Look at it this way. They push for alternative fuels but most are too expensive to pursue as a true option while gasoline is still relatively cheap. So to make alternative fuels look good you have to get the price of fossil fuels so high that people will get behind the alternatives with their money because now it is economically feasible. They have been putting so many new rules and restrictions on the US oil industry that the cost of putting a man to work in the Gulf is getting outrageous. The cost of the yearly training and certification for one in my position are up in the $15,000.00 per year range, and when you figure in specialty licences and alcohol and drug testing that figure gets up to almost 17k a year not counting my pay and mileage and room and board while I sit in schools for about 90 days a year for a grand total of about 50k a year before I can hit a lick of work. So the price of my services are not cheap and going up, I wont even get into the price for modifying or replacing equipment because what we have used safely and successfully for years does not now meet the NEW Govt standards that seem to change weekly, and Heaven help us if we do not have an operating manual in every piece of equipment and if it is operated in any manner not stated in THAT manual or you did not have a properly filled out JSA, JSEA and ALL permits before stepping outside. But they say they support the US oil industry!
