Debate over offshore drilling back in the spotlight

While other countries are thinking outside the box and reducing their dependency on oil, the right wing non thinkers are looking for more oil.
Figures.

The VP writer and the editorial writer of June 20 apparently are not aware that the slogan, "DRILL HERE. DRILL NOW. PAY LESS." was not originated by Jim Gilmore.

American Solutions ( www.AmericanSolutions.com/DrillNow) and Newt Gingrich are circulating a petition that currently has more than 1,047,000 signatures telling Congress to get off their lazy posteriors and open up our available resources to exploration and drilling.

If you're tired of $70 fill-ups, go to www.AmericanSolutions.com/DrillNow and add your name to the petition!!

A global economy dictates that we will be inextricably linked to the ups and downs of what is happening in the rest of the world. If our country has the natural resources to use to support our economy, and we can safely extract them to be used, (and YES, we can! The technology has been available for years)then there is no reason why we have to continue to expand our dependence on foreign energy resources. We got ourselves hooked on mid-east oil because it was cheap and readily available, and we had no competition from China or India. It was easy to take the high road on environmental issues (Why damage our country when others can do it?). Our country needs to get its energy act together and do some serious evaluation of where our priorities are.

It's actually a 4000lb missile.

I agree that 2ooo lbs or more to drive down the street is a bit silly.

In the end, you may not read this. I think I am on probation again for my comments about invading Norfolk. Guy's, I was joking. I cannot be Mayor of P-Town as I am not a resident. This is why I am endorsing anyone who is willing to pay me.

Doesn't it seem odd that we require a massive 2 tons of machinery to tote a person from one place to another?

I have to ditto Ira on this one. Getter done!

Why doesn't everyone else step up to the plate and help our nation? Multi-task so that all your driving errands are taken care of in one day. Walk more! Buy American-made products only so that our money stays in the country. We used to be all hell bent on American pride after 9/11, and now I feel that is starting to fade. I'm not saying people should be arrogant about it and piss off other countries like we did before, but take pride in what is made in America, as well as the surroundings we live in.

I am pleasantly surprised. Always happy to watch a SP video. Do agree that many have ramped-up the drama but still believe Blackwater will be beachfront property in 2200 AD.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=GFjWjAz49Z4

Well, if you want to twist words like that, we are being attacked where it hurts the most - our wallets/pocket books. Were I a conspiracy theorists, I'd say it's Chavez and other OPEC nations in concert with big corporations and those damned speculators gouging us and forcing us to our knees through our pockets. You don't have to physically attack America to inflict pain on us.

That's my hyperinflated two cents worth. What's yours?

Blaming the Vice President, President, Congress, tree-huggers, corporations and the like don't help. There's a 24-hour show called C-SPAN that already portrays that 'solution' to the energy issue.
Allowing exploration for drilling is a bit better than the blame game. Diesel and gasoline both come from oil, so the point about diesel is mute. As this is a crisis issue, action not blame is needed. Drilling oil (see also supply and demand), lowering the federal highway speed limit to 65 (see demand), starting to build nuke plants (see supply/Chevrolet Volt) are solution ideas.
Oil is going to be needed throughout my whole lifetime for a vast array of items and yes the gas-sipping Hondas are made mostly of plastic derived from oil.
If you're hungry, you go to the fridge rather than complain about being hungry right? IAEA DATA is 20+ years old, so it's obsolete. According to the IAEA gas prices will hit $4/gallon by 2030.

"We have to step up to the plate and do more domestic drilling for oil and build new gasoline refineries. If not, than we will be heading for another depression, not a recession!"

So would you like it now or later? I hope that at the very least those who tout such action are at least considering that the amount of oil anywhere is going to run out and we cannot make more? The statement above is the exact reason why we have to initiate a different type of thnking on this subject. We are not doing anymore under this "drill now" mindset than looking for 2nd chances inside of holes. Sure, we have plenty of places to dig holes, but we are going to run out of chances.

Neccesity is the mother of all inventions. Remember?

no new refineries are not due to the enviromental lobby, it's due to mergers in the industry and the industry shutting down refineries and not replacing them. Do you even bother to listen to what the oil execs say in interviews or listen to testimony to congress?

You can't rely on a government solution for everything.Remember station wagons?Large families used to buy them to move their families and what ever gear they needed,even some contractors used them.The enviro-nerds said that CAFE standards would increase the mileage of vehicles and save gas.What they did was kill off the family wagon,which typically got SLIGHTLY less mileage than a same brand sedan,but large numbers of them sold,making it hard to meet government mileage standards.Without station wagons,what did small contractors and large families do?They replaced them with SUV's,which,at best,get far less mileage than the old wagons with equivalent power.Add to that the 1970 Clean Air Act,which cut the mileage of vehicles pretty much in half by 1973,increasing oil imports and leaving us vulnerable to the whims of OPEC.Combine that with no drilling or new refineries,no new hydro-dams or nuclear power,and we find that the environmental lobby has a lot of damage to explain.But they're never wrong..right?

Everyone is whining about gas prices. Gasoline isn’t the fuel of the world economy, Diesel fuel is… the demand isn’t the US, it’s India and China who’s populace is attempting to westernize and 80% of their private vehicles is diesel. Europe/ Africa/ Asia private, public and commercial vehicles are 85% diesel fuel. This is due to the fact that diesel at one time was cheap to produce and the engine was cheap to build and operate. Low income countries afford cheap transportation and a low operating cost. Look a Spain??? Could there be a civil war over diesel???
Trains, Trucks, Farm equipment, Buses, Ships, Generators, run off of diesel. If your complaining about gas prices then go buy a scooter at 123mpg or take a diesel operated bus but what fuel is delivering your food and products to the store.

I think Warner and Obama need to wake up and realize that we are in a National Crisis! Who cares if the drilling is only a short term fix? The bottom line is that we have to do something now because OPEC has us in a stranglehold. Besides, it is not like we are talking about drilling in the wildlife refuge, we will only be drilling miles off of the US Coastline! We have to step up to the plate and do more domestic drilling for oil and build new gasoline refineries. If not, than we will be heading for another depression, not a recession!

I love Gilmore's campaign strategy. If you can't remember it from the first time around, it is a catchy, empty slogan that people foolishly gooble up. As for the comment about China drilling of FL. It was a rumor passed along by Cheney, and he had to admit that it was not true. It's sad that people still believe it, but hey, there are people who still believe that Saddam had ties to 9/11. As for the "farming ourselves out of starvation" -- it does not take one 10 years to harvest a crop. Although the price of oil is hurting our farmers, and us at the grocery store. Bad analogy. As for the "we haven't been attacked since 9/11", actually we have, on U.S. soil. Some of our embassies were bombed, but even if one takes those events out of the equation, that is just as intelligent as dancing in an interstate exclaiming "well I haven't been hit by a car yet". The only beneficiaries to "drill here drill now" would be the oil companies. If you think that you will pay less, I have some oceanfront property in AZ for sale.

Just as the bank bailouts and stimulus checks were for George's friends in banking and retail, not the public, this adventure will only line the pockets of his pals in the oil industry.

As has been stated elsewhere, the effect on gas prices will be five years too late, and minimal at best, with disastrous effects on our ecological makeup.

Reduce the national speed limit to 50 or 55 mph and enforce it. Outlaw truck-based vehicles except where needed for business. Get people back into car-based vehicles, with at least a 25 to 30 mpg fuel efficiency.

I said it once, and I'll say it again....if we all drove Civics, or similar-sized or smaller cars....there would be no oil crisis in the USA. Simplistic...you bet. Occam's razor. Drive slower, and in smaller vehicles.

Logic-dictates:"For years now geologists, economists, scientists, politicians, and engineers have been warning us that we have a finite amount of oil and it "will" run out. So, let's ignore all the experts and throw more mud on the levee, and "hope" we don't get hit by a hurricane."

This was hands down the best post I have read on these boards this year. Although the next one really qualifies the writer.

"Submitted by DAPARM: At current levels of consumption, that would satisfy the nation's oil needs for about 16 years and its natural gas needs for about 25 years."

The point is that we will still NEED oil in the future for uses more important than passenger automobiles. Folks quit your whining about prices and look t othe future. Don't respond to irrational beliefs about what is waiting for us underground(see zee's comments). Change while it's still voluntary. The pricing is nothing more than a symptom of the disease.

War is so much easier then a diplomatic approach. Just go kill everyone that doesn't see things the same way as us... It's the American way... Is it so wrong to think, “why do these people hate us so much”, then maybe try to solve issues without needless death? Or just go for the “eye for an eye” approach, that’s the Christian way.

Slathering right wing idiots have spent countless hours trying to convince us that the terrorist just hate us because of our "freedoms" or "western ideals", but the real reason the US is targeted is because its blatant meddling in middle eastern politics and policy. Primarily its undying support of Israel and its constant need to bully "enemy" countries, such as we see in Iran, and what they were doing in Iraq before they went ahead and just seized control and popped in a puppet government.

If the US pulled its nose out of places it has no business in, I can guarantee you the world opinion of us would increase dramatically.

The excuse that we shouldn't drill for oil and natural gas because we won't have it for 7 to 10 years is specious. We will still need that oil in 7 to 10 years, not only for automobiles, but for other things like plastics. The immediate result will be a possible reduction in the traded price of oil. As competition grows or is at least on the horizon, it will cause the price of oil to drop. I see no reason for our economy to tank because people want us to suffer to make us change to other forms of energy. If we want cheaper, cleaner energy, then lets build more nuke plants to give us electricity to run our cars. The Dems seem to think they can litigate our way out of our energy needs. We need to drill and build NOW, for the future. The Dems are preying on Americans' ignorance of the oil business to puch their faulty plan.

Hey - a guy's gotta eat, right? As for vacationing - when I go to Vegas I keep the room A/C no cooler than 60 degrees. I'm sacrificing, see?

I'm all for building more nuke plants (surprised, I'll bet),wind turbines, and solar panels. I just don't think jeopardizing natural environments for a VERY modest short-term gain is the answer. No to drilling, sir.

So Coolguy, I guess we should just sit back and do nothing to prevent attacks taking place on US soil? Is that what you are saying? Because that's what is sounds like when you say,"There are millions of these fighters, and thousands more join a day. The answer is not to engage in an endless armed conflict of distraction that is bleeding the US dry." I guess your answer is, they are going to win so just accept defeat and not do anything to protect our way of life and let's learn to live like the enemy wants us to. We'll all wear berkas and be slaves to what ever dictator comes along next. NO THANKS. Then there's MrFabulous, I seem to recall your talking about your life of luxury. High-rise condos and fabulous cruises and wonderful resturants. Could it be that the large carbon footprint you are creating is eating up a lot of oil and gas? Yes, we could sit back and do nothing. Or, we could drill and provide our on resources while at the same time developing alternatives to oil and gas. It's time to build nuclear plants, earth taps, wind farms and drill.

War does have rules, hence war crimes and war criminals... Some might think a certain current leader would fall under this prosecution... Like hmmm, declaring a war on false premises or even declaring war at all since war was declared on ideology, “terrorism”, and not an entity. I bet you if any other country or leader did what we did, America would expect answers and if we didn’t like their reasoning then there would be hell to pay. God-bless or great leader… Sarcasim.

The governments' own agency - the Energy Information Administration - stated that as the result of a 2004 study drilling in ANWR would reduce the price of a gallon of gas by an average of 3.5 cents per gallon by the year 2027! Hardly a real savings, folks. Also, drilling off the coasts would ultimately reduce gas by 3 to 4 cents per gallon.

Start using your brains, people. Don't be suckered in by Republican falsehoods. Or better yet, sell your gas guzzlers. I see plenty of jacked-up Expeditions and F-350s daily. I think this is more of a Freudian issue than a work necessity. I'll drive my Honda happily, thank you - and have carpooled each day for the past 14 years. Do your part or stop complaining.

You cannot fight an ideal with armed conflict. The "war on terrorism" is simply distracting the major terrorist groups. Last time I checked, there have been about 4000 dead and 30k injured in the line of being a distraction, and thousands more will follow for decades. You cannot proclaim the fact that a civilian structure in the US hasnt been attacked as a victory, when theyve simply brought those losses to military targets instead. There are millions of these fighters, and thousands more join a day. The answer is not to engage in an endless armed conflict of distraction that is bleeding the US dry.

You have a warped sense of reality. Taking your point on 9/11, let’s twist it the other way. Other then Pearl Harbor and the 9/11 attacks when was the last time Americans were attacked on our own soil? The fact that we haven't been attacked since 9/11, which has only been 6 years, has nothing to do with the false war. If anything the war has built more resentment and desire to harm US interests. Terrorists work on scales of years and decades, not months and weeks. If someone wanted to do something horrible to the US, on the same scale as 9/11, again they wouldn't have much problem getting it done... Oh, and 4 planes were lost not 1, tighten up man…

Somehow,no matter what the subject,the Fiske and Eisman team of democrat cheerleaders always make Mark(tax)Warner the focal point of their reporting.Mark says we should explore for,but not necessarily pump oil from offshore sources.Then he tells us that he knows how much oil there is(apparently he knows more about it than the geologists who want to explore),and since it's not much,we need to find some other solution(no doubt involving higher taxes).Some posters point to 'environmental degradation' from drilling,which hasn't happened where drilling takes place(no rigs have spilled since the 60's)and the old standby,'alternative energy',since it will take several years to get any oil from offshore(in contrast to 30 years of investing in 'alternatives' that haven't really made inroads into oil needs yet).Why not find and use the resources we have,especially since the enviro-extremists mostly just obstruct efforts to use workable alternatives like hydro-electric and nuclear energy?