[Nightwanderer]

How does everyone here feel about the idea of increasing offshore oil drilling? On one hand I feel we need to focus more on making alternative energy/fuel sources more commonplace,
for the sake of our future economy as well as the environment. On the other hand, oil being as essential as it has been since the industrial evolution, and the position this country is in with both the middle east and venezuela, I understand the need to find more local oil for now. The key phrase on my mind here is 'for now.' I don't believe that if we gave big oil the privelage and the means to drill for oil off of more of our coast lines that they wouldn't take a mile for every inch we were willing to give. How do you feel about it?

[Nabisco]

I'm all for drilling offshore. Only problem is it will take time. I just found a recent article here in Delaware however on alternate energy sources. Delmarva power just signed a contract with Blue Power (I think thats the name of the company) to make a large wind farm about 50-70 miles off the coast of Delaware. First of its kind in the US if it goes through. It'll be completed by 2012 as long as Blue Power can find a few more financial backers. It has the support of the Delaware State Legislature, so we'll see how that goes.

[futurepilot]

Offshore drilling is a waste of time, money and the environment. There's at best 2 yrs worth of oil in the gulf. and its not like the oil companys will flood the market with cheap gas, prices will stay the same, it will just delay the enevitable. When we must run our cars without petroleum

[Usf97j4x4]

Future has a point. 2 years of oil in the Gulf which will take 10 years of permitting and construction to access (provided we approved the drilling). Not to mention China is sucking it out like a straw across the table at a steak and shake...

The impact to the environment is really negligible. The technology and durability of today's rigs makes them very sound. They can be sheared off the borehole and not spill a drop with the quick cut off systems they have.

[Usf97j4x4]

Originally Posted by futurepilot

Offshore drilling is a waste of time, money and the environment. There's at best 2 yrs worth of oil in the gulf. and its not like the oil companys will flood the market with cheap gas, prices will stay the same, it will just delay the enevitable. When we must run our cars without petroleum

Did you know Hitler converted much of his army's vehicles to run off of methanol in case gas/diesel supplies were cutoff? It doesnt release the same power when burned but hell its cheap.

[futurepilot]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit_Electric

Check out the news for 2008

[bioman]

IF there were enough oil to help tide us over until alternative energies get online, I would be all over it. However, it seems the Gulf has more prospects for natural gas rather than oil production.

Despite suffering from higher prices like everyone else, I am enjoying seeing millions of bright minds spark to life attempting to solve our energy dilema. Necessity is the mother of all invention .

[Kruger]

Originally Posted by bioman

IF there were enough oil to help tide us over until alternative energies get online, I would be all over it. .

There is. Counting the oil off the east and west cost as well as the world largest oil shale deposits we have fomr Colorado to Canada and couting ANWR.


Whatr is stupid is to deny US compoanies to extract a valuable resources before it becomes obsolete.

Here is an idea, invest in new technology and extract oil and sell it to other countries. You know, make money? We can't do that though...money is evil.


"The MMS estimates that the quantity of undiscovered technically recoverable resources ranges from 66.6 to 115.3 billion barrels of oil and 326.4 to 565.9 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. The mean or average estimate is 85.9 billion barrels of oil and 419.9 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. These volumes of UTRR for the OCS represent about 60 percent of the total oil and 40 percent of the total natural gas estimated to be contained in undiscovered fields in the United States. The mean estimates for both oil and gas increased about 15 percent compared to the 2001 assessment. For the oil resources, the vast majority of this increase occurred in the deepwater areas of the Gulf of Mexico, while for gas resources the majority of the increase was in deep gas plays located beneath the shallow water shelf of the Gulf of Mexico."




All the government has to do is mention the fact that we are opening those areas up and the speculators/investors would go running to the hills. Oil would drop by 30% by the mere commitment to drill.

[Kruger]

Here is an idea...have the government drill themselves and have them sell it on the open market to fund the infrastructure upgrade you need to actually support electric cars.


Nah..that makes to much sense.



Here is another idea....lift the retarded sanction we have on Brazil for importing ethanol (nah..can't do that..free trade agreements hurt us )...invest in sugar cane crops in the Caribbean to produce our own sugar cane based ethanol. You can make every Caribbean island the Saudi Arabia of sugar cane ethanol. Nah...makes too much sense.



What do they do instead? Subsidize corn ethanol that makes us use 30% of our corn crop for 3% of our fuel. We got real Einsteins in Congress now passing the new farm bill.

[bioman]

Agreed. There are so many better ways to tackle the problem and all we get out of both sides of the isle are some stupid ethanol mandates that drive up the cost of food and fuel and taxes.

[young4life]

Originally Posted by Soup Nazi

Here is an idea...have the government drill themselves and have them sell it on the open market to fund the infrastructure upgrade you need to actually support electric cars.


Nah..that makes to much sense.



Here is another idea....lift the retarded sanction we have on Brazil for importing ethanol (nah..can't do that..free trade agreements hurt us )...invest in sugar cane crops in the Caribbean to produce our own sugar cane based ethanol. You can make every Caribbean island the Saudi Arabia of sugar cane ethanol. Nah...makes too much sense.



What do they do instead? Subsidize corn ethanol that makes us use 30% of our corn crop for 3% of our fuel. We got real Einsteins in Congress now passing the new farm bill.

GOOD POINTS! I AGREE 100% We should go get that oil, but mandate improvements on fuel usage across the board. There's a lot the US can do but won't, because the special interest has their hands deep up those politicans ass. They rather let people starve than do the right thing.

[Iron Warrior]

Originally Posted by Soup Nazi

Here is an idea...have the government drill themselves and have them sell it on the open market to fund the infrastructure upgrade you need to actually support electric cars.


Nah..that makes to much sense.



Here is another idea....lift the retarded sanction we have on Brazil for importing ethanol (nah..can't do that..free trade agreements hurt us )...invest in sugar cane crops in the Caribbean to produce our own sugar cane based ethanol. You can make every Caribbean island the Saudi Arabia of sugar cane ethanol. Nah...makes too much sense.



What do they do instead? Subsidize corn ethanol that makes us use 30% of our corn crop for 3% of our fuel. We got real Einsteins in Congress now passing the new farm bill.

Holy crap clown, I think your politics and history knowledge is about to surpass your bbing and nutrition knowledge LOL.

[dave12]

Originally Posted by futurepilot

Offshore drilling is a waste of time, money and the environment. There's at best 2 yrs worth of oil in the gulf. and its not like the oil companys will flood the market with cheap gas, prices will stay the same, it will just delay the enevitable. When we must run our cars without petroleum

Could you site your reference?

[futurepilot]

Originally Posted by dave12

Could you site your reference?

You can find the info anywhere, i dont have a specific reference i used. But estimates are that there is anywhere from 3-15 Billion barrels of oil/natural gas in the gulf, and thats in the lower tertiary fields, which have yet to be proven that their even viable options for consistant supply. The U.S. uses 7-8 billion barrels a year, so at best there is 2 yrs worth of oil, at best.

The environmental concerns are obvious, you have to disturb the ocean floor, which harbors life, possibly undiscovered life at that depth, and while the likelyhood of an oil spill is very small, its not impossible.

And as far as oil companies controlling gas prices? That goes without saying.