I have always been intrigued by the comment that "big oil" is responsible for the demise of every alternative fuel available. What I wouldn't mind seeing is the data to back this up.
For example, a couple of years ago, it was determined that a lot of senior executives at high tech companies were back dating stock options. This was determined because someone (I think that it was a college professor) went through and gathered the public knowledge available in regards to when the senior executives exercised their stock options. Because the companies are publicly traded, information about the grant price of the stock option and the sell price of the stock option is available. The person found that the stock option's grant price was the lowest for a given period when it was finally exercised. There are a lot of laws regarding when executives can sell stock. So, by following the "bread crumbs", this person determined that statistically these executives could not have consistently received stock options for the period's low price every single time. It was therefore determined that the executives back dated their stock options.
If a similar analysis can be done with "big oil" crushing alternative fuels, then I think that the argument can be made more soundly. So far I am skeptical that "big oil" is doing this dirty work and that alternative fuels have a rough go at it do to market conditions and short sighted politicians.
For example, a couple of years ago, it was determined that a lot of senior executives at high tech companies were back dating stock options. This was determined because someone (I think that it was a college professor) went through and gathered the public knowledge available in regards to when the senior executives exercised their stock options. Because the companies are publicly traded, information about the grant price of the stock option and the sell price of the stock option is available. The person found that the stock option's grant price was the lowest for a given period when it was finally exercised. There are a lot of laws regarding when executives can sell stock. So, by following the "bread crumbs", this person determined that statistically these executives could not have consistently received stock options for the period's low price every single time. It was therefore determined that the executives back dated their stock options.
If a similar analysis can be done with "big oil" crushing alternative fuels, then I think that the argument can be made more soundly. So far I am skeptical that "big oil" is doing this dirty work and that alternative fuels have a rough go at it do to market conditions and short sighted politicians.
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