Offshore Oil Drilling to Get Another Look in Congress (Not as long as the Rats are in charge)

fox news ^ | 6/11/2008 | fox news

[tobyhill]

WASHINGTON — With oil and gas prices reaching record highs and little relief in sight, Republican members of Congress are looking at a long-sought, but so far unsuccessful plan to open American shores up to more petroleum exploration.

Rep. John Peterson, R-Pa. is leading the charge Wednesday, when he'll push for an amendment to a spending bill that would open up U.S. waters between 50 and 200 miles off shore for drilling. The first 50 miles off shore would be left alone.

"For 27 years, Congress has deliberately locked up vast offshore oil and natural gas reserves," Peterson said, according to USA Today. "With the price at the pump increasing daily — with no end in sight — and the cost of natural gas trading at record levels, Congress needs to unlock these reserves."

Most oil production and exploration has been banned since 1981.

According to Peterson's office, the U.S. Minerals Management Service estimates that 86 billion barrels of oil and 420 trillion cubic feet of natural gas can be found along the U.S. outer continental shelf, the area affected by the ban.

Peterson is not alone in his desire to open up the shelf. An effort to unlock the resources has been underway in Congress in recent years, and several interest groups are backing the effort, too.

[PubliusMM]

Time for phone calls and emails to the Congress Critters...

We MUST do this.

[avacado]

"...86 billion barrels of oil and 420 trillion cubic feet of natural gas can be found along the U.S. outer continental shelf..."

We need to get at the INNER continental shelf too. Much more oil there!

[11th Commandment]

Sorry- the Republicans had both house and the White house for six years and nothing happened!!! CRAZIES to the LEFT and WHIMPS and the RIGHT.

[sono]

[Conspiracy Guy]

I have some flying pigs for sale.

[RightWhale]

Won’t matter. Vertical integration would take care of this present problem.

[samtheman]

Republicans should stand up and FIGHT on this.

If they lose on the floor, they’ve got to take it to the media.

They can’t let go of this.

They’ve got to show the American people that there are SOME politicians who actually care about the survival of the US economic system and all the people in it.

[j_k_l]

Here is something you can do...

American Solutions - Drill Here, Drill NOW! Follow the link and sign the petition.

[11th Commandment]

We need to get at the INNER continental shelf too. Much more oil there!

YUP, what all these alternative energy nuts forget is that if the US developed a source of fuel that could power trains, planes, and automobiles tomorrow, the US would still have to double domestic production to be oil independent for all the other wonderful products oil provides for us.

[tobyhill]

Exactly. We have 10 times all natural resources than Saudi Arabia but we can’t touch it.

[LtKerst]

We must point out continualy that it is the Democrats who have brought us to this Point in Time, where Oil and Coal , and gas is this expensive.

Because of Opposition to drilling,
Because of Over regulation to new refinery construction.
Because of coddling Eco-Nazi extreemists,
Because of greedy over-taxation,
Because of Car-pool Lanes that cause traffic Jams.
Because of resistance to Freeway expansion.
Because of Anti-Nuclear Power construction
Because of Global Warming Junk Science.
Because of endless fraud and waste in worthless Alternate Fuel Ideas.
The Democrats are to Blame for High fuel costs, and energy costs.

[j_k_l]

Exactly. We have 10 times all natural resources than Saudi Arabia but we can’t touch it.

The volleyball is hanging above the net with this issue. Which party is going to spike it?

Let's make this election about this issue.

[SF Republican]

Republicans had both house and the White house for six years and nothing happened!!! - So much opportunity wasted. I am afraid this is a situation we may not see again for a long time. Our time in the wilderness is just beginning.

[snowrip]

I would LOVE to wake up one morning to see twenty American oil platforms... arrayed in a line about a half-mile from the Chicoms off Cuba.

[golfisnr1]

The rats filibustered two attempsts to drill ANWAR. The Pubs tried but the envirowackos held sway.

[tobyhill]

The congress doesn’t like it but it is the issue. The Rats are going to lose this one because people are seeing right through the “Green” scam.

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

["... a spending bill that would open up U.S. waters between 50 and 200 miles off shore for drilling.'}

That would be where the Chicoms and everybody else has been drilling. Talk about a day late and a dollar short. IMO, EVERY POLITICIAN WHO VOTES AGAINST INCREASING CAPACITY SHOLD BE THROWN OUT ON THEIR ASSES IN NOVEMBER.

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

PS: Taring and feathering optional.

[PubliusMM]

Seems to me that the Pres could make a good case for National Security and then authorize the drilling by executive order...

Of course, he’d have to wake up and smell the coffee, first.

[DuncanWaring]

The rats filibustered two attempsts to drill ANWAR.

Don't forget the 1995 Presidential Veto of a bill authorizing drilling in ANWR.

$4 gasoline is also part of X42's "Legacy".

[tobyhill]

but Water-boarding is mandatory.

[tobyhill]

Price will never be a National Security issue and would be struck down in a blink of an eye by the courts.

[j_k_l]

The congress doesn’t like it but it is the issue. The Rats are going to lose this one because people are seeing right through the “Green” scam.

I hope you are right and the Pubs do the right thing and ram this issue to the headlines of every news story.

[lesser_satan]

bump

[tobyhill]

I think I'm right and there's a side benefit when people see through it. It will also turn people on the RINOs who have jumped on the NIMBY and Green bandwagons.

[meyer]

The Pubs tried but the envirowackos held sway.

SOME of the Pubs sided with the 'Rats - those individuals, along with the Rats with which they conspire, should be unemployed now.

[bassmaner]

I would LOVE to wake up one morning to see twenty American oil platforms... arrayed in a line about a half-mile from the Chicoms off Cuba.

And a carrier battle group ordering the Chicoms to immediately cease operations inside our 200 mile limit or be blown out of the water.

[j_k_l]

I think I'm right and there's a side benefit when people see through it. It will also turn people on the RINOs who have jumped on the NIMBY and Green bandwagons.

All of the politicians need to be held accountable for this. There are no excuses.

We need the oil.

We need the jobs.

We need to be independent.

The U.S. produces NOTHING anymore. We can turn this around by drilling our own oil. It will create jobs and rebuild our economy.

[Retain Mike]

This letter is going to Congress under the title Congressional Energy Treachery.

Congress is absolutely, personally liable for increased foreign oil dependence and cost. Their propaganda attacks and show trials on “BIG OIL” obscure profit percentages in line with other industries. Their legislation subsidizes and requires burning in our gas tanks food people should eat. We experience higher prices, while 10,000’s of people starve to death in other countries. Their legislation leads into a black hole of foreign subservience.

So-called windfall profit taxes are government fraud. Economics teaches corporations are tax collectors, and not taxpayers. Corporation budgets include income tax provisions as a cost of doing business. All oil companies would face increased costs from a windfall profits tax, and would easily pass the cost on to consumers. Congress would receive the windfall profit by enormous tax enrichment from consumers, while expending no effort except deception

The only price collusion and obscene profits are found within OPEC. They in turn question why we don’t drill for oil off our shores, in the west, and in the Alaskan wilderness (really a desert)? Why don’t we build refineries, and allow factories for conversion of oil shale and coal deposits to oil products?

Drilling for our own oil and building refineries make us energy independent in the short term. Heavily subsidized so-called alternative energy sources provide miniscule additions to the national power grid. The only real alternative energy source providing prodigious energy increases is nuclear power. Building nuclear power plants provides long-term energy independence

[PubliusMM]

Price is not the National Security issue, as you note. However, the potential for extreme disruption of supply due to reliance on foreign producers IS a security issue. Also, the realization that the monies going to some ME entities as payment for crude oil are likely being used to fund the jihadists and insugents against whom we are engaged in the WOT...that is a National Security issue, regardless of the price of crude oil.

I believe a National Security case can be made.

[Blood of Tyrants]

It would take anywhere from seven to 10 years to bring those resources to shore — to have any measurable impact on supply,” Binns said, advocating renewable energy sources.

The nerve of this ARROGANT b*tch! She and her groups have been standing in the way of drilling for TWENTY SEVEN YEARS and now she has the nerve to say that we shouldn't drill because it won't increase the supply for 7-10 years!

Listen, Binns, you arrogant, self righteous, A$$HOLE! How long would it take to increase the supple if we NEVER drill for more oil?

Here is her email address. Let her have it. holly@environmentflorida.org

[Conspiracy Guy]

Reality is, that just starting to “drill here, drill now” would drive oil prices down.

We elect the dumbest of the dumb over and over again.

[RightWhale]

That’s not the problem. The problem is the anti-trust crusaders from a century ago. They broke up Standard Oil and that made this possible.

[DuncanWaring]

It would take anywhere from seven to 10 years to bring those resources to shore — to have any measurable impact on supply,” Binns said, advocating renewable energy sources.

How long before "renewable energy sources" have any measurable impact on supply?

Probably at least seven to 10 years.

[tobyhill]

Renewable estimates are that they could cut dependence by 20% in the next 22 years.

[Politicalmom]

PING!!

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(I apologize if are on the list and don't want to be, or are not on the list and want to be. My computer crashed, and the program I used would not restore my files from the backup.)

[workerbee]

I esp. liked the woman on Hannity's show last night who sanctimoniously announced that "we shouldn't drill in ANWR because Americans don't want to drill there." Besides, she assured me, there's only six months worth of oil there anyway.

[j_k_l]

I just hope we are all pissed off enough to do something about this.

[Williams]

I say follow the money. There is no way it is not flowing from the Middle East to these “environmentalists”. Why else do they oppose oil AND nuclear power, a non greenhouse source of energy?

[DuncanWaring]

So we should pass on something that will take ten years to be productive in favor of something that will take twenty years to be productive.

These people are nuts.

[Salvation]

Here are the phone and fax numbers!

U. S. Senate

U. S. House of Representatives

[Exton1]

BUT Renewable resources?? We don’t have any.

[Blood of Tyrants]

Yes, there is “only” 6 months worth of oil there .... if that field were the sole source of oil for the ENTIRE COUNTRY!

[B-Cause]

Very Telltale..........Questions??

Gas at $4.00 a gallon. Who's to blame?

Thanks to the environmentalist lobby and its influence on Democratic legislators in Congress, the U.S. has, for decades, been prohibited from drilling for oil in places that we know contain billions of barrels of proven reserves.

Check out this map:

All of the "NO" zones are places where the U.S., thanks to the Democratic Party, is prohibited from drilling for oil.

But wait - it gets better.

*** China, Cuba, Canada and others continue to drill off our shores where U.S. companies are not allowed to drill because of
Democratic Policies!

Yes, that's right: China and Cuba are actively exploring oil fields 50 miles from Key West, Florida while U.S. companies are barred from working in this area because of U.S. policy. So, instead of allowing the most environmentally responsible companies to operate there and increase our domestic supply, China, who has a dismal environmental record, is preparing to suck our close, lucrative oil reserves dry.

Unbelievable!

Investor's Business Daily recently explained how irresponsible the Democrats have been on the energy crisis. They lay into what they consider to be the worst Congress ever for Failing to allow drilling in ANWR. We have, as President Bush noted, estimated capacity of a million barrels of oil a day from this source alone -- enough for 27 million gallons of gas and diesel. But Congress won't touch it, fearful of the clout of the environmental lobby. As a result, you pay through the nose at the pump so your representative can raise campaign cash.

Refusing to build new refineries. The U.S. hasn't built one since 1976, yet the EPA requires at least 15 unique 'boutique' fuel blends that can be sold in different areas around the nation. This means that U.S. refinery capacity is stretched so tight that even the slightest problem at a refinery causes enormous supply problems and price spikes. Congress has done nothing about this.

Turning its back on nuclear power. It's safe and, with advances in nuclear reprocessing technology, waste problems have been minimized. Still, we have just 104 nuclear plants -- the same as a decade ago -- producing just 19% of our total energy. (Many European nations produce 40% or more of their power with nuclear.) Granted, nuclear power plants are expensive -- about $3 billion each. But they produce energy at $1.72/kilowatt-hour vs. $2.37 for coal and $6.35 for natural gas.

Raising taxes on energy producers. This is where a basic understanding of economics would help: Higher taxes and needless regulation lead to less production of a commodity. So by proposing 'windfall' and other taxes on energy companies plus tough new rules, Congress only makes our energy situation worse.

These are just a few of Congress' sins of omission -- all while India, China, Eastern Europe and the Middle East are adding more than a million barrels of new demand each and every year. New Energy Department forecasts see world oil demand growing 40% by 2030, including a 28% increase in the U.S.

Americans who are worried about the direction of their country, including runaway energy and food prices, should keep in mind the upcoming election isn't just about choosing a new president. We'll also pick a new Congress.

If you agree with the need to let the American people know who’s REALLY responsible for the sky-high gasoline prices we’re seeing today, please tell everyone you know about this situation.

If we elect a liberal Democrat as president in the Fall and keep the same Democrat-controlled Congress, nothing will change except gasoline prices, which will keep going up.

---

Subject: A Letter to our brilliant Congress

The OPEC minister will look you in the eyes and state:

" We are at war with you infidels. Have been since the embargo in the 1970s. You are so arrogant you haven't even recognized it. You have more missiles, bombs, and technology; so we are fighting with the best weapon we have and extracting on a net basis about $700 billion/year out of your economy. We will destroy you! Death to the infidels!

While I am here I would like to thank you for the following:

Not developing your 250-300 year supply of oil shale and tar sands. We know if you did this, it would create millions of jobs for US citizens, expand your engineering capabilities, and keep the wealth in the US instead of sending it to us to finance our war against you bastards.

Thanks for limiting defense dept. purchases of oil sands from your neighbors to the north. We love it when you confuse your allies.

Thanks for over regulating every segment of your economy and thus delaying, by decades, the development of alternate fuel technologies.

Thanks for limiting drilling off your coasts, in Alaska , and anywhere there is a bug, bird, fish, or plant that might be inconvenienced. Better that your people suffer! Glad to see our lobbying efforts have been so effective.

Corn based Ethanol. Praise Allah for this sham program! Perhaps you will destroy yourself from the inside with theses types of policies. This is a gift from Allah, praise his name! We never would have thought of this one! This is better than when you pay your farmers NOT TO GROW FOOD. Have them use more energy to create less energy, and simultaneously drive food prices through the roof. Thank you US Congress!!!!

And finally, we appreciate you letting us fleece you without end. You will be glad to know we have been accumulating shares in your banks, real estate, and publicly held companies. We also finance a good portion of your debt and now manipulate your markets, currency, and economies to our benefit.

THANK YOU AMERICAN CONGRESS!"

---

Below is a link to a video that is a great message

"Joe, American" Challenges the Presidential Candidates

Click Here

[Exton1]

Send this letter to your representative, and make up a few copies to hand out to strangers. Add your Congress person name to part of your letter.

WE are preparing to start handing out this flyer, though you should know.

HIGH GAS, BLAME THE DEMOCRATS IN Congress and the Environmentalist

Not buying gas for one day will not work, it will still average out the same for the week and month.
What you we can do is to use less gas. Drive slower, bundle up trips, and basically drive less.
Those affected most are those that have to drive to work everyday. They have to drive. But they should be able to cut down on weekend driving.

However, the only way to lower gas is to kick out ALL incumbent politicians, especially Democrats. The Dems have stopped ALL building of Nuclear power plants, want to tear down the dams that give us clean HYDROELECTRIC power, have stopped all building of oil refineries, and have put about 90% of KNOWN oil reserves off limits.

Right now Red Communist China is drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, 200 miles from our shores, and our American companies are not allowed to. WHY?

Gull Island in Alaska has enough oil to supply America for over 200 years, yet it is off limits. Why?

What the Democrats claim they want are alternatives, what they want is something for nothing, and have stopped alternatives or lied about them. If an alternative, that was acceptable to the loony left, was discovered today, it could take almost 20 to 70 years before it became mainstream. Oil shale is an alternative and we have about 1,000 year supply of it, yet it has been BLOCKED
During WWll the Germans made fuel from coal, this process is BLOCKED
In France they use nuclear power plant to make hydrogen during the night when demand it down. Blocked

What you have to understand is that the Marxist environmentalist are self hating, and hate the fact that America is powerful and successful, and feel we use too much power. They want to take us back to before the industrial revolution. They want to turn us into a third world country. They are against capitalism and embrace communism, even though the countries that are poor in this world are run by Socialist, Communist, and Dictators.

We have oil off the cost of California, but it was stopped because the Hollywood Left, environmentalist, and the Democrats said that the rigs would be unsightly and oil would be spilt. THESE ARE LIES. 1. The wells will be located at over 100 miles. Because of the curvature of the Earth, we can the horizon we see is about 20 miles away, anything more than that would be invisible. 2. There has not been a major oil spill from a rig in over 40 years. Even though Hurricane Katrina destroyed dozens of oil rigs, NONE OF THEM SPILT ANY OIL.

America has to wake up to the fact that this crisis is the making of the Democrats and Wacko Environmentalist, NOT THE OIL COMPANIES.
Oil companies have been heavily regulated for about 100 years, that means the CONGRESS not the OIL COMPANIES is responsible.

Talk about Chicken Little’s. Oil prices are high and the left wants to point fingers instead of Drilling, and of COURSE INCREASE TAXES. The so called windfall profit tax did not work under Carter when he tried it, and it will not work now. To dictate what a company makes is FASCISM. Besides the oil companies makes 11 percent profit, the tax is 60%. So on $4.00 a gallon gas, the oil company makes $0.44 and the Government $2.40. Goggle makes 29% profit. Exxon pays more in taxes in one month than Google does in a year. So what windfall profits?

But remember for every finger you point, there are THREE pointing back at you.

WANT TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE, CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES AND DEMAND THAT WE DRILL NOW!!

http://www.house.gov/ or Senate http://www.senate.gov/

[vpintheak]

Traiterous rat and republocants will simply allow China and Cuba to tap all that oil. No worries, move along, nothing to see.

[warsaw44]

But how can the Republicans do this when McCain is against drilling in Alaska? He didn’t even vote on the last ANWR bill just a few weeks ago. I’ll never understand this man. I’ll vote for him but I’m not happy about it.

[PubliusMM]

I keep mine on speed dial... I’ve already called them about this one; several times.

Thanks for the post. Others will find it helpful, I’m sure.

Time to burn up some phone lines.

[j_k_l]

"But how can the Republicans do this when McCain is against drilling in Alaska? He didn’t even vote on the last ANWR bill just a few weeks ago. I’ll never understand this man. I’ll vote for him but I’m not happy about it."

If he hears from enough of us he will be forced to do the right thing.