Posted on 05/10/2008 7:10:19 AM PDT by reaganaut1
OUR THREE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES SHARE THIS PECULIAR infirmity: None of them has any backbone. If they did, then instead of blaming Big Oil for soaring energy prices, they would stand up to some real culprits responsible for the run-up. These are politically powerful coastal states like Florida, New Jersey and California, which time after time have placed their parochial interests ahead of the nation's critical need for energy independence by prohibiting the offshore production of natural gas and oil.
Of course, oil companies have no electoral votes. And wealthy Californians, some of whom own property overlooking the oil-rich Santa Barbara Channel, are never slow to underwrite the costs of presidential campaigns. This might explain why in June 2007 all three presidential candidates were conveniently absent from the Senate when a vote came up on Virginia Sen. John Warner's proposal to allow drilling off the Virginia coast. It was roundly opposed by colleagues from New Jersey, Florida and California, on the nose-under-the-tent theory.
There are an estimated 86 billion barrels of oil and 420 trillion cubic feet of natural gas under the Outer Continental Shelf that technically is recoverable. The government says 54% of that energy is in the Gulf of Mexico and 31% is off Alaska. Florida alone, according to a 30-year-old energy survey, has an estimated 22 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 3.88 billion barrels of oil within 125 miles of its Gulf coastline. There's probably more, but Florida officials won't countenance a probing of the seabed within 125 miles of the state's coastline, citing environmental concerns.
The fact is, drillers have an enviable safety record and arguably have done less damage to mother earth than have the construction and tourist industries on shore.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.barrons.com ...
“The price of oil would drop instantly if the President would declare through executive order the lifting of all restrictions on domestic drilling and refining. And then do it.”
I don’t know if he can do that by executive order.
But the President has the power of Pardon. He could pardon all oil companies for past, present or future drilling activities. I think he could apply this to both civil and criminal issues.
I am not sure, but is there any Constitutional scholars here on FR who think otherwise?
Gads, you're right! That movie was funny because of its basis in truth.
Yeah that’s a great reason not to drill, because it will “take years.”
Like time stand still, and by the time those wells are producing, all of humanity will be long gone.
Funny you bought up that movie. I thought the same thing, this is a liberals dream.
If Bush wasn’t the traitor I know him to be, he’d tell the Sierra Club and all other orgs that oppose building refineries to take a hike and would sign an executive order directing the building of refineries all over the U.S. though preferably near ports. The Feds could then sell these refineries to private companies.
The wealthy of Florida and California don’t care if gas goes up..it just eliminates some of the traffic that gets in their way. They are also invested in oil companies and firms that profit from higher prices(and could profit from drilling in US waters).
Then there are lot of good people who still believe that drilling and production and transportation of oil will spoil their enviroment..even people who have worked in the industry but now live in Florida or CA.
It will take even higher prices for the ordinary people to rise up and demand more drilling. Perhaps when they see their new utility bills for their new 3500 ft home in the snowbelt..and their 20 mile commute in winter is costing them already.
Brazil went from desperately using ethanol to asking to join OPEC because they started using the best technology offshore and struck it rich.
It's a simple problem of aesthetics.
Design the oil rigs to look like a crack pipe and these people will be perfectly happy.
The price of oil would drop instantly if the President would declare through executive order the lifting of all restrictions on domestic drilling and refining. And then do it.
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He’s not going to do it, nor would McCain, Clinton or Obama.
There's no shortage of oil only, refineries.
In PA, the Republican party is the the other wing of the Republicrat party, so there is no support in either party for a conservative politician and most are sell-outs before they ever get to D.C. Do they care about the country? Hell, no. They represent THEMSELVES and THEIR interests. Do they belong in Congress? NO.
There is no political will for off-shore drilling at this time. Same for nuclear power. When gas is $15 a gallon, things may change.
Right in front of Barbra's house.
On a serious note - there does not appear to be a strategy to assure (or to recover) secure oil supplies at tolerable cost.
The Fairbanks North Star Borough is spending $1.3 million to check into coal-to-oil conversion locally since the oil crisis will be a community disaster by next year. The study won’t matter at all but it is the thought that counts and maybe Sen Stevens can earmark $250 million to construct the plant sometime in the next decade or so.
It was President Carter, who by executive order, banned domestic oil exploration off the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf of Mexico.
I think that is part of the problem.
The other part is, as a country, the only way to finance the liberal giveaway, is a national debt. And that national debt needs to be bought by OTHER countries to keep it going. These other countries use the money WE pay to fill up our cars, to buy our country from us. Our politicians aren’t about to stop building this house of cards called the US.
We don’t own our country anymore. The politician over the years, have sold us to the Chinese and the Arabs.
That's the trouble with politics and politcians, everything is short term. We need to be looking long term and begin right now to develop all those areas.
Exactly. And if you and I knew it, so did they when they did it, which is why I'm certain they were willing to do it for their own profit. The bill is coming due for us very shortly, and these people deserve to be strung up like the Ceausescus.
Because it may cost some votes, and if something ever goes wrong, ie storm damage, oilspill etc, they don’t want to be associated with it.
They will profit at our expense.
I am just amazed at the stupidity of the average American. Sigh.
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