Drill, baby, drill...but will the sun shine as well?
Summary: I'm betting the offshore oil drilling moratorium in the United States is toast. It expires on September 30th.
I'm betting the offshore oil drilling moratorium in the United States is toast. It expires on September 30th. And the rush among Congressional Democrats to pass a new moratorium bill is not likely to find much support in the White House.
Today the Democrats will be rolling out their proposal. It'll allow states to determine whether there can be oil wells between 50 and 100 miles offshore. Four states (Virginia, both Carolinas, and Georgia) have all indicated they would welcome offshore drilling. It's been banned for forty years. Repuiblicans have not yet seen the proposal, but they know what they don't like. And that's drilling restrictions. They want drilling within the fifty mile line as well.
So there may be some legislation that gets through the House. It might squeak through the Senate, avoiding a Republican filibuster, but not necessarily. Then it most likely gets vetoed by the President. That means the federal government could begin selling offshore oil drilling leases on October 1 after the old moratorium expires. That means states like California where the Republican governor and Democrat-led legislature both oppose more drilling would become judicial battelgrounds. Until there is a new President, and somebody else controls the veto pen. And then? Sure seems likely a Palin administration would go for as much drilling as possible. Obama would be more likely tlo accept whatever a Democratic-controlled Congress sends him. If Republicans regain Congress and McPalin win, then it would be drill, baby, drill.
Meanwhile the Dems in Congress are trying to tack onto their bill some tax punishment of the oil companies and some subsidies for alternative energy, but it does not seem too probable this will become law directly.
Yet there's one more twist to this on-going saga. The Dems may tack their energy proposals onto a bill to pay for the Ike-aftermath. And nobody thinks the White House would veto THAT. Could it be that Hurricane Ike is gonna play Santa Claus for the green tech energy folks? Stay tuned. September 30 may be National Drill, Baby, Drill Day.
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Talkback
administration
But i understand whom you work for is nothing more then liars.
GET A REAL JOB - EARN honest money
Ike Relief Tack On
Again the green crowd demonstrates their disregard for human suffering if it can be used as a weapon to promote their own vision of the world. If they ever had to struggle to feed, house, and clothe themselves or their families, perhaps they would come down to earth. Is a drilling platform 50 miles off shore really going to wreck their lives?
Yes, eventually it very well could.
As for allowing drilling offshore, yes the impact will affect all people in the immediate area as well as across the nation. This moronic drive to maintain a 19th century technology when there are better and safer solutions available is simply mind boggling.
What if there is a spill, did you consider the ecological damage that would occur and has occurred in the past? What about the air quality around the refineries and again from all the automobiles utilizing the end product. You are only looking at a sliver of the full picture and this seems to be a common problem.
The "green crowd" is actually looking at the bigger picture that extends to their children as well as yours as well as the overall survival of hundreds of thousands of species. So I would say it's the non-green crowd that has the complete disregard for human suffering since it's their way of life and methodical consumption of everything in sight that causes so much of it.
Lose the leftist slant, Fuller!
For one thing, Palin is pro-drilling...but "as much as possible"?? She stood up *against* the big oil companies in Alaska, and made sure that they paid higher taxes. She's *not* the stereotyped "oil-friendly" Republican - she is pro-energy independence and pro-resource usage...but *not* at the expense of those to whom the resources belong, and not at the cost of the environment. She's said that repeatedly. "Will the sun also shine"...give it a rest.
"Meanwhile the Dems in Congress are trying to tack onto their bill some tax punishment of the oil companies..."
What's to punish? Do you believe in capitalism or not? I hope you realize that oil companies already pay an additional "mineral extraction tax" above and beyond the usual corporate tax rate paid by all corporations. Can they afford more? Maybe. But let's not characterize it as a "punishment"...as though it were due them for something they have done wrong. Last time I checked, entrepreneurial spirit that leads to profitability was a good thing...vs. socialism, where incentive is removed by lack of competition and the disallowing of profits.
No what they should tack on there is ...
Oh no!
And for the sarcastically impaired... I am not serious but conveying sarcastic contempt for these CEO's and such.
DEMOCRATS SHARE BLAME FOR ECONOMY
The reason we need to focus on fossil fuels at least in the short term is to gain enough time to create a bridge to the time when new energy technologies such as wind, solar and CNG, actually become economically viable. Hydrogen currently is NOT an economically viable alternative. Neither is CNG, BUT, CNG as a non renewable, yet readily available alternative to oil, is much closer to being economically feasible than is hydrogen which is a renewable resource. Hydrogen is at least 10 years away. CNG can be here in as little as 6 months.
But to get at that CNG, you must drill!
To imply that a comprehensive drilling program will have only marginal impact upon the oil futures market is simply not correct. A comprehensive drilling program will have a significant impact. The impact upon the jobs that will be produced from a comprehensive drilling, transport, pipeline, and refinery program will also be significant. And the fact that the money we currently send overseas to foreign oil suppliers if left here at home in our own economy will have a significant impact as well. I am not saying that we shouldn't pursue renewable energy sources; quite the contrary I support them all, especially solar, wind. But the fact of the matter is that solar and wind will take 10 years or more to develop. Our economy simply can't afford to shell out $90 to $150 per barrel oil to overseas suppliers for 10 years. As Boone Pickens so clearly points out this is going to be the largest transfer of wealth in the history of mankind. And we simply can't afford it. It will continue to have serious and negative impacts upon our economy including the stock market, and the creation of jobs. The Democrats are up to their necks in responsibility for high oil prices and high gas prices. The American people clearly recognize that responsibility. The American people support drilling by a margin in excess of 70%. Let Obama be the one to tell that 70%+ block of voters that he doesn't agree with them. He has never had the courage to stand up before and I seriously doubt Obama will break that streak given those stats. The Democrats who control Congress bear a large part of the responsibility for high oil & gas prices. Those prices are having a very negative impact upon our economy. Therefore the Democrats bear at the very least a part of the responsibility for the lackluster economy. Those Democrats include Pelosi, Reid and Obama!
Gerald Dodd
Moulton, Alabama
The Truth about Off Shore Drilling - It's Safe
[b]- Over 4000 oil and natural gas platforms operate in U.S. waters with an outstanding environmental record[/b] (API)
[b]- Horizontal and directional drilling make it possible for a single well to produce oil from much bigger areas[/b] (EIA)
[b]- Today's production footprints are only about one-fourth the size of those 30 years ago[/b] (EIA)
[b]- Platforms use sophisticated high-pressure valves that close automatically to prevent oil spills[/b] (API)
[b]- Automatic fail-safe devices are installed in wells below sea level, protecting sea beds and sea life[/b] (API)
[b]- Only 1% of all oil in the sea comes from drilling[/b] (EIA)
[b]- 63% of all oil in the sea comes from natural seeps[/b] (EIA)
[b]- Twice as much oil as the Exxon Valdez spill naturally seeps into the Gulf of Mexico every year[/b] (NASA)
'Snake Oil' - Debunking three 'truths' about offshore drilling (The Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/11/AR2008081102145.html
RE: Drill, baby, drill...but will the sun shine as well?