Bush Wants offshore drilling

[2FarGone]

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush asked Congress Wednesday to permit drilling for oil off America's coasts -- on the outer continental shelf -- to combat rising oil and gas prices.


If President Bush can persuade Congress, more oil rigs like this one off Canada could appear off U.S. shores.

"There is no excuse for delay," the president said in a Rose Garden statement.


http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/06/...ore/index.html

[OnePimpTiger]

There was an article out a couple of days ago where McCain was calling for offshore drilling as well.

Obviously we don't want to have an oil rig every mile down the coast and ruin the beauty of the ocean, but some drilling would help out our oil situation and still preserve the beaches. Other countries are drilling off our shores just across the border in international waters and then selling it back to us...so drilling is already happening, but we're getting none of the benefit from it.

[mikesilvia]

Well, since Vietnam, China and other countries are drilling off our coast, why not America? Who do you think will be more environmentally friendly?

[11chaos]

It's all a scam. The Oil companies are making out before someone leaves office and won't have the ability to raise prices without retribution(sp?).

[mikesilvia]

Democrats have restricted:

• Refinery building
• Nuclear power building
• Off shore drilling

Then wonder why the demand for energy has outpaced the supply. Maybe if they weren't all lawyers before they became politicians they would understand basic economics.

[tutall]

There was an article out a couple of days ago where McCain was calling for offshore drilling as well.

Obviously we don't want to have an oil rig every mile down the coast and ruin the beauty of the ocean, but some drilling would help out our oil situation and still preserve the beaches. Other countries are drilling off our shores just across the border in international waters and then selling it back to us...so drilling is already happening, but we're getting none of the benefit from it.

they arent talking about drilling 30 feet out in the water at your local beach... they are talking 5-50 miles offshore which you wont even know they are there... like mike said... the chinese and cubans are doing it anyway.... might as well join in and get some of our own oil

[streicher187]

Democrats have restricted:

• Refinery building
• Nuclear power building
• Off shore drilling

Then wonder why the demand for energy has outpaced the supply. Maybe if they weren't all lawyers before they became politicians they would understand basic economics.

Why is it Dem? It was Ronald in 1982 that first banned drilling, then Bush Sr. Then Clinton..

This is the dumbest argument I have heard, drilling will not produce oil for up to 10 years and then that's IF there is oil there... The oil companies already own the rights to millions of acres of land they are not even exploring in so why don't they explore those before wanting more land??

And where is the "Proof" China is drilling

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/251/story/40776.html


We are addicted to oil, you don't give an addict more of what he need.. If they didn't want to offend big business they could solve the problem in other ways but god forbid they make the motor companies change their policies or take any money away from big oil..

[OnePimpTiger]

Why is it Dem? It was Ronald in 1982 that first banned drilling, then Bush Sr. Then Clinton..

At the time Reagan banned it, was gas running over $4/gal? It didn't cause a problem then, but it is a problem now. And now, the Democrats won't let it happen. That's why it's Dem.

We are addicted to oil, you don't give an addict more of what he need.. If they didn't want to offend big business they could solve the problem in other ways but god forbid they make the motor companies change their policies or take any money away from big oil..

We're also addicted to electricity...should we cut that out too? It's called they want a feasible option. Oil drilling and producing technology is already available on the necessary scale and could be started right away. Alternative fuel technology is still in the development phase and far from being a viable option, especially on a massive scale. Should we just deal with outrageously high oil prices for the many years it will take to make it a viable option? Unnecessarily? It's not like the auto companies have this technology just sitting on the shelf and could drop it in cars at any time. The alternative option that is farthest along is ethanol, which is causing food prices to go up and still requires massive amounts of oil to produce. If we move towards electric motors, electric energy will skyrocket, as the US is already near capacity and there aren't enough power plants planned to meet the expected increase in demand as it is.

I don't think anyone wants to rely on oil as primary for the long-term, but as it stands right now, an increase in American oil production in the short-term could help prices at the pump while we develop other fuel sources and give us more leverage with the other oil producing companies.

[streicher187]

At the time Reagan banned it, was gas running over $4/gal? It didn't cause a problem then, but it is a problem now. And now, the Democrats won't let it happen. That's why it's Dem.

Energy speculators were not allowed to invest like they did.. That wasn't wasn't untill the Enron law was passed by the republican congress.. The Dems want to close the loophole but are being fought.. And Since Drilling has been banned the Republicans have had the white house for 18 years to the Dems 8..

IF they start drilling today it would take up to 10-15 years at some estimates before the first drop came out of the ground and on the conser. side 5-7 again though

WHY ARE THE OIL COMPANIES NOT EXPLORING THE MILLIONS OF ACRES OF LAND THEY HAVE LEASES ON????? They want more but won't even explore in Alaska where they can.

IF I was in charge it would be simple 10 steps

1.Have a ballot question in each state do you want drilling yes or no
2.Have the oil companies that drill sign an agreement that if there is a spill do to ANY reason they lose the right to drill on ALL US LAND and lose thier land permits..
3.Car companies must reach 45 miles per gallon on all vehicles in 20 years and at least 25% of their automobiles must run on something other than oil/gas
4.STOP subsidizing the farmers and have them grow Sugar that can be used for Sugar ethanol.
5.TAKE THE TAX BREAKS FROM THE OIL COMPANIES AND FOR GODS SAKE DON'T GIVE THEM ANY MORE LIKE MCCAIN WANTS..
6.Encourage Nuclear power and offer free power for 10 years to anyone within x amout of miles of a nuclear power plant if they accept it into their comunity..
7.Offer tax breaks to people who install solar or wind power on their property supply their energy.
8.Offer tax breaks so people can switch their heating over from Natural Gas to electic
9.Offer incentives to gas stations and companies to have ethonal installed at their station (If done right like brazil ethanol is a great source but not with corn).
10.Get the speculators out my making them either
........A. Have to put up 75% of the cost of their speculation instead of current 10
........B. Demanding that they must take deliverary of the oil that they purchase

The congressional panel they had on today the "experts" predict gas would drop within 30 days by as much as 1.00 a gallon if you instituted number 10 alone..


And your electricity argument is pointless, we don't rely on our energy from other countries. Even if we tapped ALL the oil(and IF IT IS THERE(which there is doubt)) we would still need middle eastern oil

[OnePimpTiger]

2.Have the oil companies that drill sign an agreement that if there is a spill do to ANY reason they lose the right to drill on ALL US LAND and lose thier land permits..

That's just the kind of narrow-minded idea that would keep oil companies from drilling. Why would they sign something like that if their whole operation could be in jeopardy because Fred is hungover and having a bad day? Oil companies don't want a spill more than anyone else....They would lose the money from the oil spilled, have to spend a bunch more money to clean it up, and have all the bad press from it which would likely result in less money for them as well. They care much more about profits and money than you or I care about the damage from an oil spill. They don't need any other motivation to prevent spills, it would already be one of the worst possible things that could happen to their company.

4.STOP subsidizing the farmers and have them grow Sugar that can be used for Sugar ethanol.

I agree with stop subsidizing farmers, but how are you going to make them grow sugar without some kind of incentive. Also, if you vastly increase the number of farmers growing sugar, that means there are many less farmers growing other crops, which will cause the price of those foods to increase the same way corn ethanol is doing. And if sugar farmers want to sell most of their crops for ethanol purposes, then the price of sugar in the food market goes up, which results in another increase in food prices. It's the same thing as with corn ethanol.

6.Encourage Nuclear power and offer free power for 10 years to anyone within x amout of miles of a nuclear power plant if they accept it into their comunity..

100% agree w/nuclear power, that needs to be a major part of our energy solution in the upcoming years. And it seems like the only real problem is the environmentalists won't let them be built.

8.Offer tax breaks so people can switch their heating over from Natural Gas to electic

Until more power plants are built, this is not a good option. If more people want oil, it's there...the price may go up, but it's available. Electricity has a capacity, there's only so much that can be made and right now, the US is nearing capacity. We already use a large portion of what is supposed to be reserved for spikes in everyday use. If the demand rose past a certain point, then we would start having rolling blackouts like Cali did a few years ago.

And your electricity argument is pointless, we don't rely on our energy from other countries. Even if we tapped ALL the oil(and IF IT IS THERE(which there is doubt)) we would still need middle eastern oil

But if we start producing more and there's less demand on foreign oil, guess what: the price goes down. It's simple supply and demand. Just because we need their oil doesn't mean we have no leverage in the game at all.