Report: 63% of All Oil in U.S. Waters Comes From Nature, 1% From Offshore Drilling

demint.senate.gov ^

[Sub-Driver]

Report: 63% of All Oil in U.S. Waters Comes From Nature, 1% From Offshore Drilling 07/14/2008 - 03:51:26 PM FOX News reports that 63 percent of all oil in U.S. waters comes from natural seepage, 32 percent comes from consumers (boaters, jetskiers, etc.) and only 1 percent comes from offshore drilling. They also note that the U.S. Coast Guard has documented a dramatic reduction in oil spills in the last 30 years as environmentally friendly drilling technology has advanced.

[Bernard Marx]

IIRC this is the second time around on the LNG proposal with defeats both times.

At my doctor's office recently I chanced on a recent "Santa Barbara Magazine" that profiled the core anti-drilling Enviro movement locally. As one would expect it's centered at UCSB but much private wealth is involved. I emailed the magazine to try to get a single copy and got a snarky response about a full subscription for an outrageous amount.

If any Santa Barbara freeper can find a copy it would be a fantastic resource for opposition research.

[appeal2]

This is completely false. There have been no oil leaks during any drilling in recent memory. The last blow out well that occurred in open US waters was nearly 20 years ago. Some ships use heavy oil as ballast and they were know to dump ballast when necessary outside US waters (and sometimes inside them at night). I don’t believe this practice is still occurring, but correct me if I’m wrong.

[maine-iac7]

The fact that this information is actually making it to the networks is amazing and an indication that we may be turning a corner = educate the public. Bury the mantras of the left and let the facts be known.

This gives me heart.

Let's slam the halls of Congress tomorrow with FAXes and emails. Scare the bejeebers out of them.

Ask them why they are still in favor of our being dependent on the sheiks for our energy needs when we could supply all we need, forever - and the sheiks can fill their swimming pools with their oil no one needs.

Why, dingy harry?

[maine-iac7]

[BallyBill]

I'm sure my 2 Stroke Mercury Outboards are feeling a little guilty right now.

[RightWhale]

Pumping oil out of the sea floor ought to reduce the amount of oil leaks

Might be a slight reduction. Probably not noticeable to the average person. Still, it's a better point than anything the Dems are coming up with in Washington DC.

[moreisee]

“My thought is that Indians frequenting western beaches were cleaning oil off the bottom of their feet long before the white man reached the west coast of the United States.”

The town was named by the Spanish for the Chumash Indian carpenters who built ocean canoes there. They chose that area because of the abundance of natural occurring tar used to caulk the boats. Everyone still complains about the rigs when they get tar on their feet though.

[DoughtyOne]

Thanks for the good point. I appreciate it. I didn’t remember that one, but I’m sure I’ve heard it before. Ah the mind...

LOL

BTW, that beach up there is very nice unless it’s right after a big storm, and the sand is washed away to reveal a lot of rocks.

As you know, you can walk out about a quarter of a mile and still be waist to chest deep at times.

[Enchante]

"There's a huge amount of oil in that channel but the rich folks who live there and at oil-rich points north and south don't want their views "spoiled" by ugly old oil platforms."

I've sometimes had the thought that what oil companies need to do to turn around the (non)debate on off-shore drilling is to commission some renowned artists to create new forms and shapes for drilling rigs and platforms to go off-shore. Make it the "world's greatest modern art project" -- Surely there must be some ways to create really 'aesthetic' platforms with exterior panels, colors, sheets of fabric, etc. without interfering with the underlying rigs and mechanisms...... sort of modern art with a drilling rig focus. Art + utility, or maybe something like the Pompidou Centre in Paris which has all kinds of innards and pipes, etc. visible from the outside, painted in bright colors.

Exxon-Mobil as the world's leading sponsor of modern art -- think about how that would have the greenies wailing and whining!

It would cost more for the construction and maintenance of the rigs and platforms, but at current prices it could be well worth it and if it could succeed in "re-framing" the assumption that off-shore oil and gas industry a polluting eyesore then the greenies would be on the defensive more and more.