Helium shortage a ballooning issue

[Ziroc]

The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources met last week to discuss solutions and a bill sponsored by Sens. Jeffrey Bingaman, D-N.M. and John Barrasso, D-Wyo., to change how the government sells helium from the reserve.

"If Congress doesn't act, the helium program will disappear all together in less than three years, leaving our hospitals, national labs, domestic manufacturers and helium producers without an adequate supply," Bingaman said.

http://triblive.com/home/1803420-74/...reserve-result

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/heli...atter-16388793

[Firestormalpha]

On a lighter note (no pun intended), we're already feeling the shortage in the retail world. And not surprisingly, the average consumer has no clue that there's a shortage. Actually, people get kinda cranky when we can't fill there orders.

[Lord of Alcohol]

I thought of this last weekend when a group of people released a busload (luckilly a short bus) of balloons. I thought of asking if they were going to follow to pick up the balloon litter scattered over hundreds of miles that animals might eat. I regret not doing that though it was wierd. They were there and gone just like the balloons.