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Why the Candidates Dodge Offshore Drilling
Barron's ^ | May 12, 2008 | Jim McTague

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 ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 110th; 2008; drilling; energy; hillary; issues; mccain; obama; oil
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To: reaganaut1
Face reality, folks. We are NEVER going to drill for oil off our coasts. And we will be paying for $10 a gallon biofuels before we are desperate enough to do anything about our dependence on oil.
41 posted on 05/10/2008 9:11:34 AM PDT by LiberConservative ("Typical" White Guy)
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To: reaganaut1
For the same reason they pass insanity like HR 4279. They did because most are bought and paid for by corporations. This is no longer a nation of “WE THE PEOPLE” it is a corporate sponsored and manipulated dictatorship and among the top supporters are party leadership in the Democratic and Republican Parties. A Bush on the drilling issue or China will sell you out as fast as a Clinton for example. But a Bush uses W.O.T. or so called Free Trade Agreements as a selling point to the gullible. We're fresh out of honest leaders in Washington, DC except a hand full. Those who are honest soon get labeled fringe wingnut kook by the corporate Media and the corporate owned RNC. Nobody dares call them tyrants because their OUR Tyrants. Many of their enablers also call themselves conservatives well imagine that.
42 posted on 05/10/2008 9:27:53 AM PDT by cva66snipe (Three Blind Rats. Three Blind Rats, See How They Run. See How They Run. Hillbomacain)
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To: Rennes Templar

“Too little too late to avert the present shortage. It would take years for this to impact US production.”

That was being said decades ago. We gotta start sooner, not later. The longest journey starts with a single footstep. Correction, it starts with getting off ones a$$.


43 posted on 05/10/2008 10:01:01 AM PDT by hdstmf
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To: reaganaut1
It would take years for this to impact US production

This is utter nonsense. The reason that it will take years is the time figured in to fight and win all the litigation that will be thrown at ANY proposal by the environmentalist movement.

Even the deepest oil well can be drilled in a couple of months at most.

44 posted on 05/10/2008 10:13:35 AM PDT by Species8472 (Time to drill in ANWR)
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To: All

.........................................................

Quote from Barack Obama’s book, Dreams Of My Father:
“THE PERSON WHO MADE ME PROUDEST OF ALL, THOUGH, WAS MY [half brother], ROY..HE CONVERTED TO ISLAM”.

From ‘Dreams of my Father’, “IN INDONESIA, I SPEND TWO YEARS AT A MUSLIM SCHOOL” “..I STUDIED THE KORAN..”

From ‘Audacity of Hope: “LOLO (Obama’s step father) FOLLOWED ISLAM....”I LOOKED TO LOLO FOR GUIDANCE”.

From ‘The Audacity Of Hope, “I WILL STAND WITH THE MUSLIMS SHOULD THE POLITICAL WINDS OF WAR SHIFT IN AN UGLY DIRECTION..”

From The Audacity Of Hope, “WE ARE NO LONGER JUST A CHRISTIAN NATION, we are also a Jewish nation, a MUSLIM NATION, a Buddhist nation, a Hindu nation, and a nation of nonbelievers.”

HATRED OF WHITES:
From Dreams of My Father, “ I FOUND A SOLACE IN NURSING A PERVASIVE SENSE OF GRIEVANCE AND ANIMOSITY AGAINST MY MOTHER’S RACE”. Barack Hussein Obama

From ‘Dreams of my Father’, “The emotion between the races could never be pure, even love was tarnished by the desire to find in the other some element that was missing in ourselves. Whether we sought out our demons or salvation, the other race (WHITE) would always remain just that: menacing, alien, and apart.” Barack Hussein Obama

From Dreams Of My Father: “That hate hadn’t gone away,” he wrote, BLAMING “WHITE PEOPLE — some CRUEL, some IGNORANT, sometimes a single face, sometimes just a faceless image of a system claiming power over our lives.” Barack Hussein Obama

From ‘Dreams Of My Father’, “There were enough of us on campus to constitute a tribe, and when it came to hanging out many of us chose to function like a tribe, staying close together, traveling in packs,” he wrote. “It remained necessary to prove which side you were on,to show your LOYALTY TO THE BLACK MASSES, TO STRIKE OUT and name names” Barack Hussein Obama

THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS!!
A WHITE CANDIDATE WOULD HAVE BEEN CRUCIFIED FOR MAKING SUCH STATEMENTS!!!
.
.

http://www.examiner.com/a-534540~Can_a_past_of_Islam_change_the_path_to_president_for_Obama_.html?cid=dc-article-obama

http://www.examiner.com/a-536474~_Trapped_between_two_worlds_.html?cid=dc-article-obama


45 posted on 05/10/2008 11:16:38 AM PDT by cyberella
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To: roses of sharon
My Energy "Maverick" Manifesto:

* Cease all ethanol production. It requires more energy to make than it yields and the unintended consequence is higher food costs. Corn production shifted from feed-corn to subsidized corn for ethanol. Just say "no" to ethanol!

* Immediately create only ONE "blend" of gasoline and cease regional "boutique" blends which are stupid, costly, and meaningless. Even if this is the "cleanest" blend, just make it ONE and be done with it. Trucking custom blends around the country is wasteful.

* Lift the restrictions in order to drill for oil in Alaska, Gulf of Mexico, and other sites in the CONUS as a matter of national security.

* Encourage the petro industry to construct state-of-the-art refineries and/or retrofit current and dormant ones and crank up production for our newly-found oil in the CONUS.

* Make all “carbon credit” scams unlawful. Discrediting Algore should have been a slam-dunk a long time ago. Stop electing Reps who buy into the Global Warming Hoax.

* Construct SEVERAL, regional Pebble-Bed Reactors (or other similar modern designs) that are not considered "breeders", are rechargeable, and cleaner than any current nuclear generator design.

* Use the residual heat from the reactors above to process motor fuel from coal and/or shale. Even though Clinton "stole" some of the best coal reserves, we still have a lot to use.

* Become independent enough to make the cartels (i.e. OPEC) inconsequential.

* Convince local taxing bodies to lift or cap the sales tax on gasoline so that as gas prices go up, the local tax collectors don’t see a windfall revenue jump at the expense of the consumer. The Federal government could compel the states (and locals) to cap the fuel taxes.

46 posted on 05/10/2008 7:09:32 PM PDT by SERKIT ("Blazing Saddles" explains it all.....)
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To: SERKIT
Your hired for “Operation Maverick”.

Seriously, I'm using your stuff to send to my Congressman and others, also my local newspapers ect.

All of us should do the same.

Thanks!

47 posted on 05/10/2008 9:55:10 PM PDT by roses of sharon ( (Who will be McCain's maverick?))
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To: roses of sharon
You're hired for “Operation Maverick”.

Seriously, I'm using your stuff to send to my Congressman and others, also my local newspapers etc.

All of us should do the same.

Thanks!

I am flattered. Look for more tweaking as this continues, in other words, the 'manifesto' will show up again here, much to the chagrin of some, and the enjoyment of others.

Coming soon is a targeted manifesto regarding ethanol.

The 'energy manifesto' was sent to Sen McCain's website (intact) asking him if he wanted "straight talk" on the energy policy (or lack thereof) for this country.

It was also sent to VP Cheney (early, shorter version) and I got a "canned" response thanking me for my interest and assuring me that the VP is too busy to reply individually.

You may also see a paper "institute" that cranks out FAXes to the news media, like many other paper "institutes" quoted in the news that is nothing more than a guy in his PJs sending stuff out from his basement!

48 posted on 05/11/2008 6:05:04 AM PDT by SERKIT ("Blazing Saddles" explains it all.....)
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To: Rennes Templar
Too little too late to avert the present shortage. It would take years for this to impact US production.

True, but it would probably hit the market sooner than ANWAR oil could. Any candidate who does not advocate expaned exploration off the continental U.S. in addition to ANWAR is playing politics with the issue and isn't serious about reducing our dependency on foreign oil.

49 posted on 05/11/2008 6:07:50 AM PDT by Non-Sequitur
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