Exxon CEO doubts Obama's alternative energy goal
www.reuters.com
 By Tom Doggett
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson said on Thursday it would be difficult to meet President-elect Barack Obama's goal to
significantly boost U.S. alternative energy production.
In a speech at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, Obama said he wanted the United States to double its output of alternative energy sources
during the next three years as part of his plan to revive the American economy.
"I think that's going to be very challenging to do," Tillerson told reporters following a speech at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington.
He said the United States will not be able to double biofuels output during that period and there was not enough manufacturing capacity to build the
wind turbines needed to meet Obama's goal.
"I'm not wanting to be critical of his aspirational goal. Aspirational goals are good because they challenge us all to go out and find the right
answer," Tillerson said of Obama's plan.
(visit the link for the full news article)
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Why does this guy think people will listen to him regarding alternative energy?
Isn’t he the guy who runs one of the biggest oil companies? Won’t people get the idea that he is out to protect that oil company? Would
alternative be as competitive business?
he goes on to say
But he added: "Let's be realistic about timeframes. Let's not fool ourselves."
Despite calls for more alternative energy use, he said, "for the foreseeable future" the world will rely on oil and natural gas for 60 percent of
its energy needs.
Give me a break! 
www.reuters.com
(visit the link for the full news article)
[edit on 8-1-2009 by SLAYER69]
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Good. Do the opposite of whatever Exxon says and you're probably doing the right thing.
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Although i agree with you on somepoints theres alot that he said that was true. We don't have the infrastructure to pump alternative fuels. Every
gasstation would need to be upgraded and there hasn't been alot of thought on the damage these alternative fuels cause. Let me give you an example.
Twoyears ago the mandate for low sulfer fuel for deisels went onto effect. This new fuel rotted almost all the seals of the fuels systemsthat had been
installed in engines for years. Thousands of big rigs caught fire or simply refused to run at all. The rebuild for a bigrigs truck is almost 50% of
the cost of a new engine. Thats anywhere from 12000 -30000 dollars for an engine. No government study was undertaken and no thought was given as to
the burden of the costs to the nation. These large trucking companies just passed this cost on to the consumers and there wasn't anything done to
help the small business owner/operator. Its going to take much longer than the President says it is and its going to get real expensive to complete.
In our economy even if you are green, its not something we can afford to do yet. The plan does not take any of this into consideration. It will sound
fantastic to the Green movement but it will devastate the economy even more!
Zindo
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So it's a hard goal to reach. Let's try anyways, right? Isn't that the point of a goal – that it be hard to reach, a motivator, something to keep
us from remaining complacent?
I suppose it would be a lot easier on Exxon to set sights low, but it makes sense to me to set them high.
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