rolls only work once. Unless your Snake doing his stand-up routine. The moral of the story is that so many individuals, corporations, manufacturers, markets, etc. are connected that it is hard to tell where the crash stops once it has started. I would hope that the D3 have some plans for CNG fuel but doubt it seriously. No fueling network, no commitment to CNG vehicles on a national or even regional basis. I have hopes for the new administration but they are dimming fast. Go to www.change.gov, under "Agenda" and read the part on energy-environment. Now those are two important issues but I would hope that they are yoked together for a reason. However, when you read that page you will read nothing on natural gas. Electric cars. Clean coal (my new favorite oxymoron) . Yes. No CNG. No LNG. We should all be upset. The question is will we do anything about it? I'll leave that question for others to answer. I've already started lobbying.

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Permalink Reply by Dorcheated A1 on December 19, 2008 at 10:01

Skip,
You make some great points. I hope everybody reads your post. If you can't convince the Big 3 to look at NGC at this point in the game then when will they ever.

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Permalink Reply by intrepid on December 19, 2008 at 9:53

I also believe that CNG vehicles are going to be a big part of the future and would be glad to see the "Big 3" start bringing out some CNG vehicles in the U.S. I hope to see CNG become the preferred transportation fuel in America for several reasons but I don't think that CNG vehicles are the only hope we have for getting money from our HS gas reserves.

What I don't understsand is why some strings haven't been attached to the bailout money to encourage the "Big 3" to bring out CNG vehicles in the U.S.

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Permalink Reply by Skip Peel - Mineral Consultant on December 19, 2008 at 10:02

intrepid see above please. Also the dang dong "edit your comment" command ain't workin', H. The correct link is www.change.gov. My apologies.

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Permalink Reply by intrepid on December 19, 2008 at 13:36

CNG just seems to be too obvious a choice for the 'govmit' to see it.

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Permalink Reply by Dorcheated A1 on December 19, 2008 at 10:09

Intrepid,
I look forward to somebody reading me the fine print on that deal.

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Permalink Reply by intrepid on December 19, 2008 at 13:40

We all need to be onbard with the Pickens Plan but, I think, we also need a Haynesville Shale lobying effort to push CNG as a transportation fuel.

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Permalink Reply by Skip Peel - Mineral Consultant on December 19, 2008 at 15:24

intrepid. T. Boone's plan makes a lot of sense. Earlier in this thread I pointed out the lack of a specific commitment by the new administration to make natural gas the keystone of a bridge to the day when alternative energy technology is more fully developed and cost effective. I think we all agree that natural gas should be the primary energy source that gets us to that next era of alternative energy. Now do not think logic, think politics. In my opinion the part of T. Boone's plan that is not currently viable is the wind portion. Linking wind to natural gas makes the politics tougher. In many ways. We need to continue to support investment in wind energy for the future but natural gas is viable now. We should delink the two as ng is a better argument for the here and now. The political reality at this time as I see it is that there is powerful lobbying for electric vehicles and a tremendous lobby for coal. If we wish to fight this battle, I think we may have a better chance with ng vs. coal. If we appear to have a consensus for a grass roots lobby on that basis, I will post the contact information for the LA. U. S. Congressional delegation and we can begin. I will do so only if there is support from a number of members.

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Permalink Reply by Grice on December 19, 2008 at 10:17

Looking from the outside, it does not appear they will fail.

The Treasury Department has issued the term sheets for Chrysler and General Motors. I have only briefly viewed the documents, but it appears the ball is now in their (GM & Mopar) court. They have until December 31st to begin the work rule modification, February 17th to deliver their restructuring plan, and March 31st to deliver a report of their progress.

Not too long ago, Paulson signed a treaty with China. Part of that treaty was for the development of battery technology for Ford Motor company. The simple act of forming such a treaty, indicates Paulson is not going to allow Ford to fail.

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Permalink Reply by Dorcheated A1 on December 19, 2008 at 10:24

Grice,
My take is that the UAW and GM management better thank their lucky stars they are getting this chance. The UAW needs to get rid of those stupid job banks and make some real hard concessions along with Corporate management.

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Permalink Reply by intrepid on December 19, 2008 at 14:58

A1, one thing that gets to me about the 'bailout' is no body has expleined how it will sell any vehicles. The problem is that the companies aren't selling any vehicles so they don't have any money coming in to pay the bills. So, get money from the taxpayer to pay the bills but that still doesn't sell any cars. What good does that do?

What I would like to see is a plan to provide hefty tax credits for buying a new vehicle from one of the (OK, Skip) 'Detroit 3' made available to the American Taxpayer. This would help out a lot of people plus get the vehicles sold.

Then make the vehicle manufactures come up with a plan to reorganize as well as promote CNG vehicles.

That would be a win-win-win in my opinion. At least as much as anyone can win in a situation like this.

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Permalink Reply by Skip Peel - Mineral Consultant on December 19, 2008 at 15:31

intrepid. The current downturn in vehicle sales appears, from numerous reports, to be a lack of available credit. In any other (better) economic time, I think the same decrease would exist if car buyers suddenly could not get auto loans. I wonder, on average, what percentage of new vehicles are purchased with cash and what percentage on credit. I do not know but suspect that the greater percentage is on credit. By the time auto loans become more widely available to consumers, would they take out a loan to buy a vehicle from a manufacturer in bankruptcy? I do not know the answer to that question either. But I fear that it will not be one that favors American car manufacturers.

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