67% of americans support offshore drilling

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67% of americans support offshore drilling

Posted: 6/20/08 at 2:58pm

this issue will surely have no resonance with voters when they are alone in the voting booth. none. voters are much too smart to be swayed by something like this.
want oil? drill for it!

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re: 67% of americans support offshore drilling

Posted: 6/20/08 at 3:03pm

Papa I think the "Offshore drilling" voters are so fond of is actually the "Sex on a yacht" kind. Sorry.

re: 67% of americans support offshore drilling

Posted: 6/20/08 at 3:05pm

no, the last time that came up in a campaign it sunk gary hart's bid.

re: 67% of americans support offshore drilling

Posted: 6/20/08 at 3:08pm

Probably that same percentage thought a gas tax holiday was a good idea until they learned otherwise. The likes of Bush and McCain count on the ignorance of Americans to not be able to comprehend the true impact of offshore drilling, such as no short-term impact on either supply or price. The vast majority of voters were able to see through the gas tax holiday sham, and I expect they will be able to see through this too.

Someone, anyone, needs to educate people on the speculative nature of the price of oil. If people understood that prices were driven like the stock market, they'd see that offshore drilling will have absolutely no effect at all. The price of oil is not being driven by the lack of supply.

"It does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are 20 gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg." -- Thomas Jefferson

re: 67% of americans support offshore drilling

Posted: 6/20/08 at 3:09pm

exactly, the mere fact that america had decided to start acting in its own best interest would drive prices down.

re: 67% of americans support offshore drilling

Posted: 6/20/08 at 3:14pm

Well, call me ignorant but I"m for lessening our dependence on foreign oil. If offshore drilling can do this, I"m for it. Even if it doesn't happen next week.

<-----I'M TOTES ROLLING MY EYES

re: 67% of americans support offshore drilling

Posted: 6/20/08 at 3:23pm

Jane - offshore drilling will not provide relief from dependence on foreign oil. The US can not get relief from supply-side. We're just too big, and use too much of it. The only strategic solution is demand-side, and we need to focus on that. Putting our focus, and more importantly, our money, into offshore drilling diverts attention from where it belongs, on developing alternatives and becoming more efficient.

The other thing we need to do is fix the manner by which oil prices are set. It's purely speculative, and has little to do with either supply or demand.

"It does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are 20 gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg." -- Thomas Jefferson

re: 67% of americans support offshore drilling

Posted: 6/20/08 at 3:27pm

yep. more oil would not help in any way shape or form.

re: 67% of americans support offshore drilling

Posted: 6/20/08 at 3:28pm

"offshore drilling will not provide relief from dependence on foreign oil"

no, but every little bit helps. This is about the only thing that I agree with Bush on.

I could care less if those fools in Malibu have oil derricks in their "front yards"......

It WILL help.

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#10

re: 67% of americans support offshore drilling

Posted: 6/20/08 at 3:33pm

Our efforts need to be directed toward demand rather than supply. Spending billions on exploration and offshore drilling to see a minimal impact on supply in 5 - 10 years is not where we should be focusing. It will do very little to impact our reliance on foreign oil, and ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to price in either short-term or long-term.

"It does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are 20 gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg." -- Thomas Jefferson

#11

re: 67% of americans support offshore drilling

Posted: 6/20/08 at 3:35pm

Sure , we've already made a complete mess out of our landscapes - let's ruin the oceans now too.

#12

re: 67% of americans support offshore drilling

Posted: 6/20/08 at 3:35pm

It is my understanding that they are not currently using all of the off-shore leases currently available in Florida.

Also, most studies indicate that it will take 10 years for there to be any real impact on new offshore drilling.

The oil found will be sold on the open market, as a commodity - just because it is found in the US does not mean it will be sold to us for any less.

So, it may decrease slightly our dependence on foreign oil in the long-term, but it will not (IMO) result in a material change in the price of gas or oil, especially with India and China having increasing demands for the same product.

One way to decrease the price of gas is to not permit commodity speculators to drive up the price oil, and to strengthen the US dollar.

#13

re: 67% of americans support offshore drilling

Posted: 6/20/08 at 3:38pm

Thank you, YWIW.

"It does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are 20 gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg." -- Thomas Jefferson

#14

re: 67% of americans support offshore drilling

Posted: 6/20/08 at 3:39pm

Well said, MadBrian! The oil companies have 84 million acres or so RIGHT NOW that they are not currently drilling in. Start there, then if it does magically drive down prices (which it won't) add more land later.

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#15

re: 67% of americans support offshore drilling

Posted: 6/20/08 at 4:04pm

spending billions on exploration and offshore drilling to see a minimal impact on supply in 5 - 10 years is not where we should be focusing.

"we" won't be spending it or realy focussing, unless you're proposing that the oil industry be nationalized.

ywiw, link for those stats? not the 10-year one because the mere fact that the united states is wiling to allow companies to look for oil would be enough to change the market. no, the part about oil leases being used.

#16

re: 67% of americans support offshore drilling

Posted: 6/20/08 at 4:25pm

I wish we were spending our time developing ways for alternative fuels to be sent to market.
Battery operated cars are so close to being ready. There is even a long range plan to install recharging centers across the nations highways.

I just wish we could just let the middle east and Venezuela choke on their oil supply.

Of course, big oil will never let this happen.

....but the world goes 'round

#17

re: 67% of americans support offshore drilling

Posted: 6/20/08 at 4:26pm

I advocate a three-fold approach:

1. drill immediately in Anwar and explore drilling offshore FL plus go after the shale oil inland
2. Push legislation through the US Congress to re-regulate futures trading in oil
3. Obama or McCain setting a realistic national goal and timetable for penetration of renewable energy sources & biofuels in the marketplace.

Biofuels are tricky though. Brazil is tapped out and has no surplass biofuel to export and there have been charges of human rights abuses on the cane plantations. Solar, wind, geothermal and yes nuclear are the only viable longterm options for reasons several of you have pointed out.

This situation is so serious. We are in dire straits as an industrialized nation in the first world. I just don't see any gains to be made on the "demand side" with China emerging as the world's energy glutton and India set to follow suit at some point. Without an energy supply, it's lights out America literaly.

Finally, imo the elephant in the room is "overpopulation" in the developing world and amongst the immigrant populations within the US. That is a major contributor to rising "food" prices plus the "biofuel" tax that we pay at the grocery store now.

A side note is that municipalities throughout the US are struggling with how to manage the rapidly increasing amount "human waste" driven by the population explosing resulting from immigration patterns. I know its not a sexy topic but give some thought to where what you flush down the toilet lands.

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Updated On: 6/20/08 at 04:26 PM

#18

re: 67% of americans support offshore drilling

Posted: 6/20/08 at 4:28pm

Regarding the impact of the US Dollar and Oil.

http://www.mees.com/postedarticles/oped/a47n33d01.htm

Regarding not uses existing leases on Federal Land.

http://democrats.senate.gov/newsroom/record.cfm?id=299313&

I may have misspoken. It may not be specifically be off-shore leases off of Florida, but instead, generally all leases on Federal Lands.

Updated On: 6/20/08 at 04:28 PM

#19

re: 67% of americans support offshore drilling

Posted: 6/20/08 at 4:30pm

Uh....what happened to all that oil in Iraq that was gonna magically pay off the war?

#20

re: 67% of americans support offshore drilling

Posted: 6/20/08 at 4:32pm

" offshore drilling will not provide relief from dependence on foreign oil"

And you know that because...

<-----I'M TOTES ROLLING MY EYES

#21

re: 67% of americans support offshore drilling

Posted: 6/20/08 at 4:34pm

"It may not be specifically be off-shore leases off of Florida, but instead, generally all leases on Federal Lands."

That's even more interesting considering Herbert Hoover's position on the subject back in 1929.

Hoover the Great Conservationist?

#FactsMatter...your feelings not so much.

#22

re: 67% of americans support offshore drilling

Posted: 6/20/08 at 4:38pm

From a Q and A today on Air Force One:

Q Durbin said on the floor the other day that there's oil leases on millions and millions of acres offshore that are just not being used and not being tapped. Why not --

MR. FRATTO: There are lots of reasons. I mean, one is that you don't just drop a drill into -- whether it's offshore or on property -- and hope that oil comes out. It takes years and years of geological study, environmental impact regulations that you have to deal with. You want to make sure there is actually oil there that you can go out and extract and bring to market.

So it's a very long process, it's a very expensive process. There are other places out there like the Outer Continental Shelf and ANWR where we know, in fact, that there are -- there is oil there that can be brought to market. But the first step in all of this is exploration. And even on those existing leases, you still need to go out and explore, and that takes lots and lots of time.

Q But it seems like those existing leases are far more down the pipe than ANWR or any other spaces that aren't even opened up. Why not follow those leads first?

MR. FRATTO: I'm sure some of them are, but it's not a question of, why not do something first; it's why don't we do everything that we can do. And when oil is at $130 or approaching $140 a barrel and Americans are paying $4, on the way to $5 a gallon for gasoline, they don't want to hear that we're doing things one at a time. They want to hear that we're doing everything that we can possibly be doing to help them bring down those prices.
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#23

re: 67% of americans support offshore drilling

Posted: 6/20/08 at 7:59pm

Jane - per the current Dept of Energy:

A 2007 Department of Energy study found that access to coastal energy deposits would not add to domestic crude oil and natural gas production before 2030 and that the impact on prices would be "insignificant."

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/19/america/19offshore.php

"It does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are 20 gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg." -- Thomas Jefferson

#24

re: 67% of americans support offshore drilling

Posted: 6/20/08 at 8:13pm

but it's a better idea to throw taxpayer money at technology that doesn't exist, because the gov't has shown itself to be so adept at innovation. brilliant plan.

i'll take some oil over you empty rhetoric, thanks. but i'm sure that you'll be able to convince the american people come fall that instead of allowing private industry to use existing resources they should instead spend their money on some wishes and a handful of good intentions. good luck with that.

#25

re: 67% of americans support offshore drilling

Posted: 6/20/08 at 8:25pm

madbrian, so what if it takes that long? Future generations will benefit. Meanwhile, what are the short term plans?

<-----I'M TOTES ROLLING MY EYES

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