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To dig or not to dig? The crude question
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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?
For more on the rising cost of oil, click here.
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Living in a rural area, we don’t have access to public or mass transportation. Our jobs are very frequently in another town and just getting up and moving certainly isn’t an option in this housing market. We have no choice but to pay the high fuel prices.
We do support offshore drilling. And it isn’t just a matter of cost. It is also a matter of being self-sufficient. We have been too dependent on foreign fuel for much too long. Yes, they are happy to take our money, but at the same time, they have a strangle hold on us that could prove crippling if they should ever decide not to ship to us. Then where are we? We need to take the steps necessary to hold ourselves up and not rely on the rest of the world. Especially the parts of the world that don’t consider us allies.
We should begin restructuring our country to conserve and adapt to a new energy landscape. We should consume less, save more and return to a higher quality of life. Most people don’t realize it yet but Peak Oil has been affecting us since 1970 and we are NOW at the plateau of world oil production. Anyone educated is aware that there is no substitute for oil and natural gas and that no combination of alternative fuels is going to save us. We must simply change our culture and lifestyle. Drilling offshore will only ease our pains temporarily. It would be better to save that energy for our grandchildren.
I believe that petroleum drilling should be continued subject to strict environmental controls. There should be a zero tolerence on spillage. This isn’t $10.00 dollar a barrel crude any more. To not use this natural resource is wastage.
Chuk
I am adamently opposed to more driling. Americans need to conserve our fuel supplies for future generations. We cannot rape our plant any more. We need to drive more fuel efficient cars, use mass transit, use solar and wind, and wave power for our energy needs and control our population growth and immigration.
SHAMEFUL political posturing that is NO different from the oil tax holiday proposed earlier by the likes of BILLARY Clinton — and John McCain!
It is time too screw all those eviro-freaks and drill!
Having done engineering work on the design of oil production facilities in the Arctic (Kuparuk River Field, and Pioneer Oomgurik project) I feel that the oil industy can safely complete and produce from offshore drilling projects.
The biggest hazard that I see is if government or outside groups get in the way of keeping the focus on safety; and if regulations become so cumbersome so as to make production too costly or changes to improve safety and production become difficult or impossible to implement.
I have also have done engineering work in the Nuclear Industry and during that time the industry was over regulated and the focus on safety and moving forward was lost.
Thanks
They country needs to take on the responsibility of making a huge change to our energy production and consumption topology. We need cars and trucks that use battery power. And, the battery technology is already here, regardless of what the car manaufacturers say. Lithium Iron Phosphate battery chemistry is an example. To produce the juice, we need a Manhattan project for wind, solar, nuclear, and enhanced hydro (such as the turbines being install in the gulf stream off Florida). Our train system can also be converted to pure electrical via overhead feeds, instead of Diesel Electric. The only transportation sector that needs liquid carbon fuels for an extended period is the aviation industry. Liquid carbon fuels can be produced from forest, ag, and urban green waste and trash. Leave the oil in the ground for our children. What is missing? Why can’t we get started with this? No leadership at the national level.
For myself, I drive an NGV, and use an electric bicycle I have personally assembled to get back and forth to work. I have purchased no more than 25 gallons of gasoline (for my yard maintenance equipment) over the last 6 years. Solar panels power my home, thanks to a very good rebate program in California (The one good energy related thing to come out of government!)
We must locate drill more, produce more, seek creative fuel sources. We must become lest reliant on foreign fuel sources.
And what do you (or, more likely, your children) do when these 60 Billion barrels run out?
Wake up.
Conserve.
Seek alternatives.
Don’t be mindless sheep running to the trough.
The one factor that seems to be the impetus in the ‘sudden’ need to re-open discussions about drilling at offshore sites is that any new drilling sites may take months, if not years, to produce oil. Environmental laws or not, it will take time to find suitable sites (yes, we know where the areas are, but you need to know the specific site to drill otherwise you’re wasting money and time), time to get crew and equipment there, time to hit ‘hot spots’, and time to have the oil refined at refineries that are already out of date, so we will need more time to either update or build new ones. And even many of the refineries here in TX are being used by MX to refine their oil since they have not built a single refinery in decades.
Opening potential new oil fields in the Gulf would only post any benefits, such as they are, in a few years, not now.
The United States is faced with increased inflation and an economy that is dependant on oil to function. We need to have steady predictable sources of energy to ensure our economy can continue to thrive. No matter how much people wish we could not be dependant on oil, it is not possible to change that reliance in a short period of time. Therefore I am in favor of more oil exploration and also the drilling in places like Alaska. But I am also convinced we need to develop more efficient consumption as well as the development of alternative energy sources. The government needs to increase tax incentives for solar, wind and other forms of alternative energy as well as incentives for more efficient energy usage.
This is a political trick. We should be driling on existing leases. Opening up more areas is nothing more than another big oil land grab. Second, opening up more areas for drilling would accomplish nothing in the short term. It would take years to get any oil flowing (note this is the same excuse they use AGAINST renewable/clean energy) Third, our focus should be conservation and a move towards clean, renewable energy sources. Oil is dead. Time to move on.
So why can’t we put our resources into mass transit and alternative fuel sources already!!! Come on, people, WAKE UP! Years and years ago, in New England and other areas in the country we had a trolley system that worked just fine – good mass transit available to all. The oil and car companies put the trolleys out of business. Bring this type of transit back, we can leave our cars in the driveways during the week, save our money as well as our nonrenewable resources! The burbs can stick around and we can all continue to survive…stop with the oil exploration and lease expansion! Enough!
The problem is not offshore drilling! The problem is uncontrolled GREED! The exorbitant profits sought and made are the driving force for this Bush proposal, as with everything that he has done. It obscures providing a real energy program. His strike to sit on Mideast oil certaintly has done nothing but creat this problem.
I think that we should hold off drilling in all currently restricted zones for another 15-20 years. This will help to exhaust other known reserves around the world and send the price to around $12 a gallon. At these prices, many will suffer who rely on their personal autos to move about from their jobs, to the shopping market, etc. Depending on how Americans can adapt, these prices will force a further distrust of the government and at first, a rampant robbery and assault spree will hit, then a violent crime spree, and finally, a recognizing by the law-abiding citizens that they must band together for their country. State governments will begin to regain their former power back from the federal government in order to deal firsthand with the problems facing the individual provinces. Urban sprawl will slow and soon become impossible to afford, with many of the suburban areas turning into ghost towns and their will be a housing crisis that makes this current bump look like a hot blonde warning that we should have enjoyed rather than tried to cover up. The truly rural areas will enjoy all of the same comforts they currently have available with the exception of exotic produce and designer clothing. Extraneous shops will be a distant memory…
Pier One, Pottery Barn, Hobby Lobby forget it.
The best part of this delay in drilling will be the return to active lifestyles that don’t rely on the auto. Children and adults will begin to get used to 85 degree homes and outdoor activities will experience a resurgence on every economic level. Pubs, bars, VFW halls, etc will be packed with people enjoying the collectively paid for air conditioning and a return to the times when intellectual conversation was still available in informal settings will occur. This will result in innovation beyond just energy needs;a renaissance will be upon us in a time that is seen today as a very bleak forecast. We will be better for not drilling and a non-partisan solution to our energy needs will have been imagined…good old american innovation will reign and the pride most of us feel in our country now will spread to those whom can’t imagine a solution could be possible.
And then, we can drill. And that pristine 1971 hemi ‘cuda that I bought in 2015 for $2,000 cause it was worth nothing but the metal its made of will be fueled once again by the delicious petrol it was born to guzzle.
Or we can drill now and it won’t really matter much to me… cause I live in the country and still know what hard work is…all I get is a ‘cuda out of the deal.
For the few barrels of oil that are recoverable (less than 4 years worth at our currnet usage) it is simply not worth it to spend massive amounts of money. Additionally, there are no guarantees the sites being discussed have any oil at all.
What needs to happen is that we need to conserve that which we have and do more with what we are getting. We need 35 to 40 mpg automobiles in this country. I have a Honda Hybrid and get 42 ppg in town and over 50 mpg on the highway. People laughed when I first bought it 2 1/2 years ago. Said I was foolish for paying a premium for “one of those.” Told me the batteries would wear out soon and it would cost me over $5000 to replace them.
Who is laughing now?
There is also the question of mass transit. Of course the folks out in the country can’t get it but they would be directly helped if their city bretheren would do more to bring about commuter trains and busses.
There are no short term solutions. However, shrub’s “solution” is just a sick joke meant to placate the dullards who think four more years of oil is worth the cost of going after it. If you folks think oil is expensive now, just wait and see the price if we don’t take positive, proactive steps to become a nation of savers instead of consumers.
We could drill more I suppose but it won’t mean much, its not like they’re not offshore drilling already any way. There are lots of leases already awarded – a significant portion of them are not being developed by the oil company’s who hold them. The undeveloped leases hold almost as much as is available in the restricted areas. In most of the places where drilling is restricted the people who live there don’t want it because it puts at risk the beaches that form the basis of their livelyhood the tourist industry and I suppose you could argue that high gas prices will kill that anyway but the small amount of oil we get from the additional open areas is not much in the grand scheme of things and wouldn’t be available for 7 to 10 years anyway, so the whole argument is just a bunch of election year BS.
Judi
The oil and car companies didn’t put the trolleys out of business…
The citizens of those cities that had trolleys wanted the new thing and the new thing was cars and trucks and they used oil…those people now view it to expensive to continue on the path of using their personal autos and want something cheaper…perhaps the trolley that made since in the past and was forced out by the people will return for the people. But remember that a segment such as transportation exists because the people want it. You must raise the price of oil to an amount that puts it out of reach for all but those who can’t perform their job with mass transportation(ie: rural farmers, postmen, short range delivery trucks, etc) and those jobs only exist because they remain necessary even in a mass transit society. Don’t fault the auto comps and big oil…America’s desire for freedom to move about the country was just a niche that car company’s and oil was able to exploit. They didn’t create the problem, but they did fuel it. Ha, fuel it…
THEY HAVE OIL WE HAVE FOOD CUT THE FOOD AND SEE HOW HIGH THEY JUMP AT OUR COMAND. FOOD DONT GROW WELL IN DESERT SAND
If we have reserves, that’s where they should stay – in reserve. Let’s use everybody else’s oil first. That being said, we as a country should make a switch to alternative energy now. When oil companies and Republicans are salivating and urging immediate action, everybody should watch out because they are about to rob the country again.
The bottom line for everyone here. We live on a finite planet and have an economy that only works if it can grow in perpetuity. We are at the end of what the world can sustain in terms of our energy usage and economic growth. New drilling is a political ploy to keep the lemmings moving in line towards the cliff. Hug your kids and grand kids and tell them you’re sorry for the world they inherit will be an echo of what we enjoyed at their expense.
Alternative engines should be developed. Return to steam from hydrogen combustion derived from electolysis. Use oil for plastic car bodies. Oil is useful in many other ways than fuel. The economics of such a change would not harm any industry and indeed creat a source for rebar. Light weight plastic cars…non polluting combustion and enough rebar to build and empire. What could be more simple?
Why does it have to be one or the other? We need a combination of energy alternatives (nuclear,solar,wind,hydrogen etc..). Don’t drill and give up on renewable sources and conservation AND don’t ignore the current crisis and wait on oil alternatives to solve the issue.
We need to pursue oil exploration, I prefer Alaska to offshore mostly because it would be safer and the people there want it. Most of us have been to the beach, how many have been to or live Alaska? – besides offshore platforms are more susceptible to disasters like hurricanes and terrorism. Plus opening up some areas (Alaska) will show other oil producing countries and the market speculators that we won’t be manipulated and can be independent.
That said – WE CANNOT give up on and must drastically pursue alternatives and conservation. It’s the smart way to go, and our strong efforts now will ensure energy for future generations. We’re not saving our reserves for future, because years from now they’ll be looking at oil use for energy like a horse drawn carriage.
Conclusion – open up Alaska, and use some of our strategic reserves now(which we can replenish from Alaska and when the prices come down once we start). PLUS give tax breaks and grants to anyone who builds a new refinery, drastically reduces use, increases efficiency and devotes themselves to developing clean renewable energy. Do a COMMITTED mix of both and we can have our cake and eat it too…and trust me other countries and the market will notice,..and prices will come down.
I think it would be safer for the environment to drill offshore than in ANWAR. Other more “green” countries such as Norway already do so and could probably help us with the technology needed. However, if we do drill, it still is only a band aid. I don’t agree with drilling just to decrease prices – we’ve been babied too long this way. We need to drill to reduce foreign dependence on oil, create jobs in a sucky economy. And any decision to drill MUST include a decision to really research alternative energies and bring back public transportation. Just as Ike developed the highways, we need another Ike to take on public transporation in our county. We don’t need 3,4,5 cars for every household. It’s time for America to grow up.
It’s a shame we had to build the railroad system, the interstate system and all this country’s airports over the past 150 years. Where were all the enviromentalists to stop all that progress ?
Yes, we should use our own natural resources. That is the main reason we bought Alaska in the first place and made it a state. Where has all the common sense gone ?
When the gas prices started to go up, I was actually happy that maybe this would lead people to think about new way of going forward, restructuring our selfish values and creating healthier lives for our kids. But no… We will sacrifice anything, even our own kids’ future, just to be able to carry around our lazy asses in SUVs…
No, I’m not in favor of more drilling. At least not more drilling as the only answer.
The most current CIA factbook data (accurate as of 2004/2005) on the US gives domestic oil production at 8 million barrels per day and oil import at 13 million barrels per day. Oil consumption was at 20 million barrels per day. Notice the numbers don’t add up! OIL EXPORT of 1 million barrels per day! IF we open up the coast for more drilling, how can we guarantee ALL of that oil ends up in the US? In the free market economy, it can’t be done.
More data from the CIA Factbook: Proven domestic oil reserves are 22 billion barrels. At 20 million barrels per day consumed, that gives roughly 1000 days. Call it THREE YEARS of known reserves!!!! There is probably a lot more oil in the ground, but not one knows for sure where it is. This is exploratory drilling the oil companies are asking for. How many years until oil is struck and hits the market enough to lower crude oil prices?
High fuel prices are here and are staying.
Strangely I don’t totally blame the oil companies. I do believe that speculative investors who got rich speculating on risky investments in the housing market have moved on to oil. Oil being one commodity we can’t seem to live without.
more/new drilling holds us back from real progress and from the real answers such as; less cars on the road, more developmentment/new development of mass transportion systems in mediate to large cities, tying in a greater area to include rual outskirts, a national mag-lev “bullet” train possibly from new york to hollywood and back creating potentially millions of new jobs for decades to come… No solutions come from pain. In this case, pain at the pump. Let prices soar!
Didn’t see this coming, W? I recall it being an issue 40 years ago, so what have you done for the last seven? Oh, that’s right, lied us into a war, got 200,000 people killed needlessly, ran up the largest deficit ever, signed the death sentence of social security and numerous other programs, allowed the country’s infrastructure to crumble, and allowed 12 million undocumented potential terrorists to invade across the Mexican border while professing to protect us. So now as the clock strikes 12 in our stricken country you suggest we tear up the environment for a short-term oil fix five years from now? Typical from you. Go play on your ranch and let an honest adult take over and lead. That’s what you were supposed to be doing BTW. Worst president ever.
What Bush, McCain and the other big oil buddies will not tell you is that no matter how much of the ocean they drill, it will not provide any significant or near term relief to our fuel crisis. The truth of the matter is that they are being pressured by the big oil companies to open up new off-shore leases which will in turn cue the analysts that cover their company to release favorable earnings estimates driving thier stock price up… Lets be clear,,,you and I and every other “average” American will not benefit from lifting this ban. BushCo is simply siezing a political opportunity to push his agenda…sound familiar?
All those in favour of more drilling, and in particular within the Artic Refuge are a disgrace.
I’m glad gas is going up, its time to convert to clean fuels and this is the only way its gonna happen.
America is the biggest consumer on the planet, and now you want to drill more for maybe another 10yrs worth of oil if your lucky. What then, invade someone else?
Heres a concept Americans havent thought about, look down below your belly, if you can see past it, you’ll notice some strnage objects at the end of your legs, these are feet, in other countries they use them for walking, try it, you might like it!
“It is time too screw all those eviro-freaks and drill!” – paul – SHAME ON YOU! How can you possibly ignore the simple fact that YOU ARE an extention of this planet, and YOU ARE the environment. Do you honestly think that what effects the planet negatively (ex: green house gases, oil drilling, oil spills, and pollution in general) will not effect you? Our actions and decisions absolutly effect us. ALL of us. The planet will survive. It always has, it is the human race that will be gone. Drill, it doesn’t matter, but don’t be ignorant to what is at stake.
The question is how long will it take to get those wells off shore pumping? Most estimates I have heard is well over 5 years. How does this help the situation at hand. It simply does not. This is a Capitalist economy. The only way out is through innovation. Time to start looking at other fuel sources. The other side of this is that if you breakdown a barrel of oil, most of it is used to create plastics and other by products. Where will the world be without plastic? Oil is a major ingredient in Fertilizer what replaces it there? It is time to change, It is time to start new industries, it is time to redefine the world’s economy. The United States is the engine of the world, time to start working.
More/new drilling holds us back from real progress and a future that is far closer to oil-free than oil-dependent.
More/new drilling holds us back from the real answers such as; less cars on the road, more developmentment/new development of safe reliable mass transportion systems in every mediate to large city, tying in a greater area to include rural outskirts, a national mag-lev “bullet” train possibly from new york to hollywood and back creating potentially millions of new jobs in numerous states nationwide for decades to come.
Honda, Toyota and GM are now rolling out new cars lines that include everything from hydrogen and electric fuel to cars to cars with mixed fuel power sources of both hydrogen and electric power that emit nothing at all except water vapor.
Carmakers also claim these vehicles aren’t short on power or performance. Carmakers know if they don’t deliever they’ll lose business.
Oil companies however, didn’t care so much how their bloat would affect the greater public or cars companies, so now car companies don’t need so much to consider oil companies when designing the cars of the future. And that’s good news for us, the greater public, in the long run.
The oil boys see their future and it’s real short, so they’re desperate to keep the good times rollin’, and we know from history how succesful they’ll be at pulling off that feat.
To that end, our progress might not be as good and solid as it is now were it not for our present circumstances.
We are though on the precipice of a great oil-free future, there’s no turning back now. Face it, it was going to happen anyway and very soon. Let’s continue with relatively painless begining of the change over now, saving our future generation the apocalypse that would certainly befall them by waiting too late.
Our great-grandchildren will judge us harshly. I prefer they call us strong know we were beholden by will to make sure things evolved naturally if not somewhat painfully.
No, solutions come from pain. In this case, pain at the pump. Let prices soar!
No more drilling! I believe that, perhaps, Bush let the oil prices get so high so he could further his destructive agenda. This is not a solution but a bandaid that will impact the world we live in for generations.
Having been driving for 10 years…
I hate that I have to rely so much on my car. I think it’s time over the next decade to change our societal structure. We need more sidewalks and bike lanes. Instead of having large megacenters with long lines, we need smaller local shops within communities again. I cannot even ride my bike on the road because it ‘belongs’ to the many cars traveling by, even though the law states I’m allowed to. Imagine the quality of life if you could walk or bike places!
Do we think for one millisecond that the tax incentive to buy gas hogs was NOT a planned addiction to the teat of big oil–orchestrated by forces behind the throne?
I think nobody can deny that the crunch we are in now has encouraged a lot of great innovation and alternative fuel research. I Honestly don’t think we are anywhere close to the breaking point economically of having to drill our last oil resources. That oil isn’t going anywhere and I’m not in a rush to support drilling at this moment. Wait until peak oil hits for real (not the artificial inflation we see now from speculators) and then drill.
We dont need to dig for anymore oil. The problem lies in the refineries. there are too little refineries to extract fuel from crude oil. We dont need anymore drilling sites. Right now WE are demanding about 20+ million barrels a day. The refineries produce only about 17 million barrels a day. The bottom line, we have enough drilling sites but not enough refineries. Do some research.
When 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
wow, 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!
Drill 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.
Why 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.
I 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.
Yes 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.
Drilling 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.
Drilling 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.
So 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.
The 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.
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