President Bush is urging Congress to end a decades-old ban on offshore oil drilling in response to consumer anxiety over record-high gas prices.
“Every American who drives to work, purchases food or ships a product has felt the effect. And families across our country are looking to Washington for a response,” Bush said.
The push by Bush and Republican presidential candidate John McCain to lift the ban could find plenty of support. About 60 percent of Americans surveyed in a Reuters/Zogby poll said they would favor government efforts to boost domestic drilling and refinery construction.
Roughly the same amount said they would back efforts to reduce domestic demand through tougher fuel-efficiency standards.
Do you favor more U.S. oil drilling?
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For your consideration here are some real:
Oil Facts
Sources U.S Geo Survey - U.S Energy Info Admin - Bureau of Land Mang - Dept of inter Oil & Gas Journal
Saudi Arabia holds the world’s largest oil reserve. The U.S holds the world’s 12th largest oil reserve but we are the world’s 3rd largest producer of oil. We produce about 8 million barrels a day. The U.S is the world’s largest consumer of oil, China is the second largest. We consume about 20 million barrels a day. The U.S appetite for oil is so huge that it dwarfs China’s consumption. Even with China’s massive 1.3 billion person population they consume a modest 7.2 millions barrels a day.
What are we doing with all this oil? 69% is used for transportation, 24% is used by Industry, 5% is used by residential and commercial and 2% is used for electrical power.
Where do we get the oil we use? Canada is our largest provider of oil, next is Saudi Arabia then Mexico.
There are only two places in the U.S where we are not allowed to drill; the first is about half of the Eastern Great Basin (the area of concern is half of Nevada & most of Utah). We are not allowed to drill on about half of it because some of the Native American tribes who call it home object to it. The second is Alaska’s North coast - we actually do drill there but most of it is protected as a National Wildlife Refuge.
As of 2006 we had over 500,000 oil wells pumping 24/7 for us and that number has increased since then.
So why is the price of oil so high? That depends on who you talk to. A very simple answer is supply and demand; Fox news loves this meaningless response. Personally, I would look at the commodity traders. Remember what they did with electricity in California in 2000 - 2001. Remember Enron. Don’t be sad
Buck Up!
Feeling sad about the price of oil? Don’t worry we’ve weathered these gas storms before, every decade or so we get pummeled by a new one, but sooner or later fuel prices will begin to fall and then they will stabilize —- and when they do I’m buying the biggest, fattest Hummer you ever did saw!
Yea Haw!!
I’m only kiddin about that last part - I know that people who rely on transportation for their living are really hurting and that is a shame. I just don’t think that drilling for more oil is really going to help. Remember, we are currently the world’s 3rd largest producer of oil and it’s barely enough to supply 1/3 of our demand. I believe that the only real solution is to decrease our dependency on oil.
Let’s not fall back into the old oil trap.
Take Heart.
We are the biggest, toughest and most forward thinking country in the whole world, the solutions can not be as impossible as we are making them out to be. One man who has some great ideas is Billionaire Oil Tycoon T. Boone Pickens. Do an internet search and see what he says. Heck, even the Exxon Mobil heirs, The Rockefellers, believe that we should turn away from fossil fuels and create a cleaner, more dependable source of energy.
Impossible you say—Nothing is impossible for the greatest nation on earth!!!
Good Luck and God Bless
- Posted by RobberThe point is that fossil fuels are finite. Even if we drill for every possible source of oil in every possible location in the entire world, the wells will all run dry eventually. Why wait till that happens to move towards renewable energy sources? It show extreme lack of foresight to not see that the move to alternative sources must be made now. You want to wait till there is no more oil and you are in a bind? That is just stupidity.
The days of $2 per gallon gas are gone and people need to come to grips with that. Drilling for oil in the US will do NOTHING to bring down the price of gas for one simple reason: oil is finite and by the law of supply and demand for any finite commodity, the price will ony continue to increase as supplies decrease worldwide.
I wish the price of gas were higher because if people were paying $10 per gallon, do you know how fast the switch to alternative sources would be?? It would be almost overnight. GM has already responded to the higher gas prices by moving away from manufacturing big SUVs and the trend will only continue because consumers will demand so.
In addition, there is no such thing as clean oil.
Even if oil extraction were 100% environmentally safe, the burning of fossil fuels contributes to global warming.
If you are upset about the price of oil, instead of demanding more drilling, which will not lower the prices now or in the future, be a savy consumer and stardtmaking more energy-concsious decisions in your life.
- Posted by MartineSo is this Bushes last turn of the knife he and Cheney have stuck in the back of America? Or does it get even worse? Let us hope sound minds prevail and this ecologically dangerous plot is thwarted. For sure, we will need the extra oil. That is because funding for alternative energy sources has been running at a slow trickle for the past 15 years and more. Yes, Clinton has a hand in this mess too. But really it is the people of America, you and me, who are to blame. Living as though there is no tomorrow, doing nothing to fight our addiction to oil.
We need that oil, but now is time to acknowledge we have a serious problem, kick the habit and suffer those withdrawal pains like a miserable writhing junkie. Hopefully we emerge from the forthcoming crisis a wiser people.
- Posted by PaulDrilling new oil wells now will provide no increase in supply, and therefore no price reduction, for a couple of years. When this does happen the oil companies’ desire to recoup their additional infrastructure costs asap will work against this, so any price reduction would be pretty small. Also, ALL RESOURCES WHICH ARE USED AT A FASTER RATE THAN THAT AT WHICH THEY CAN BE RENEWED (IF AT ALL) WILL EVENTUALLY BE EXHAUSTED. Therefore in the long run extracting oil from the wilderness or the ocean floor would help us only temporarily (in a few years), AT THE PERMANENT EXPENSE OF SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED AIR, LAND AND MARINE POLLUTION which will render our planet much less habitable for our grandchildren and beyond. I challenge all drilling advocates to face this unpalatable fact. If they are then still prepared to create significant problems for the future in order to facilitate their own short-term gain, then they should have the courage to admit this publicly by adding their name to an on-line statement which unambiguously declares this. At least their grandchildren will know the truth behind the incredibly blinkered and unconscionable rationale of their reaction to the challenges we now face. I won’t hold my breath.
- Posted by vivDrilling new oil wells now will provide no increase in supply, and therefore no price reduction, for a couple of years. When this does happen the oil companies’ desire to recoup their additional infrastructure costs asap will work against this, so any price reduction would be pretty small. Also, ALL RESOURCES WHICH ARE USED AT A FASTER RATE THAN THAT AT WHICH THEY CAN BE RENEWED (IF AT ALL) WILL EVENTUALLY BE EXHAUSTED. Therefore in the long run extracting oil from the wilderness or the ocean floor would help us only temporarily (in a few years), AT THE PERMANENT EXPENSE OF SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED AIR, LAND AND MARINE POLLUTION which will render our planet much less habitable for our grandchildren and beyond. I challenge all drilling advocates to face this unpalatable fact. If they are then still prepared to create significant problems for the future in order to facilitate their own short-term gain, then they should have the courage to admit this publicly by adding their name to an on-line statement which unambiguously declares this. At least their grandchildren will know the truth behind the incredibly blinkered and unconacionable rationale of their reaction to the challenges we now face. I won’t hold my breath.
- Posted by vivYes I agree with drilling however it is a short term answer to cut all funding of terrorist countries. In the 70’s it should have been abundantly clear that we needed an alternative fuel source, not just a renewable but a nearly inehaustable as in the sun after all when it burns out we will have bigger problems than just fuel to get to work. It falls to this generation to make the changes necessary, not the government, the power is in the people to change the world the function of the government is to simply keep things moderated in accordance with the moral majority.
- Posted by MartyI think that people should carefully consider the impact that drilling for oil has, in both the short term (5-15 years) and in the long term (every thing past that). What people fail to recognize is that whatever relief increased drilling has to offer is long in the coming: increases in production are years off, even if this bill were approved. Certainly, over the next 30 years, we can expect that drilling in ANWR and offshore will boost domestic production and perhaps provide relief at the pump. What we don’t acknowledge in our reckoning is the impact that this will have. It’s not guaranteed that technology will be able to provide us with clean, available energy sources, as well as advanced methods of repairing environmental damage. What is guaranteed is that opening these delicate environments to drilling is a short-term solution. Environmental considerations aside, it’s in our best interest to reduce our dependency on foreign oil. Moreover, it’s in our best interest to reduce our dependency on non-renewable, non-sustainable resources -in general-, as they are just that.
- Posted by JosiahWhy can’t thee elected DO BOTH:
Drill and Study New Projects! Why is that so difficult to figure out. Oil is not end-less, and we need new ways to replace oil — daa!!
Congress is so stupid some times.
- Posted by DannoDrill for more oil? You have to be kidding. Maybe we should get rid of all of our National Parks? No thanks Bush! With the whole Middle East telling the world that the oil increase in barrel price is fabricated by the US to help cover our weak dollar (Oil is bought and sold worldwide using the dollar), I don’t buy it. If Bush and his buddies had no interest in oil, maybe…but this recession has a blood trail and the American public needs to fight back instead of being lead like cattle to the slaughter.
- Posted by Heppehwow, amazing to see the different views.
for one. the auto industry DID (YES) play a role in the demise of public transportation. it is documented that some automakers bought parts of mass transit and then terminated service to force car usage. wake up! perhaps instead of complaining about high oil and food prices you should do something about it. plant a vegetable garden, don’t eat out, save 10% of your income (can easily be done if you really wanted to), turn your heat down a few degrees and put on a sweater in the winter( Carter suggested that during the 70’s and Americans cried)take a walk with your kids. Honestly if your grandparents/greatgrandparents were around to see how most of us act they would give us a whipping for our sloth and stupidity. a little self responsibility would go a long way. grow up America!
- Posted by andrewWhen Alaska was in top production form the Alaska pipeline was full and that only amounted to 2.2 million barrels per day. Alaska now only produces 1 million barrels per day or less.
Canada has the most reserves in the World and is starting to ramp up production, but again we have to stop burning oil, gasoline, and natural gas to get heat for our buildings and engines.
We cannot save our way out of this problem. We need new types of engines that use stored energy from geothermal, solar, tidal, and wind energy.
The new drilling will only help to tide us over until we get new energy sources on line.
I would like to hear about how we can become self sustaining from an energy standpoint. Doing nothing is not an option.
Thanks
- Posted by Fred Belz