Our lives revolve around oil. Oil brings food to our stores, comprises the fibers in our carpets and makes the plastic in our DVDs. With demand so high it’s no wonder attention has turned to supply, with some advocating the U.S. lift the ban against drilling for oil off its coasts. Is offshore oil drilling a golden opportunity, or would it only create a tidal wave of disaster?
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Should the U.S. Allow Offshore Oil Drilling?
Drill baby drill but it ain't going to change the real problem.
Hi my name is America, and I'm addicted to Oil.
[Audience responds, "Hi America"]
I became addicted to oil because for over the last 30 years I have not invested in signfigant mass transit systems in the South and West which are the areas of the country with the most population growth. (San Francisco, Atlanta, and Seattle are exceptions.)
Then I have created a car culture that is fueled now by buying the largest and most obtrusive vehicles on the road, SUV's. People want to be seen. I mean hey I am America we are a flashy set of folks. Problem is SUV's are gas guzzlers. At the same time I have not required more strigent fuel standards. The big 3 have not changed their engineering and marketing designs. It took a Japaneses car maker Toyota to understand making more cost efficient and fuel efficient cars will sell. Oh well.
Also at the same time even though its pretty obvious that we've grown too large for just oil. I mean America uses 25% of the world's oil and has less than 5% of its people. Yea I'd say we just a wee bit out of control.
Get this too. As other countries and companies can see my addiction they keep going up on the product at crucial times. Damn I know they're hustling me, I'm just so addicted I can't say no.
What is this? There's more Oil in Alaska!?!?!! Then drill!!!! It won't be available for at least another 7-10 years? That's okay, I'll just keep going off what I have. As long as I can get more soon. [Counselor chides in this won't make much of a change in consumption and price if any.]
What it alone won't make up for the expected increases in energy consumption? But its more right? It'll taste better right being American right!?!?!?! Good enough for me!!!!
So keep giving me gas and not giving me my methadone of hybrid cars, better city planning, and renewable energy. I'll clean up. I promise. Just let me ride down the street in my Expedition in rush hour traffic through downtown okay?
I
- D Reck September 11, 2008 10:29AM
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oil leases
I think instead of giving lucrative oil leases to the oil companies the politicians should set up a division within the national parks to drill and mine on federally controlled land. The division could go to Alaska or where ever they could get oil on the market the fastest and drill. They could build a pipeline to ship the oil across federal land and sell it at market price. $4-5.oo per barrel could be put into a fund devoted to clean up of federal land even to the point of returning the land to its natural state once the oil is gone. Half the profits could be used to finance other drilling and mining operations. The other half could be used to finance environmentally friendly projects. Instead of leading the world in pollution the US could lead the world in the fight against global warming.
- Alan123 September 14, 2008 6:01AM
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Face Reality
You are wrong on so many points. First off, hybrid cars aren't the answer. They are cars that get good gas mileage but not atronomically good and when they are buring gas, they are creating emmisions just like any car. In fact, in the 1970's they had cars like the Chevette that got better gas mileage. Never mind the huge environmental impact of the batteries for a hybrid. Did you know that a Hummer has less of an environmental impact than a Prius for the first 2 1/2 years? If you really cared about the environment, you'd be driving a 1970's Honda whose environmental footprint is near zero.
While we should absoluetly be pouring tons of money into other renewable fuel sources, the reality is we are decades at best away from getting off our oil addiction.
And for you to say that offshore drilling is bad for the environment, you make no sense what so ever. Do you think the Saudis are worried about the environment? Do you think Chechnya is concerned about greenhouse gases? How about worker safety? Think that they are worried about that in Yemen?
And what do you think causes oil spills? Oil tankers, the ships that currently bring us our oil. How many hurricanes need to rip through the gulf with zero damage for you to wake up to the obvious? Because if you are really an environmentalist, you should be screaming to drill here instead of importing a drop of oil from overseas.
Lastly, don't forget that in the last 20 years there have been 100 million barrels of oil spilled due to offshore drilling, 95%+ of which outside the US. Whereas over 650 million barrels of oil are spilled every single year by that enemy of the environment, mother nature.
Environmentalist extremists are wacked. We need electric cars, never mind that we don't have the electricity to run them because we can't use nuclear thanks to dopey movies from the 1970's like China Syndrome. We can't damn rivers because it will hurt fish. We can't use wind power because it kills birds. We can't drill here. But we need to get off foreign oil. The day I see Al gore ride a bike somewhere, I'll buy into the movement.
I AM an environmentalist and I am for nucelar energy which produces no greenhouse gasses, I am for safe and monitored offshore drilling under any circumstances but especially considering the laternative of getting oil from some where else and having it shipped here, I am for wind power (my apologies to the bat population), I like hydrogen fuel cells if the hydrogen can be produced by renewable means.
- Pliskin
October 2, 2008 11:33PM
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