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Should the U.S. Allow Offshore Oil Drilling?
Offshore oil drilling won't fix anything
Oil is a non-renewable reasource, so drilling more out of the Earth isn't going to give us any more than is already there. Instead of using a temporary fix, we need to invest more in green technology so it's as eco-friendly as possible and availible to everyone. Until we can use this alternate technology, there are other solutions. Walk, ride a bike, take the bus... do anything that you can to reduce your consumption of oil.
- madninjamonkey
December 14, 2008 11:24PM
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Riding your bike isn't a solution
The thought that offshore drilling won't fix anything is absurd. Look at the money that drilling brought to Texas. You don't think that kind of money might be useful to researchers trying to find your "eco-friendly" solution? Money does not grow on trees, especially in this economy. The income offshore drilling could bring to this country would definitely help the economy. While you are correct in saying that oil is not a renewable resource, you seem to believe that that means we should stop using it. We need to come up with renewable sources, true, but we still have plenty of oil left to use before we get there. The gas companies won't mind that we don't use gas anymore if they own the nuclear power plants that power the future.
- richardsonkr
January 15, 2009 9:04PM
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Reply to richarsonkr
When you say, "the money that drilling brought to Texas", don't you mean, "the money that drilling brought to the Texas oil companies"? For some reason, I don't exactly see the CEOs of oil companies lining up to fund wind and solar power.
I don't advise nuclear power because we don't know what do to with the radioactive waste, which isn't safe at all for us or the environment.
Oil drilling hurts the environment, so even if there is still some left, it doesn't mean that we should wreck the world to tap into it.
And just to be contrary - money does grow on trees. It's made out of paper.
- madninjamonkey
January 15, 2009 9:53PM
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TFQYA
When I say, "the money that drilling brought to Texas," I mean exactly that. Farmers who owned land with oil in it sold to the oil companies for big bucks, the oil companies hired huge numbers of people, and all of the stockholders (who are regular people, despite what Nancy Pelosi would have you believe) and many employees, not just the CEOs, got very rich. With all this extra cash coming in, everyone not invested in the oil company now had a great deal of newly wealthy consumers who helped business throughout the state. Everyone wins. I mean what I say.
With or without your stamp of approval, nuclear power is the most viable renewable power source we have left, though it may not be the most PC. Most people who think for themselves and question authority, and don't worship at the green altar support nuclear energy. That doesn't necessarily mean that other forms of energy are invalid, it simply means that they are as of now inferior. Not to say more research and development couldn't change that, but it certainly seems like reinventing the wheel to me.
As for oil drilling hurting the enviornment, recent history has shown us that if we don't drill for it, the Chinese will. Either we can drill for it, with our heightened sensitivity for the enviornment and our numerous safeguards, or we can let the Chinese, who frankly don't give a damn, so long as they get their oil. Furthermore, since we don't have a valid solution to the energy problem other than injecting more oil into the equation, this is what needs to happen. Using a bicylce as your primary mode of transportation is simply not feasible in this country.
Trying to ban everything that "hurts the enviornment" is ridiculous. Humans aren't good for the enviornment. Since I don't think you want to eliminate the human race (though there are those who do) we're going to have to do the best we can with what we have. There is a lot that goes into drilling for oil, especially at sea, that makes it as safe for the enviornment as possible. As for nuclear, we do know what to do with the waste. We put it in drums and bury it a few miles down in big rooms with concrete walls with lead in them. They're even looking at new technology that will let them convert radioactive waste back into material usable for fission. You reall need to stop drinking the green kool-aid and start Thinking For Yourself and Questioning Authority. You don't have any argument other than "That's not good for the enviornment."
And just to correct your contrary remark, money does not grow on trees. It's made out of cotton. Furthermore, even if it did grow on trees, simply printing more money has invariably made the situation worse, not better.
- richardsonkr
January 16, 2009 6:56AM
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