Posted on 06/20/2008 8:21:24 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Gas is $4 a gallon. Oil is $135 a barrel and rising. We import two-thirds of our oil, sending hundreds of billions of dollars to the likes of Russia, Venezuela and Saudi Arabia. And yet we voluntarily prohibit ourselves from even exploring huge domestic reserves of petroleum and natural gas.
At a time when U.S. crude-oil production has fallen 40 percent in the last 25 years, 75 billion barrels of oil have been declared off-limits, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. That would be enough to replace every barrel of non-North American imports (oil trade with Canada and Mexico is a net economic and national-security plus) for 22 years.
That's nearly a quarter-century of energy independence. The situation is absurd. To which John McCain is responding with a partial fix: Lift the federal ban on Outer Continental Shelf drilling, where a fifth of the off-limits stuff lies.
This is a change for McCain, but circumstances have changed. When the moratorium was imposed in 1982, gasoline was $1.20 and oil was $30 a barrel. Since the moratorium was instituted, we've had two wars in the Middle East, and in between a decade of garrisoning troops in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and the UAE to preserve the peace and keep untold oil riches out of the hands of the most malevolent of our enemies.
Technological conditions have changed as well. We now are able to drill with far more precision and environmental care than a quarter-century ago. We have thousands of rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, yet not even hurricanes Katrina and Rita resulted in spills of any significance.
(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...
Does anybody know just WHY we have to import our oil? At what point did we begin to cut our own production in the seventies, and why? Use and demand hasn't declined, and the only thing I can think of is the enviro-whackos influence over congress. Is this correct?
Lindsey Williams - The Energy Non-Crisis - Part 1 of 8
Lindsey Williams - The Energy Non-Crisis - Part 2 of 8
Lindsey Williams - The Energy Non-Crisis - Part 3 of 8
Lindsey Williams - The Energy Non-Crisis - Part 4 of 8
Lindsey Williams - The Energy Non-Crisis - Part 5 of 8
Lindsey Williams - The Energy Non-Crisis - Part 6 of 8
Remember drill here now!
Yes!
Sign the petition at Newt Gingrich's American Solutions website:
Doesn’t that make them hypocrits?
Well, honestly, I hate making this mistake ..
but I do it all of the time Unfortunately!
We are a Constitutional Republic.
The greatest nation under God.
Sorry for the screwup.
No problem. :-)
It is just that when I hear “democratic republic”, I think of someplace like Angola in the 1980s, the Congo, or some other commie hellhole.
Greed fuels (an interesting statement in its self)all other sins.
If oil fuels the means of our Republic, why would we not be greedy for it? Is that really a sin? The stupidity and apathy you speak of...destroys our country. I agree.
As much as I love this country and have been willing to die for it..we have not always been honorable. Look at history. We are survivors. Survivors aren't always honorable. We are as honorable as we can be to survive in a very dishonorable world.
There were good things that came from Iraq. Good for them, good for us.
NObama 2008- Strange we ain’t believin’
I was thinking of something like the immigration grade cards some of the anti-immigration webs have for each Congresscritter. That would really make it clear to voters who is on their side and who isn't.
Actually, the thing which made foreign oil more attractive was the fact that it was cheaper. The U.S chose to import oil because they could import it cheaper than U.S. companies could drill for it.
Yes, I almost can’t believe it, but I’m strangely unmoved!
Thank you. I got to thinking about it and realized I had no recollection of any certain point at which we began to cut back on our own production.
Good name.
It sure as h: e: double toothpicks AIN’T the speculators artificially inflating the price of oil, but the evil ones trying to sell their product that are the cause of outrageously stupid overpricing of a commodity there hasn’;t been a shortage of in 30 years.
No, it MUST be greedy oil barons forcing the price higher without constricting the supply.
Perhaps a lesson in supply vs demand with a tutorial in speculative forcing might be in order.
i think so,
and i smile when they get angry
as i notice that they’re on some summer vacation
via an airline!
Charles. Got refineries?
If we tried to raise the price of corn, etc. just on the OPECKERS then other trading countries would simply step in to sell the commodities at market prices. Why don’t we investigate which Saudis and others have contributed to terrorist causes? Then we prosecute and sue them for damages followed by seizure of their assets. Most of those kleptocrats nationalized and seized our assets in their countries. Let’s return the favor.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.