If the Saudis say it, it must be so
on 06/23/2008 at 10:16 AM
If you travel in a straight line toward the coast from my house, you’ll hit the beach around Sabine Pass, TX, right at the Louisiana state line, about 20 - 25 miles away. Before you get there, you’ll go through Port Neches, Groves, and Pt. Arthur, and have to go through what is somewhat affectionately called “chemical row”, where several miles of riverbank and lakefront are devoted to petroleum refineries.
Every one of those refineries is expanding and upgrading. EVERY ONE. But there is only so much they can do on the same footprint of land, and they are after all a business, they will go where the money is. I honestly don’t know whether they are set up to deal with the heavier crudes, but if they aren’t it’s because the economy, *and the politics*, have made it unprofitable to do so.
I will confess, I do not follow the news of what the local oil companies are going through. On the upside, they are sited in Texas, the home state of Dr. Evil (’scuse, that’s President Evil), where we apparently still allow businesses to Rape Mother Gaia(tm) and do all those horrible, nasty things to produce evil results like diesel for trucks and electricity for homes and gasoline for SUVs. On the other hand, regulation concerning refining is federal, so being in Texas doesn’t help. Likewise, all those refineries being located in salt marsh means they can’t take two steps without having enviroweenies bitch and moan at the EPA over it.
On a guess, I’d say these marshes were drained to build the refineries mostly back in the 20s and 30s. Certainly they were largely here in time for the great Texas City fire of 19...47, I think it was. And yes, I know those marshes produce basically nothing at all except clouds of mosquitos thick enough to literally choke cattle to death from breathing too many of them. Nonetheless, we all know that an Eeevil Oil Company(tm) couldn’t buy and drain even one inch of that worthless marsh without environmentalist whiners fighting them tooth and nail through every court they could.But it’s all the oil companies’ fault. Uh-huh. *How* much for that bridge, did you say?
