Falene and Kady's Adventures: 2009

Monday, November 23, 2009

Trip to Seattle

We had a great trip to Seattle. Aislin very much enjoyed our time at tha park as evident by these pictures. She is getting soooo big.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

April Field Training in South Carolina

Sorry it's been a while since my last blog. A lot has happened since San Antonio. One big event was my recent training field trip to South Carolina. Here are just a few pictures of what field work and field trips are like for a geologist working in the oil industry. Not a bad life if I say so myself.

Scraping the walls smooth in a trench that we just dug. We are looking at the wave formed sand dunes along the beach.

Here with my new friend Tom after our intense mud fight that left mud in places mud should never be... i.e. ears, teeth... well you get the picture.

Stewart, Emily and me posing with one of the drowned trees.

My new gang of geology friends: Stewart, Natasha, Tom, Me, and Emily after our mud fight.

Digging a trench.. see geologists do actual hard physical labor while they are on field trips... ok, it was the only physical labor we did all week.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

A quick day trip to San Antonio

Last weekend I had a wonderful visit with Uncle Richard and cousin Diane. Richard was in San Antonio for a Medical Conference and had asked Diane and I if we could come down to San Antonio for a quick visit. I picked Richard up at his hotel on Saturday and we heading down town towards the Alamo and the River walk. Below are pictures from our day.

Richard in front of the Alamo.

Security guards keeping cool under a tree.

Just a cool building that became our point of reference.

Group shot after dinner along the River walk.

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Stop Obama's Tax Increases on Oil and Gas Industry

US Treasury secretary attacks oil, gas tax breaks

By Tom Doggett

WASHINGTON, March 4 (Reuters) - U.S. oil and natural gas producing companies should not receive federal subsidies in the form of tax breaks because their businesses contribute to global warming, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told Congress on Wednesday.

It was one of the sharpest attacks yet on the oil and gas industry by a top Obama administration official, reinforcing the White House stance that new U.S. energy policy will focus on promoting renewable energy sources like wind and solar power and rely less on traditional fossil fuels like oil as America tackles climate change.

"We don't believe it makes sense to significantly subsidize the production and use of sources of energy (like oil and gas) that are dramatically going to add to our climate change (problem). We don't think that's good economic policy and we think changing those incentives is good for the country," Geithner told the Senate Finance Committee at a hearing on the White House's proposed budget for the 2010 spending year.

The Obama administration's budget would levy an excise tax on oil and natural gas produced in the Gulf of Mexico, raising $5.3 billion in revenue from 2011 to 2019.

This new 13 percent tax on all oil and gas production in the Gulf would only affect those companies enjoying a loophole that allows them to avoid paying royalties on the energy supplies they drill. Companies already paying royalties would get a tax credit.

Obama's budget would also place a $4 per acre annual fee on energy leases in the Gulf that are designated as nonproducing. The budget proposal projects the fee would generate $1.2 billion from 2010 to 2019.

Senator John Cornyn of Texas criticized the tax increases, saying they would hurt independent energy companies that provide a large share of U.S. oil and gas supplies.

"My view is that higher taxes on small and independent producers here in America will make us more dependent on imported oil and gas while we transition to cleaner energy alternatives, a goal we all share," said Cornyn. "And it will also hurt job retention and job creation in the energy sector, which provides an awful lot of jobs in this country."

Geithner said the additional taxes "can be absorbed" by the oil and gas companies, given the billions of dollars they have earned from high energy prices.

"The impact of these subsidies are very small relative to revenues produced by U.S. oil and gas producers," he said. (Reporting by Tom Doggett; editing by Jim Marshall)

If you would like to sign this petition visit this link:
Stop Obama's Tax Increases on Oil and Gas Industry

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Big Oil Profits and Even Bigger Tax Bills

A friend and college of mine posted a link on facebook about this great article that I thought I should share with all of you.

Here is the beginning of the article:

Exxon, Big Oil Profits Evil Only Until You Weigh Their Tax Bills
Don't knock Big Oil for not needing a bailout, writes Robert Bryce
By Robert Bryce
Posted February 11, 2009

Last week, as a friend of mine and I were discussing the energy business, an acquaintance of ours came into the room. When told the topic of discussion, she immediately denounced Exxon Mobil. She'd just heard on the radio that the energy giant had had a record $45.2 billion profit in 2008. She was clearly hoping that we would join in her disgust.

I asked, "So are you suggesting that Exxon should not make money?" I went on, "Would you prefer that Exxon be like AIG, or Citigroup, or one of the big Wall Street outfits that's now asking for a government bailout?" That quieted her down. But I couldn't help myself. I asked, "Did you know that 52 percent of Exxon is owned by mutual funds, index funds, and pension funds?" No. Nor did she know that about 2 million individuals own Exxon stock or that company insiders hold less than 1 percent of the company.

The facts above are not meant to belittle my acquaintance. Rather, it's to illustrate an all-too-common problem in America: Voters have been conditioned to hate the energy business in general and Big Oil in particular. Americans love their gasoline, they love their cars, but they hate the oil companies. While it's unlikely that the general public's attitude toward Big Oil will ever be changed, the public should recognize that Exxon's profits have come along with an enormous tax bill and that those tax payments are helping governments all over the world stay solvent.

According to the company's income statement, the amount of taxes it paid in 2008 was 2.5 times as much as its net profit. The $45.2 billion profit figure makes a snappy headline, but the $116.2 billion in taxes that it paid is relegated to a footnote—if that. Exxon's tax bill breaks down like this: income taxes, $36.5 billion; sales-based taxes, $34.5 billion; "all other" taxes, $45.2 billion. Although the company doesn't mention royalty payments in its income statement, those payments are likely contained within the sales and "all other" categories.....

To read the full article: http://www.usnews.com/articles/opinion/2009/02/11/exxon-big-oil-profits-evil-only-until-you-weigh-their-tax-bills.html

Friday, February 13, 2009

Puppy Mills and How you can help!

If this makes you cry as much as it does me then make sure you always do what you can to avoid puppies that have come from puppy mills. There are tons of great dogs that need to be adopted, so always consider your options when bringing a new family member into your home. Also, remember that if you dontate money, consider donating the the Humane Society or your local animal shelter.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

My Visit to Seattle

I had a wonderful weekend in Seattle relaxing and enjoying Aislin. We all went to the zoo on Sunday and you can see her interest in the various species of birds.