Nancy Pelosi won't allow the House to vote on new offshore drilling

[crazyjim]

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/blunt-blasts-pelosi-for-not-allowing-drilling-vote-2008-07-20.html

House Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) on Sunday strongly criticized Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) for not allowing a vote on a measure that would allow offshore drilling.

While acknowledging that Pelosi can prevent such a vote, Blunt said the Democratic leader would have to live with that decision, which he argued “does not make sense to the American people.”

“When we’re talking about offshore, we’re talking about 50, 100, 200 miles offshore,” Blunt said on CNN’s “Late Edition.” “Nobody's going to see that. This is an environmentally safe thing to do.”

Earlier in the program, Pelosi had stated in a pre-taped interview that she would not allow such a vote.

“We’re going to exhaust our other remedies in terms of increasing supply in America,” Pelosi said. When pressed on the issue, she added that she has “no plans” to allow such a vote.

Instead, she accused congressional Republicans of having blocked the Democrats’ initiatives to address the country’s energy problems and again called for opening the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to ease the cost at the pump.

“I think what you’ve got to realize here is by saying we should do that, you’re really admitting that supply makes a difference,” Blunt said. “That means we should be going after real supply, not what we’ve been able to hoard away.”

:flamemad::smsoap:

[FordGuy]

Am I allowed to call her A CUXTzilla, Or will Someone get pissed! Oh well!
:gonnablow

[DrMoab]

Yeah and think, she is only two heartbeats away from being president.

[SBrad001]

Am I allowed to call her A CUXTzilla, Or will Someone get pissed! Oh well!
:gonnablow


Sure go ahead. Won't bother me a bit.


You guys crack me up though. Seriously, is drilling on the North Slope going to elevate our current problems? Will gas prices ever return to less than $3.50 a gallon? No. The only thing we can really do is a massive government lead switch to solar power, biofuels, coal derived synthetic fuels and natural gas. The days of cheap crude oil and cheap gas are gone.

[DrMoab]

Sure go ahead. Won't bother me a bit.


You guys crack me up though. Seriously, is drilling on the North Slope going to elevate our current problems? Will gas prices ever return to less than $3.50 a gallon? No. The only thing we can really do is a massive government lead switch to solar power, biofuels, coal derived synthetic fuels and natural gas. The days of cheap crude oil and cheap gas are gone.
They started talking about this last week and crude prices fell 15%. Sure we need to find better and more plentiful sources of energy but... The biggest reason we are paying out the nose is because of the speculation market. They even get a little bit of doubt going and the markets will crash. This needs to happen.

[SBrad001]

They started talking about this last week and crude prices fell 15%. Sure we need to find better and more plentiful sources of energy but... The biggest reason we are paying out the nose is because of the speculation market. They even get a little bit of doubt going and the markets will crash. This needs to happen.


The speculation market is part of the problem, but the biggest problem is that crude production has peaked and demand is still increasing. In another twenty years I don't think you will be able to buy gasoline or diesel that has been made with crude oil. But that's my opinion.

[Bent]

Am I allowed to call her A CUXTzilla, Or will Someone get pissed! Oh well!
:gonnablow
Punt with a capital "C"!

[DrMoab]

The speculation market is part of the problem, but the biggest problem is that crude production has peaked and demand is still increasing. In another twenty years I don't think you will be able to buy gasoline or diesel that has been made with crude oil. But that's my opinion.
I agree with you, but until they do something to make it out of other stuff. We need to get it locally.

My biggest gripe is that we have enough to last us quite a while here. Why not use it? I hate the fact that we have to rely on countries that hate us to get something we(at the current time) can not live without.

[SBrad001]

I agree with you, but until they do something to make it out of other stuff. We need to get it locally.

My biggest gripe is that we have enough to last us quite a while here. Why not use it? I hate the fact that we have to rely on countries that hate us to get something we(at the current time) can not live without.

Reasonable enough, but try this one on.

It would be atleast 5 years, but more like 10 years, before that oil would it. In the same amount of time we could be investing in a viable alternative energy economy and have the frame work implemented. We would then be investing in our future economy instead of an old oil based economy.

[Bent]

Reasonable enough, but try this one on.

It would atleast 5 years, but more like 10, before that oil would it. In the same amount of time we could be investing in a viable alternative energy economy and have the frame work implemented. We would then be investing in our future economy instead of an old oil based economy.
We need to do both.

[SBrad001]

We need to do both.


Yes we do, but I'm afraid that we will only get one of the options. And I'm afraid it'll be the drilling option. Which won't be any kind of investment in our future, just mistake by our politicians.

[DrMoab]

Yes we do, but I'm afraid that we will only get one of the options. And I'm afraid it'll be the drilling option. Which won't be any kind of investment in our future, just mistake by our politicians.
You may be right. It is a shame in so many ways. We could have both but unless we are suffering it just won't happen.

[RichP]

Yes we do, but I'm afraid that we will only get one of the options. And I'm afraid it'll be the drilling option. Which won't be any kind of investment in our future, just mistake by our politicians.

Cheap quick high output solution, allow the coal to lpg plants to also produce Diesel and gas directly, the plants are already set up for it. 180 BILLION Barrels of synthfuel in Montana alone.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/28742/montanas_coal_to_gas_conversion_proposal.html
That article was from 2006, the plants are ready to go, all they have to do is change the valve lineup. Feds are blocking it in court.

[Ironmen77]

Yes we do, but I'm afraid that we will only get one of the options. And I'm afraid it'll be the drilling option. Which won't be any kind of investment in our future, just mistake by our politicians.
How about we let the oil companies drill for oil. Then the rest of us can find a way to invest in the future. The free market WILL find a replacement for oil IF it is profitable. You can't force people to find solutions, capitalism will find a way.

[Boatwrench]

"While acknowledging that Pelosi can prevent such a vote, Blunt said the Democratic leader would have to live with that decision, which he argued “does not make sense to the American people.”

Then what needs to happen is to educate the American people so they can make sense of the predicament. Off-shore drilling is a very, very small piece of the answer. It is a mid-term at best solution and only puts off the inevitable. I am NOT a fan of off-shore drilling having seen the destruction from the oil spill in Santa Barbara that led to the moratorium. I do acknowledge that the majority of major spills have been tankers.

and about Nancy living with that decision...don't worry she will still get re-elected. She may be the Speaker of the House, 3rd in line for Presidency, but she is only elected by the people in the north part of San Francisco and the south part of Marin counties. More Prius drivers per captia than any where else in the country.

[SBrad001]

How about we let the oil companies drill for oil. Then the rest of us can find a way to invest in the future. The free market WILL find a replacement for oil IF it is profitable. You can't force people to find solutions, capitalism will find a way.


Sorry, but I think that point of view is BS. Look at any war time footing that this nation has taken in the last 150 years. It takes a concerted effort for our economy to change this drastically.

If we wait for market forces to dictate this economic change, we, the average citizens, will pay the prices to line the pockets of rich industrialists and our economy will suffer waiting for the change to take place. But if the government allows vast taxes incentives for energy companies to research and develop a new energy infrastructure, we will all benefit.

[Ray H]

But if the government allows vast taxes incentives for energy companies to research and develop a new energy infrastructure, we will all benefit.

Tax incentives arent free. Who do you think pays for these tax incentives? R & D isnt free, who do you think pays for that? The answer to both those questions is ME (and you).
Lets go ahead and dril. Granted, it'll take a few years to get new wells and maybe even a new refinery on line but what else are we going to do with that time? We are too far from making any other for of power profitable right now. We've got to dig ourselves out of this hole before we start climbing.

[WrenchMonkey]

Nancy Pelosi won't allow the House to vote on new offshore drilling

Yep, but the GOP had the run of the show for six straight years and did fukkawl.

I used to care, really I did. I was a literal flag-waving republican.

But they really are all the same. It doesn't matter. Some will say what you want to to hear. Others will say what the other guys want to hear.

And all of em will do exactly fukkawl.

Robert

[JNickel101]

If we would quit doing stupid shit like sending $900 million to Africa every year to fight AIDS, and giving all sorts of 3rd world countries aid....we'd have plenty of money to both drill AND research alternative energy sources.

The latest Economic Stimulus Package should go towards building new oil refineries, nuke plants, wind turbine fields, solar fields, etc. Have the gov't build them, then auction them off to corporations once they're built.

[JNickel101]

Yep, but the GOP had the run of the show for six straight years and did fukkawl.

I used to care, really I did. I was a literal flag-waving republican.

But they really are all the same. It doesn't matter. Some will say what you want to to hear. Others will say what the other guys want to hear.

And all of em will do exactly fukkawl.

Robert

Because at the time, gas was $45-50 a barrel, and we never envisioned that once the Democrats took control, prices would triple :D

I honestly think we were holding on to our own oil so we could drain it all from the Muslims. Then they'd all die b/c their stupid ass countries over here have nothing else to offer the world....

[Weasel]

Reasonable enough, but try this one on.

It would be atleast 5 years, but more like 10 years, before that oil would it. In the same amount of time we could be investing in a viable alternative energy economy and have the frame work implemented. We would then be investing in our future economy instead of an old oil based economy.

I don't know if alternative fuel source could be found in that same time period. I would ~they are out 20-30years to get everything developed and up and running.

And I second Rich's post. Coal liquification is the way to go and the Air Force is currently trying to convert all of their fuel over too it. Which if they do would open up the opportunity to create the infrastructure to pipe it nationally.

[fscrig75]

Lets just drill. As soon as GW said we were going to start drilling prices started coming down. You can blame the speculators all you want but you can't stop them from doing what they do. And as long as there is no new sources for oil they will continue to drive the prices higher.
Also if we don't drill and get that oil someone will. wasn't there an article out there somewhere about China setting up a slant drilling operation around Cuba to get this oil.
And yes we do need to find something new but its not going to happen over night. How long have people been working on electric cars? Seems like a long time to me and still they usually can't go any farther than 45 miles.
Heres a good idea, lets start building more railroad lines. Those living in the North East may have some expierence with Amtrak, but once you get out of that area their service sucks. Why, cause they don't own the lines, the cargo train companies do, and they charge Amtrak and arm and a leg to use the lines. If you've ever been to Europe and used their system then you know what I mean. If we had that in America that would push prices way down.

[RichP]

Also if we don't drill and get that oil someone will. wasn't there an article out there somewhere about China setting up a slant drilling operation around Cuba to get this oil.

The Chinese are pushing for a pipeline from the canadian sand oil fields to the pacific coast so they can get at the canadian stuff. Right now that pipeline comes down into the states, they want to 'T' it. The soviets are exploring the north pole and the polar seas and staking claims to oil and gas they think are there. To quote 'we're doing fawkall' in that direction. We need to clean house in DC and elect some common sense people off the street that have no political connections then we need to get the bribers errrr, lobbyists out of DC.
Right now the coal to liquid is the way to go, I mentioned Montana, but 8 other states are also ready to go who also have coal to LPG plants up and running. South Africa has been doing it for over 30 years and with 3 small plants are putting out 300,000 barrels of product, not oil, product which means they are going straight from coal to gas, diesel and kerosene as well as LPG, per day.
I firmly believe the feds are doing this on purpose, it's just too hard to swallow that the senate, house and president could be that incompetent, so much so that it has to be intentional. The media too, I see the word choices they use, oil goes up $2 a barrel and they say 'Oil ROCKETED TO A NEW HIGH TODAY', sorry, I don't consider a $2 increase a 'rocket', it's more of a fart, a rocket is going from $50 to $100, THATS a rocketing increase, the media fuels the frenzy through choice of words and headlines.
The push for bio fuels from corn and food sources just drives me crazy, it's like a feeding frenzy for politicians, using food sources for producing fuel is just plain nuts, using algae and pond scum makes much more sense, using food products is just plain stupid bordering on criminal.
Just my .02 cents.
Well, I'm going to go waste some gas and hit two movies today, saw hancock and thought it was good, going to see hellboy and dark knight today..

[fscrig75]

Its pretty easy to understand why Senate, House and President, are fighting each other on this. Trying to make the other look bad. If they open up offshore drilling and prices get somewhere back to normal, then McCain was right and Obama was wrong. Remember its election time, nothing is going to get passed till next year. Yea it will take 10 years to actually use that oil, but what do you think is driving up oil prices, speculation about the supply in the future. It has nothing to do with todays supply
Either way we do need to start looking hard at alternatives but no using what we have is just plain stupid.

[JNickel101]

The coal to LPG plants are a great idea...only problem is they require TONS of water, and the midwest isnt exactly brimming with fresh water. I've learned thats the issue with oil sands/shale drilling too. Sure, horizontal drilling is great, but you need tons of water/pressure in order to force the oil out of the rocks and up to the surface.

Regardless...we need to at least start drilling a bit more, along with doing much more in order to become self reliant on energy...

[Ironmen77]

Sorry, but I think that point of view is BS. Look at any war time footing that this nation has taken in the last 150 years. It takes a concerted effort for our economy to change this drastically.

If we wait for market forces to dictate this economic change, we, the average citizens, will pay the prices to line the pockets of rich industrialists and our economy will suffer waiting for the change to take place. But if the government allows vast taxes incentives for energy companies to research and develop a new energy infrastructure, we will all benefit.

I don't understand, so help me out. Are you saying that the government should give those OIL (not energy) companies tax incentives to find an energy source, that is not what they are set up to produce? All the while not letting them pursue what they are setup to produce,because it will take several years to bring it to market, instead sending our money to other countries? While the rest of the world just bitches and expects results. I would rather Conoco-Phillips got my money than someone from another country.
Let them drill/produce oil. The rest of the world can find a profitable way to put them out of business. If the oil companies think they are going to be put out of business, they will help find another energy source and become evil HHO/sun/wind/nuke companies
We are not getting off of oil anytime soon.

[SBrad001]

I don't understand, so help me out. Are you saying that the government should give those OIL (not energy) companies tax incentives to find an energy source, that is not what they are set up to produce? All the while not letting them pursue what they are setup to produce,because it will take several years to bring it to market, instead sending our money to other countries? While the rest of the world just bitches and expects results. I would rather Conoco-Phillips got my money than someone from another country.
Let them drill/produce oil. The rest of the world can find a profitable way to put them out of business. If the oil companies think they are going to be put out of business, they will help find another energy source and become evil HHO/sun/wind/nuke companies
We are not getting off of oil anytime soon.

You sure are short sighted. I could careless and don't trust the rest of the 'world' to develop alternative fuels.

Are we going to quit oil and time soon. Well, let's just say, "I can't quit oil." But that by noway means that we can't or shouldn't push for alternative fuels right now.

And the only way we're going to get a new energy infrastructure is by investing in it through our government. Washington sets the temp and direction, just like in WW2, the government initiated the greatest industrialization process the world has ever seen. It wasn't private industry, it was the government that led the way.

Private industry didn't make the atom bomb or develop nuclear powerplants, the government did. We have the technology to build 'clean' micro nuclear powerplants to power small towns; we have the technology to build coal to gasoline plants; we even have the research technology for algae farming for biodiesel production. Is it expensive? Yes, but sometimes we need to bite the bullet and tighten our belts in order to ween ourselves off something like oil. We've been addicted to cheap fuel for way too long and now that the end is here for cheap fuel, people such has yourself think that drilling for more oil is going to solve our problems. Sorry to tell you but it's not going to solve anything, only prolong the inevitable, squeeze ever last cent out of our pockets possible, and leave our economy in a complete and utter shambles.

[JNickel101]

If we would quit doing stupid shit like sending $900 million to Africa every year to fight AIDS, and giving all sorts of 3rd world countries aid....we'd have plenty of money to both drill AND research alternative energy sources.

The latest Economic Stimulus Package should go towards building new oil refineries, nuke plants, wind turbine fields, solar fields, etc. Have the gov't build them, then auction them off to corporations once they're built.

Brady...I think we're in agreement...Economic Stimulus Package ----> energy infrastructure...

I just think we need to drill our own shit as well...it will take years (20+) to replace every car and truck on the road with something that doesnt burn gas....if nothing else, it would prevent us from giving money to Russia, Mexico, Venezuela and Saudi....

:thumbup:

[Weasel]

The coal to LPG plants are a great idea...only problem is they require TONS of water, and the midwest isnt exactly brimming with fresh water.

Wiki doesn't mention anything amount using water in the process?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fischer-Tropsch_process

[SBrad001]

Brady...I think we're in agreement...Economic Stimulus Package ----> energy infrastructure...

I just think we need to drill our own shit as well...it will take years (20+) to replace every car and truck on the road with something that doesnt burn gas....if nothing else, it would prevent us from giving money to Russia, Mexico, Venezuela and Saudi....

:thumbup:


Oh. I'm not saying that we shouldn't drill and utilize our own resources. But I am very concerned that instead we will only drilling for oil without developing the new energy infrastructure. I think that's a very real possibility simply because of the shortsighted nature of the our public and the Republican party.

All we ever hear now is how we should or not drill the North Slope. Especially on this Forum, and nobody is really pushing for these alternative fuels and if they do, they're labeled a leftist liberal. Come on guys wake up! You've even got oil barons saying the same thing I'm saying.

[Ironmen77]

You sure are short sighted. I could careless and don't trust the rest of the 'world' to develop alternative fuels.

Are we going to quit oil and time soon. Well, let's just say, "I can't quit oil." But that by noway means that we can't or shouldn't push for alternative fuels right now.

I'm not making myself clear maybe. I'm all for alternative fuels, hell I'd quit gas today if there was something cheaper to run my junk. While we're developing these alternative fuels, lets burn our fuel as opposed to others.

And the only way we're going to get a new energy infrastructure is by investing in it through our government. Washington sets the temp and direction, just like in WW2, the government initiated the greatest industrialization process the world has ever seen. It wasn't private industry, it was the government that led the way.

The government didn't force Ford to make tanks, they let it out for bids. They made tanks,jeeps,etc. for the war and enough money to keep the company open and the good will for the future. It was the American people that led the way.

Private industry didn't make the atom bomb or develop nuclear powerplants, the government did. The private sector sure makes them better, now.
We have the technology to build 'clean' micro nuclear powerplants to power small towns; we have the technology to build coal to gasoline plants; we even have the research technology for algae farming for biodiesel production. Is it expensive? Yes, but sometimes we need to bite the bullet and tighten our belts in order to ween ourselves off something like oil.
Are you now biting said bullet or using oil?
We've been addicted to cheap fuel for way too long and now that the end is here for cheap fuel, people such has yourself think that drilling for more oil is going to solve our problems. Sorry to tell you but it's not going to solve anything, only prolong the inevitable, squeeze ever last cent out of our pockets possible, and leave our economy in a complete and utter shambles.

Drill not to solve our problems, but to give us time to develop the best alternative. Why send our money to Canada/Mexico/Russia and the rest. If we used more nukes, more wind, more sun, more coal as feasable the oil demand would be less.

[SBrad001]

The private sector sure makes them better, now. Are you now biting said bullet or using oil?


Actually, my Senior Design research project was on utilizing the waste streams from biodiesel manufacturing to generate electricity. My team and I have won multiple awards, been flown to Washington D.C., and have been published in University of California at Riverside's Undergraduate research Journal. And my team mates and I are receiving a patent for our process. :)

And it was all paid for by the US EPA. In anther words the government.

So I would like to think that I'm part of the future solution and not 'just' another consumer.

Care to get any snarkier? :D

[JNickel101]

Wiki doesn't mention anything amount using water in the process?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fischer-Tropsch_process

Ah, yeah, good ol' wiki....must have slipped their minds since its such a small amount...

1.7 billion gallons a year....

http://www.meic.org/energy/coals-to-liquid-fuels/c2l-background

Thats just for the one plant they want to build @ Malmstrom AFB.

[JNickel101]

Ironmen77

The problem now is that there's no incentive for the private sector to put any money into these alternative solutions. They keep preaching about it, but nothing gets done. Its going to take the government actually getting out there and taking the lead on it, getting it started, before it actually gets moving. Just like they had to do with all the other things Brady mentioned...

I'm kinda in the middle here, while I do agree we should be using our own oil WHILE DEVELOPING MORE ALTERNATIVES, we do need to get moving on the alternative train now. They all need a kick in the ass to get this moving ASAP.

Oh and by the way...private sector makes better nuke plants now eh? I guess that's why they havent built one in this country in the past 32 years huh?

[RichP]

Wiki doesn't mention anything amount using water in the process?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fischer-Tropsch_process

The process actually involves pushing high temp steam over a bed of coal, thats how it extracts it, then the water is removed and reused again. The coal is on a always moving conveyer that goes into more or less a steam furnace kinda like the pizza oven in a Pizza Hut :D
Once you have the initial tanks of water it's reused again and again after cleaning. The governor of Montana said '$55-65 a barrel of ready to burn FUEL not oil' thats seems good enough for me, remember there is 42 gallons in a barrel, thats 42 gallons of FUEL whether it's diesel, gas or kerosene.
I've been doing a lot of reading on the process wondering if a 'home brewing' setup would be possible but actually finding out how the nuts and bolts works seems to being kept close to the vest. Some web sites that had the information are no longer up. All I have been able to find are generalities, not the nuts and bolts.

[RichP]

As for small nuke plants, the Navy could turn them out pretty quick just using existing plants from subs or carriers. They have a fuel life of 20 years, are standardized and small, look at a fast attack sub and divide the sub into tenths, the generating plant takes up about 3/10's and that includes the SSTGs [turbine generators]. The reactor room itself is only about 15 of my steps from front water tight door to back water tight door on the upper level and less than 36 feet in diameter. Just make it modular so the reactor itself can be disconnected and loaded on a truck enclosed for when it needs to be recored in 20 years. The problem with civilian reactors is every engineer and architect wants to 'improve' it [read get his chops on he did something different that made it cost 3x's as much and take 4 times longer to build].

[Ray H]

As for small nuke plants, the Navy could turn them out pretty quick just using existing plants from subs or carriers. They have a fuel life of 20 years, are standardized and small, look at a fast attack sub and divide the sub into tenths, the generating plant takes up about 3/10's and that includes the SSTGs [turbine generators]. The reactor room itself is only about 15 of my steps from front water tight door to back water tight door on the upper level and less than 36 feet in diameter. Just make it modular so the reactor itself can be disconnected and loaded on a truck enclosed for when it needs to be recored in 20 years. The problem with civilian reactors is every engineer and architect wants to 'improve' it [read get his chops on he did something different that made it cost 3x's as much and take 4 times longer to build].

How much power can a pint sized nuclear generator make? About enough to supply a neighborhood or one factory?

[SBrad001]

How much power can a pint sized nuclear generator make? About enough to supply a neighborhood or one factory?


Figure about one kilowatt will power one average sized American home. So these reactors from toshiba are good for around 200 homes, which could easilysupprt most factories.

http://www.engadget.com/2007/12/19/toshibas-building-a-micro-nuclear-reactor-for-your-garage/

[RichP]

How much power can a pint sized nuclear generator make? About enough to supply a neighborhood or one factory?
Hmm, our reactor powered 4 55,000KW westinghouse steam generators, normally we only ran two at a time till it came time to spare off, then we'd spin up the other two for a few hours and do the spin down of the first two. The tea pot generally only ran at around 25%. I don't ever remember seeing all the rods all the way out.

[Ray H]

Im not sure I want a nuclear reactor sitting on every other street corner. Scratch that, Im positive I dont.

[SBrad001]

Im not sure I want a nuclear reactor sitting on every other street corner. Scratch that, Im positive I dont.

It wouldn't take much to make a microreactor physically safe. So what's the worry? I wouldn't have a problem living next to one.

If we all have the nimby(not in my backyard) attitude, then how is any of this going to change. The environmentalist leftist liberals(the minority) don't want solar farms, new nuclear powerplants, or any number of things that could be harmful to the 'environment', and the majority of Americans have been duped into temporary solutions like drilling in the North Slope.

So what would you suggest to start fixing the current mess we're in?

[RichP]

Yea, I've slept for several years with a few dozen feet, my first sub my bunk was middle level missile, second to last bunk on the port side which put me 8 feet away from the mirv warheads and 25 feet from the outer bulkhead of the reactor compartment. My dosimeter readings after 3 months were about -0- vs the one day I forgot to take it out of my pocket and went to the beach, I about gave the doc a heart attack when he stuck it in the reader and he in turn almost gave me a new asshole after I mentioned 'I forgot'....

[Ray H]

I think they are perfectly safe....UNTIL someone decides they want to blow one up. Then having it in your backyard isnt such a great thing. With any luck, maybe they will just steal a bunch of them to make a bigger boom.

My problem with it isnt the safety of the reactor itself, its with the security of the reactor. How do we provide adequate security for several thousand nuclear reactors around the country? How do we logistically keep track of nuclear fuel and waste for thousands upon thousands of reactors? I have no problem with building nuclear powerplants, I do see a couple problems with having lots of little ones all around.

[JNickel101]

....which is why we need border fences and to quit letting every foreign asshole who thinks they deserve to be here in the country....

Again...if we didn't spend so much GD money on OTHER countries, we could take care of ourselves.

#1 on my wish list is billing the f*cking Iraqis for our "war budget". We're over here rebuilding their shit, rebuilding their oil infrastructure, on the taxpayers' dime, and the Iraqis are keeping all the profits.

THAT IS BULLSHIT!

[Ray H]

....which is why we need border fences and to quit letting every foreign asshole who thinks they deserve to be here in the country....

Again...if we didn't spend so much GD money on OTHER countries, we could take care of ourselves.

#1 on my wish list is billing the f*cking Iraqis for our "war budget". We're over here rebuilding their shit, rebuilding their oil infrastructure, on the taxpayers' dime, and the Iraqis are keeping all the profits.

THAT IS BULLSHIT!

I agree. Im tired of giving away what we have for nothing in return. I think we should take their dam country from them. Iraq would be a U.S. territory and we would control the oil fields. We wouldnt have to wait for new oil fields to get on line, instant oil supply for us.

[JNickel101]

It tempts me to claim all of my taxes as a "charitable donation" the next year, since that seems to be what it's used for....

[Blaine B.]

SHE SUCKS!

[SBrad001]

SHE SUCKS!


That must be the most intelligent thing said yet. . . .

[JNickel101]

:roflmao:

[Rod Knee]

To me, any moratorium on drilling for new reserves of petroleum is about as mindnumbingly lame as was diverting military resources from Afghanistan to Iraq in 2003. The Don't Drill Democrats don't know sheeat about energy. Pelosi thinks resources identified by the risky and expensive exploration efforts of private oil companies belong to the public. They seem to think they are more qualified than professional petroleum geologists to decide where to drill.

Rachel What's/her/name (Keith Olberman's fill in) cited a report on Countdown that indicated new discoveries would only bring down the price at the pump a few cents a couple decades from now, the dumbest thing I've heard in a long time. I don't think she has any concept of how oil is discovered or recovered. How do you put a figure on the impact of new discoveries without knowing how large they will be or how costly they will be to extract and refine?

We have urgent energy needs that must be addressed. We have short term issues, intermediate needs, and long term goals to address. It may be true that some resources won't hit the market for decades, but why not make them available to our grandchildren? While I personally think human activities have and are probably impacting climate change, I think in our current energy/economic situation, you take nothing off the table. Wind/solar etc are a long whay from being major players. It hasn't been that long since catalytic converters have been put into use. Its certainly conceivable that the technology could be developed to scrub greenhouse emissions too, and maybe even use then as a energy source.

Now anyone that knows me knows I am hardly a staunch conservative. But if these dems don't wise up I may never vote for another one.

[NCCherokee]

I agree that we need to move towards new/different sources to power our country. But in the meantime, we might as well be drilling for oil offshore of our country. The Chinese are drilling 50 miles off of Key West. Why shouldn't we be there recovering that oil. Forget about international waters. That shit is more ours that China's. Why should we let everyone else come to 50, 100, 200 miles offshore of our nation, and drill? Would you feel better about Chinese run operations and equipment and their protections against spilling, or do you trust US run drilling operations to operate more safely, efficiently, and with more regard for the environment? Even if we didn't benefit directly, I'd rather have a cleaner safer well than the chinese could provide.

[RichP]

I agree that we need to move towards new/different sources to power our country. But in the meantime, we might as well be drilling for oil offshore of our country. The Chinese are drilling 50 miles off of Key West. Why shouldn't we be there recovering that oil. Forget about international waters. That shit is more ours that China's. Why should we let everyone else come to 50, 100, 200 miles offshore of our nation, and drill? Would you feel better about Chinese run operations and equipment and their protections against spilling, or do you trust US run drilling operations to operate more safely, efficiently, and with more regard for the environment? Even if we didn't benefit directly, I'd rather have a cleaner safer well than the chinese could provide.

And who is to say there are only drilling rigs on those platforms.

[FordGuy]

Its pretty easy to understand why Senate, House and President, are fighting each other on this. Trying to make the other look bad. If they open up offshore drilling and prices get somewhere back to normal, then McCain was right and Obama was wrong. Remember its election time, nothing is going to get passed till next year. Yea it will take 10 years to actually use that oil, but what do you think is driving up oil prices, speculation about the supply in the future. It has nothing to do with todays supply
Either way we do need to start looking hard at alternatives but no using what we have is just plain stupid.

This suck's, but you are right, whether or not it will help the true demand,is yet to be seen, My bet would be if you opened drilling in Alaska and offshore you would see $100 oil again, just from the bullshit speculators!

[RichP]

This suck's, but you are right, whether or not it will help the true demand,is yet to be seen, My bet would be if you opened drilling in Alaska and offshore you would see $100 oil again, just from the bullshit speculators!

You would see even a bigger drop if they announced that all coal to gas plants were cleared to produce gas, diesel and kerosene in addition to LPG and that would not even involve driving a drill bit thru any caribou heads either :D :D :D