Disturb the troops with these inconvenient FACTS!!!!!!!
From the response, looks like you called that one. People don't like having their favorite urban myths "busted". Makes me wonder at times why "Mythbusters" is such a hit program - you just KNOW they've ****** off quite a few people with some of their "busted" calls.
Yes, I can see how CARB denying a permit for one refinery in CA "proves" there's a vast left-wing treehugger conspiracy in the other 49 states to prevent building any more refineries for the past 30 years. Guess it's a good thing they didn't have biodiesel refineries on their hit list.
Guess I just dreamed it all 10 years ago when I read in the papers and watched on the nightly news the stories about how the oil companies bought up 50 independent refineries and shut them down, and read the printed copies of e-mails between oil execs all but saying in plain English they were doing so to get rid of excess refinery capacity, to tighten supply and drive up prices.
Guess it was also part of the same hallucination when last year I watched the GAO in live testimony on CSPAN in front of the US Senate repeat the same story about how they had overbuilt capacity in the 70's, how they had shut down these 50 refineries in the 90's, and that there was no environmental or regulatory reason for these shutdowns - it was purely a business decision on the part of the oil companies.
Believe me, I'm no fan of Mary Nichols and the other whackjobs in CARB, or those with a seemingly irrational anti-diesel phobia in the EPA, Sierra Club, Union of Concerned Scientists, etc. IMHO, a lot of these people need to be given the same treatment my grandfather reserved for a stubborn mule - a pitchfork jammed firmly up their posterior, sharp end first.
Point is, us diesel drivers already have enough enemies out there and they've already pulled enough asinine regulatory crap to get called on, that there's little point in inventing stuff to accuse them of. It would just make those jerks look like the injured party when we got called on it.
As far as the refineries operating at 83% capacity - only refinery shutdown that was reported was a small FINA refinery in Texas. At the same time, crude oil inventories had went up for the 7th (now 8th) week in a row - up 30 million barrels since January - and gasoline inventories were at a 14 year high.
So why did gasoline inventories hit a 14 year high with refineries only operating at 83%? Simple - demand went DOWN. Economy's in the dumps right now, factories and businesses cutting back, manufacturing sector output (what's left) dropped like a rock last quarter, housing and new construction starts down 25 to 40%, people driving less because of higher fuel prices, etc. And that's also why the refineries were only running at 83% - little point in running your equipment full blast and wearing it out if you're just stockpiling excess inventory that could drive prices down when it reaches a certain level.
Attention: TDR Forum Junkies 
I mean at that rate and the $$$$$$$ of fuel - IMO - that will kill Diesel Pickups!!!!! I mean putting in about $120 for a fillup is FREAKING RIDICULOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!
In my area that would work out to 25 CENTS per mile for FUEL!!!!!!!
