[TANaples]

One other question? What happens to these oil rigs in the Gulf or off the coast when a hurricane hits?

[ssg II]

One last push for George & company to screw us.

[doggiebus]

Originally Posted by FutureTexan

That leads me to believe that our government is causing false fear for an oil shortage when the realities are that we have excess oil we just don't have the facilities to refine the crude.

I'm not a conspiracy guy but I honestly feel the government is doing this on purpose.

Bingo! Two oil guys heading this country. What else could we of expected, they have to help out their oil buddies, since they helped them, but they are not the only ones to blame. So we have the housing boom everyone was happy, then we have the housing crisis, then we had the fed lower interest rates which then lowered the value of the dollar around the world, which then led to the increase in oil pricing (because the cost of a barrel of oil is based on the dollar) which has put us where we are today. And yet there are still people who think we have a great leader.

As far as the oil rigs, I really don't think its a good idea, and sad to hear our Gov. Christ has started to flip flop on this issue. When I went to Santa Barbara a few years ago, had lunch on the beach and looking out at the oil rigs of their coast its just plain ugly. And Santa Barbara is a beautiful place. Its time to invest in other sources. If other countries can get off oil, we can do it. Only if those that have the power to change it, want to, and at this point, those in power are connected to oil for their own pockets. People don't understand how washington works, I hope people are starting to wake up.

[jojajn]

The production of US oil from domestic drilling will never keep up with our demand. Until we find another source of oil, the oil producing countries will be super power.

[jojajn]

Originally Posted by jojajn

The production of US oil from domestic drilling will never keep up with our demand. Until we find another source of oil, the oil producing countries will be super power.

I meant: until we find another source of ENERGY, the oil producing countries will be the super power.

[the_pines]

You guys can go on all day and night with that "practical" stuff as people love to put it. Nothing cool or eccentric is ever practical. Its a corporate world. There are no buyers market or sellers markets and all that mumbo-jumbo. They're always corporate markets advertising to the little guys. Wake me up when people can actually harness clean energy that wont require shelling out money all the time. The world already has too many bills. Notice how many poor people and families that barely get by there are around the world? Billions. I honestly think there are probably a ton of alternatives that could have been tapped and lessened the burden on people around the world. Its just all that red tape and money grubbing that holds up real progress for people. It doesn't take a genius to find viable alternatives. Its been done a ton of times. They just get bought out, or slammed for being impractical.

To me, any mention of more drilling just means the world is headed for a disaster. The average person cant do much about it. Its the power chronies wherever they may be, that will have the entire world brought to its knees and subjugated under their control in the quest for monies. Any hope of a more genuine world is in vein as long as the worlds current power holders rule.

Also is there any chance that intensive oil drilling in the Gulf could increase regional water temperatures? That would be an extremely bad thing during hurricane season where one or two degrees could probably make a big difference considering the size of a hurricane. Or runoff could be harming bottom feeders on the ocean floors nearby.

Oil is crummy old technology thats forcefed to us. That's what I think. It doesn't help to try and get away from it when the entire world is so dependent on it, and every countries military has to have it. Good luck ever getting away from anything the military relies on. You can bet you will have it pushed down your throat until militaries move on.

[wacahootaman]

"it would take yrs, maybe a decade or more, before any oil would come from these new rigs

in addition, they think there is only a few yrs worth of oil

so, is it really worth it?"

It will take years to find cures for many diseases. So why spend billions on research?

It will take decades to slow global warming and reduce CO2 emissions. So why try?

It will take years to develop and intergrate alternate energy technologies into our economy to make a difference in our oil imports so why try that either?

It make years for new oil production to come on line. But the real benifit will be that we will be less dependent on foreign oil and our state ecnomy will benifit from the royalties.

Florida is cutting back on most government services in a crisis mode. Wyoming currently has a 2 billion dollar surplus in the state coffers due to roytalties paid to the state by oil companies for oil and nat gas drilling.

Natural gas drilling in Wyoming boosts economy - June 11, 2007

A quote from the article.

"The local economy looks like a boomtown case study. In an area roughly the size of Connecticut, there isn't a single stoplight, but there are now five banks (up from two in 2004) and 11 real estate agencies. Since 2003 the county has built a senior center, a hockey rink and an indoor horse-riding area. A $17.2 million aquatic center - complete with two swimming pools, a helical slide and racquetball courts - is under construction. The school district has bought laptops for every fifth-grader, and teachers' base salaries have nearly doubled in four years."

There is no reason why we cant do everything that is needed to relolve this energy crisis including conservation, alternate technology and increased oil production from drilling where the oil is.

It is not an either or argument. Lets do what ever is necessary to turn this crisis around.

[wacahootaman]

Originally Posted by jojajn

The production of US oil from domestic drilling will never keep up with our demand. Until we find another source of oil, the oil producing countries will be super power.

True, but why not increase production and at the same time decrease demand for oil by conservation and developing alternate technologies?

It cant be done overnite. But if you do both sides of the equation in 10 years we wont be held hostage to foreign oil imports.

It is stupid to declare massive oil prospects off limits to exploration and production while our economy crashes precisely because the cost of oil is bankrupting everyone.

Better late than never.

BTW, if Clinton would have not vetoed drilling in just 1/10th of 1 percent of ANWAR 13 years ago that oil would be comming on line now.

[wacahootaman]

Originally Posted by FutureTexan

If you've ever been to Galveston, TX you know that it doesn't take a spill to ruin the beaches. Galveston has cleaned up ALOT but to this day you can still see the effects of oil in the water, on the rocks, and on the beaches.

The worst beach that I ever saw in Florida for tar balls on the beach was Ft Lauderdale and there are no off shore drilling rigs off Ft Lauderdale.

The tar balls were coming from the ship traffic to Port Everglades.

The fact is that almost all of the oil spills in the ocean come from ships not from off shore drilling which is almost harmless to the enviroment by comparison. Even after two Cat 5 hurricanes in the gulf went through the heart of the oil fields in the Gulf in 2005 there were no oil spills because the valve is shut down at the oceans bottom before the hurricane hits and even if the rig on the surface is destroyed, no oil leaks out.

Pensacola has gorgeous beaches and yet there is major offshore drilling only 50 miles miles from Pensacola in offshore Alabama.

Any oil spill of off shore rigs off Alabama, Miss and La could wash up on Florida's west coast beaches if the conditions are right so new off shore drilling is not needed to spoil the beaches.

The fear of off shore oil spills is way overblown.

It is an uninformed and ignorant fear and has prevented what could be major oil finds that could be decreasing our dependance of foreign oil.And OPEC has a point when the ask why they should increase their production to lower the price of oil when the US wont even explore its offshore waters.

There could be huge new oil fields offshore and with the new 3 D sysmic technology we should spot them right away only allowed to explore and drill.

A two track energy strategy is needed to decrease our dependence on foreigh oil. Alternate energy and conservation on one track and increased oil production on the other track.

[jojajn]

waxahootaman, I doubt that your state will see any benefit from offshore drilling. You mention Wyoming but what about Alabama, Miss and La, which you mention in your second post. Do they reap huge royaties also?

I don't think we will see a difference in the price of gas either no matter where and how much we drill. We should have put mass transportation in place over that past 20 years. Now the airlines are going bankrupt, cutting flights, and closing airports which only makes the average American more dependent on oil because now he must drive to major airports. The first vacation I spend in FL where I see rigs in view from the beaches, will be my last there.