I am trying to help correct the lies about "drilling offshore". I am sick and tired of McCain and Palin telling massive lies to the people that we have no offshore drilling and falsely claiming that a moratorium exists for all offshore drilling. He fails to recognize the vigorous exploration in the Central and Western Gulf of Mexico (as well as North Slope of Alaska and offshore, and production drilling in California). I see on the MMS' website that one of my prospects I promoted when I worked for Texaco is a major 280 million barrel discovery in ultra-deep water (Atwater Valley Block 65)... and more is on the way in those regions. Please try to correct McCain's and Palin's lies. They have taken hold to the extent that even highly educated engineers with whom I work believe that we have no offshore drilling in the US. But continuing our reliance on oil reserves to feed our continued deadly addiction to oil will bring about our certain collapse. That collapse will bring the rest of the world down with us.On this day (10/225/2008) we are on the verge of a deep global economic recession. We can drill safely offshore, but this will not save us from our energy problem. The USGS says it, the non-governmental scientists say it and the oil industry even says it. We MUST transition to a new energy economy.
Dan Lovingood
Inspired by Randi Rhodes interview of Wednesday, September 17, 2008 podcast available at http:www.green960 or novamradio.com
So what does it mean that the Democrats passed a bill on offshore drilling.
If you are one of those 'drill baby drill' Republicans shouting 'USA USA' whenever a protester snuck inside the convention hall to wreak havoc, you should be happy today knowing the Federal Government has given the States their rights back to decide whether they will or will not drill for oil offshore.
And so it goes, in addition to the 66 million acres for which leases have already been issued to the oil companies that they are already NOT drilling, they now have another estimated 44 million acres...that they....will drill.........? hmmm?
Given already as reasons why the oil companies for not drilling are: 'We don't have the refining capacity' 'We don't have the land we want to drill' 'We don't have the equipment to drill', ' It will take 10-12 years to recover those wells.'
Well...word has it, the Republican President will veto this bill...why?
First of all, the bill takes away tax breaks the oil companies have enjoyed for years and re-reroute that money to renewable fuels as well as royalties that the Department of Interior, for which a report just came out charging employees of being literally in bed and exchanging drugs at wild parties with the oil company staff they were to regulate and collect royalties from.....
What will it mean in an election year to have the Republican base believe that drilling now will relieve gas prices now, while the President vetoes off shore drilling?
Do you really think the Democratic Party wants off shore drilling?
If you said 'no'- then you are onboard with the idea that the Democrats have dared the Republicans to veto off shore drilling because they know the oil companies do not want to drill as it would drop their profits on every gallon as they now can justify the profits with a straw man argument, which is that the Democrats won't allow them to drill, when really....
It is the Oil companies that don't want to drill.
All oil drilled goes on the WORLD market.
The highest bidder gets the oil.
Increased drilling off the coasts of America will guarantee two things. Oil companies will make more money and oil and gas extracted will be sold to the highest bidder and the highest bidder could the US, or, it could be China or Japan or India or France. If you think more drilling is going to save you money, or make America "free from foreign oil", think again. Can oil be drilled off our shores without a major environmental disaster destroying your favorite beach? Probably. But that's not really the question we should be asking...the question should be who does off shore drilling really help?
The average American consumer, giant multinational corporations or anyone really? In this political season when the facts get lost and are replaced by lies that appeal to the emotional instincts in all of us, it's good to have information from non-partisan, unaffiliated, sources to understand that not all problems have easy answers. This is one of them...to drill or not drill is not as simple as some would have us believe.
Sen. Obama I was gonna write this sunday but my internet was down and thanks that I waited to help the democrats fight the so called offshore dfrilling flip flop which is not. This is the issue I was holding and I know this for many years but thought it was best to bring it in the final strecht of the campaign. I just saw the Mr. Independent Lou Dobbs lambasting the democrats for now agreeing to offshore drilling. and it looks like there are no experts in the oil industry, even Mr. Pickesn doesn't sounds like one and now I think he is a geologist as he mentioned something about giving credit to engineers, well, Mr. Pickens I am a petroelum enginneer with a Texas Professional License (very few with this) and I graduated in the top 10 of the best petroleum engineering school in the world, the University of Texas at Austin you can call then and they will see who I am. I know I know more than you and all experts about this energy crisis and no expert has come forward, not even a CEO who get a 15$ million bonus from exxon-mobil, ladies and gentleman the real solution is a diversified energy policy, someone who tells you offshore drilling is the solution is ignorant and it aint nothing but a hoax. As an expert from the bottom up, as i was in the oil fields day and nite while you were in the corporate offices I am knowledegable of the oil industry and all american I have seen LOVE drilling which I call RUKU RUKU for the boring sounding noise when drilling was less than 5 feet per hour, I used to go to the nearest town in western venezuela for a beer and come back and RUKU RUKU was still there. I liked the action, the casing runs, the cementing, the perforation and completion of wells, yes, US driling engineers never complete wells, the leats test it with a drilling rigs something never done by an american company, but venezuela did it cause of lack of deep workover/completion rigs so that is why my ample knowledge. Mr. Pickens knows and a production engineering authority from the UT-Texas that out of 100 engineers they hire ony 1 or 2 productions engineers, also and I was in charge of 7000 beam pumped wells when Venezuela had 300000+ wells and saudi arabia had only 2000 and you know they dont use production string and they produce from the casing and most wells are shallows. my wells were from 9000-15000 feet., so YES it's not just DRILL DRILL BABY DRILL OR RUKU RUKU productions is not assigned the same resources as drilling and Dr. Augusto Podio can tell you, so the solution is not just drilling, but production and reservoir engineering. There are secondary recovery, tertiary recovery and my own invented QUATERNARY RECOVERY, where you can get 15-20% of what is left, and many other things like coal bed methane exploitation, so Sen Obama and Sen Biden my recommendation is recommend that an American Oil Company be formed, never in history has this been applied because Mr. Pickens knows they never let washington do it, Big Oil never will like this by you can form a American or washington energy company to tackle of phases of oil industry not just drilling and you will see the results sooner that later, why cant a domestic oil company can be formed when the US used to be a major producer of oil and this can be done with the windfall profits tax and the oil will be sold of put on strategic reserve and this company will compete with big oil with no problem and they will hire the best people not the friends of oil men and bypass people with great minds and ideas.
We are addicted to oil. Nobody is arguing against that the United States has an unhealthy dependency on oil.
If you think of oil for a momment, as a narcotic drug - like heroin - if addiction visited your home - if not a family member - your car, your home - what would you recommend? How should the problem be handled?
Get more drugs? Find a new dealer? Another back alley find a new flow of addictive substance?
The Republican Convention was dotted with signs that say DRILL, DRILL, DRILL. We need more of this addictive substance - so lets go get it. That is called ENABLING. They are the oil DEALERS' best friend.
Obama's plan is much stronger towards developing materials to get us off this addiction. How can the Republican's ridicule this as a pipe dream? If someone you loved was addicted to something - wouldnt you do everything in your power to get them off the dependence? Sure you would, because you love them. Republicans want to find America another poppy field to harvest.Get another fix - delay the solution - (and dirty the climate while doing it).
Anyone who loves their country would do anyting to get them off of oil addiction. Ridicule won't stop them.If you had a family member or best friend with a drug problem, if you were a good friend, a responsible relative, you would make a stand and tell that person something they need to hear, whether they like it or not.
Sen. OBama has the courage and integrity to intervene. It may not be what the Republicans want to hear - but it's the straightest talk and most honest leadership that has surfaced during this election.
We're all one American family. We need to step up and do what it takes to help each other off the oil drug.
Rudy Guillani is speaking at the RNC right now amoungs a diverse group (of mostly white rich people).
Guillani just stated that he supports offshore drilling.
ORLY?
Well...since Rudy seems so gung ho about the idea of offshore drilling, perhaps we should start drilling in New York Harbour first. That spot where the World Trade Center used to be seems like a good place to start. Smack dab in lower Manhattan.
Oh, wait that's right. "Not in my back yard."
We need to remember that just because we don't live on the coast, or if we do live on the coast and assume that the small little hamlet down the shore is going to be drilled, that if your elected official is so eager to support offshore drilling, then their property, not public property, should be drilled first.
Meet Gustav, 24 hours old.
In three days he will damage several offshore drilling platforms off the coast of the Gulf of Mexico.
The logic behind building more offshore drilling platforms is senseless.
As global warming continues, so will the potential for more violent and destructive hurricanes in the Gulf Coast and the Atlantic. But this isn't a problem people in the South and East coast face. California has the potential to be hit by hurricanes too, though most of the time it is the remenance of an East Pacific hurricane. (As if the earthquakes and the fires are not bad enough!)
So continuing our dependence on oil, foreign or domestic will continue to increase greenhouse gasses. And the continued dependence on oil will cause economic strain as the oil industry will collect millions on insurance (something that people on dry land can't get because the insurance industry serves those with the most income in the first place) for repairs and drive the price of oil up every time a Gustav or a Katrina, Rita, Hugo, or Andrew like storm occurs.
The price of food will not decrease until farmers recieve alternative energy support first.
Some farmers do not like the idea of wind energy although the amout of space a single wind turbine occupies is very minimal. If they chose, they could use biomass as a source of energy. The oil, gas, and nuclear energy industry continues to push old number showing the flaws of wind, solar, and biomass and spreading lies about alternative energy and recalling the old problems earlier forms of alternative energy had but are now reduced or solved due to newer alternative energy technolgy.
Farmers need alternative energy support first as they produce the food that America and the world needs. We learned this summer that biodesil and ethanol are not the best choices for alternative energy, in fact they still rely on the use of crude oil and waste pleanty of resources (i.e. corn or sunflower stalks that can also be processed). Then there is the fact that ethanol is poisonous to bees that need to polinate food crops. It is more than likely that excessive ethanol usage may be a factor in Coloney Collapse Disorder (CCD) which threatens to decimate the bee population and in turn cause poor crop yeilds.
Worse yet, continued usage of ethanol drives up food prices as our energy demands are gluttonous. The more we spend on energy, the more we buy foods that are not as healthy as the foods that are healthy become more expensive. Why should America continue to suffer an obesity epidemic if healthy food is not as affordable as junk food?
The price of oil has been down the past couple of weeks, but DO NOT BE DECIEVED! Everytime we have a hurricane in the gulf, oil prices will spike, and with more offshore platforms being damaged the more likely we will pay at the pump and at the diner table.
It is time to put the offshore drilling debate to an end. This is a bad idea on so many fronts; it is difficult to know where to begin. First, it will solve nothing. It will not reduce gas prices in the near term due to supply or by reducing speculation. It might reduce price by a few cents ten years from now but by then, it could be several dollars higher than it is now anyway.
Second, with Exxon reporting yet another record quarterly profit, adding supply to oil reserves will only give them increased inventories to make money on. If you think big oil will give you and I a break just because they own more land, think again. The only winners from offshore drilling are oil companies and the Republicans that invest in them.
This is an excerpt from Elizabether Kolbert's New Yorker article:
The Department of Energy estimates that there are eighteen billion barrels of technically recoverable oil in offshore areas of the continental United States that are now closed to drilling. This sounds like a lot, until you consider that oil is a globally traded commodity and that, at current rates of consumption, eighteen billion barrels would satisfy less than seven months of global demand. A D.O.E. report issued last year predicted that it would take two decades for drilling in restricted areas to have a noticeable effect on domestic production, and that, even then, “because oil prices are determined on the international market,” the impact on fuel costs would be “insignificant.”
So in other words..Dear John,
Where are you getting your information? You are running a platform that is at odds with fact. Either you have haphazardly chosen an energy platform without thinking about what you're saying, you're lying to the American public, or you're lying to yourself to appease Republicans. Whether it's one, two or all three, all I know is I don't want a president who does any of these things! I want someone intelligent (not even amazingly so, I'm OK with mediocrity), honest and who can speak their mind. I want Barack Obama.
Once Fay is gone, just wait for the McCain campaign to flood into Florida while the Democrats will be bound to their convention.
Instead this would be a great chance to point out the failings of this administration again. The dangers of global warming in connection with the dangers of offshore drilling.
FL may be the key to all this. I have a theory. The Southern Strategy.
Attack McCain hard in FL and it will have an effect on the rest of the swing states. Why? B/c FL is the biggest swing state. One with a mix of the perfect McCain voter, the southern cultural conservative and the senior voters. Rudy Giuliani turf. But they despite that, it is still a chasable huge swing state. With a LOT of young people and elderly. Start changing the race in FL and watch the effect on other swing states, esp southern ones like NC, VA, maybe even OH as they watch the battle unfold.
And, somewhat related, here's a chart of the electoral map:
That basically confirms what Chuck Todd has been saying. That the Rick Warren fiasco only helped McCain shore up with GOP base and Obama didn't lose any Dems. And in fact, he has room to go up as he consolidates the Dem base. Then the final stretch will be Indies and swing states, which, if Obama plays his cards right he is leaning on those now.
Make McCain sweat in FL -- elderly, jewish vote, latinos, offshore drilling, hell, Jeb Bush! -- and it will drive down his #s in other swing states.
UPDATE:
This just in...
FL-Pres (Aug 21 ARG)
McCain (R) 47%, Obama (D) 46%
1 point ballgame in FL.
If we seriously threaten to flip it, that is a huge huge distraction for McCain... Or an outright win for Obama in the EC.
Dear Editor,With the hubbub that seems to be brewing about the perceived inaction of the Democrats to further offshore drilling, I think it's time to bring to light many of the points that seem to be overlooked by the media in this debate.Let's begin with the fact that offshore drilling won't bring the price of gas down one penny. Even George Bush and John McCain have conceded that the effect will largely be 'psychological'. It will take approximately ten years to extract oil from these new rigs. Even then, the impact will be tertiary at best. Quite possibly, the greatest con this administration has perpetrated was not its theatrics leading to the Iraq War, but rather getting the public to buy 'supply and demand' as the lead contributor to high gas prices.So why isn't supply the reason? That can be answered in two words: oil refineries. America's oil refineries are already operating at capacity and have been for quite some time. There hasn't been a new refinery built in over 30 years and the oil companies have given no priority to building new ones. Why would they? They're already making record profits while simultaneously enjoying tax subsidies provided by you and me while not investing a single dime in refinery and production expansion.This being the case, even so, why not open up the outer coastal shelf and ANWR for expanded drilling? Won't we need that oil when we run out of the rigs we have now? There are currently over 68 million acres of untapped land, half of it offshore, already leased to oil companies. The Congressional Democrats have already proposed a plan, blocked by House Republicans, that allowed increased offshore drilling so long as the oil companies exhaust their existing leases first (Drill Act, HR 6515). Why wouldn’t we want the oil companies to bring the oil to which they have access before handing them another billion dollar giveaway? I think it’s pretty clear that the House Republicans favor the interests of the oil companies over those of the American people.But, shouldn't Americans be allowed access to their own oil? Another fact that many offshore drilling proponents, including John McCain, tend to shade is that all oil, foreign and domestic, is traded on the world market. This means that in ten years when we do get oil from these rigs, this new domestic oil is more likely to go to China, Russia, and India than to Texas, California, and Mississippi. Simply put, increased domestic production does not generate directly to increased supply. But, even so, when Bush lifted the executive ban on offshore drilling, hasn't that led to the recent drop in oil prices? Though his timing was impeccable, the answer is no, it didn't. Overlooked is the fact that during the week Bush ended the executive ban, the abysmal economic data for the second quarter, including the highest jobless rates in five years, was released. This troubling economic data led oil speculators to drop their oil futures at an unbelievable rate. As they unloaded these futures in bulk, the price dropped continuously with each sell. This is a pure demonstration of the almost unwieldy power of oil speculation on the price of oil.Given this evidence, it is easy to draw the conclusion that America's problems are largely on the demand side, not the supply side. Nobody is debating that America has an oil addiction; it is in how to combat this addiction that there seems to be some dissidence. I liken John McCain's plan for increased offshore drilling to supplying methadone to a heroine addict. Sure it makes the addict feel good, but it doesn't eliminate the problem. Barack Obama's plan, on the other hand, reads like a comprehensive rehab program that not only provides short term relief for families, but a long term plan for eliminating oil dependency altogether. Not just foreign oil, but oil. Period.Obama's energy plan begins with selling 70 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, a move that has historically dropped prices within 2 weeks. Obama's plan also gives families a much needed $1,000 energy rebate, paid for by taxing the oil companies' record profits. Obama's plan will put 1 million American-made plug-in hybrid cars (over 150 mpg) on the road. Obama has also proposed a $7,000 tax credit for the purchase of these hybrid and electric vehicles. The Obama energy plan also invests over $150 Billion in renewable energy sources such as wind and solar, further reducing our dependency on oil to heat our homes. This investment is projected to lead to over 5 million new jobs. The Obama energy plan will also curb these speculators that have wreaked havoc on the price of oil over the past few years.Let's be frank. 'Drill Here, Drill Now' is a buzzword, not a plan. The only future secured by John McCain's increased offshore drilling is that of the oil companies.Rodney A Hopper IIrodney@rodneyhopper.com
http://www.rodneyhopper.com
Can You Afford $15 Gas
Imagine a time in the United States when the price of regular gas barely reached over the $1 mark. That era was in the early 1980’s when the Federal government placed restrictions on the areas where oil could be drilled for off our nation's coast. Now we fast-forward to the present and reality hits us in the face like a concrete brick. Gas is now at a relatively high price and unfortunately, those restrictions on the outer continental shelf drilling still stand.
After much thought and research of the causes. I have come to the same conclusion as many experts that we must “DRILL HERE and DRILL NOW”. I acknowledge this is not a fix-all solution to our energy woes but merely a Band-Aid until alternative energy sources can be brought up to par with oil. However, oil is presently the life-blood of our nation and the price of gas is on the majority of American’s minds. This is accentuated by reading the following excerpt that appeared August 7, 2008 on US News and World Report’s internet site in regards to the Presidential Race.
Until recently, coastal states had taken a "not in my backyard" approach to offshore drilling. But that's beginning to change, now that gas prices are hovering at or above $4 per gallon. In Florida, 60 percent of voters now support drilling off their coasts. Perhaps more surprising, a majority in eco-conscious California is also willing to tap waters off the state's shorelines.
No matter how one looks at the evidence, it all leads to one fact: The price of gasoline will continue to be unstable. According to the statistical agency of the Department of Energy, gas prices have increased as follows.
May 1993 to May 2003 by only $.40
May 2003 to May 2008 by $2.57
May 2007 to May 2008 by a whopping $1.07
Therefore, if the trend of gas prices continues at the conservative estimate of $1.07 per year, then the price for a gallon of regular gas will be as follows.
May 2009 $5.15
May 2013 $9.42
May 2018 almost $$15 dollars
Then the sudden plummet in price recently illustrates the instability of gas. It went from record high of $4.06 per gallon to an average of $3.88 nationally in just two weeks as stated on the Department of Energy’s website. This is detrimental to our country because it gives Americans the false impression that price of gas has reached its peak and thus only drop. However, this is more than likely false when considering the many factors that affect the price of gas such as the increase in world demand, the decrease in national oil production, natural disasters, and geopolitics. Geopolitics is one area that as a Nation can be removed from the equation.
Geopolitics is an issue because of the reality that most of our oil is imported although we are the third largest oil producer. In fact, 60 percent of our oil is imported as stated by the Energy Information Administration. Of that amount, 20% comes from Africa and 16% from the Persian Gulf. This is significant because any fighting in Africa or talk of war with Iran can instantly skyrocket the price of gas.
Therefore, you ask what you can do about it. Well, we must urge our Nation’s leaders to “DRILL HERE and DRILL NOW”. The Washington Post reports that 75 billion barrels of oil have been declared off limits in our own country of which would be enough oil to replace every non-North American import for 22 years. Of that 75 billion, 18 billion barrels lie in the restricted areas of the outer continental shelf as reported by the E.I.A.
Much has changed since the Federal bans on offshore drilling were enacted to include tremendous advances in technology that allows oil to be drilled with far more precision and environmental care. Not even powerful hurricanes such as Katrina and Rita caused any significant oil spills from the thousands of allowed oil well rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. Additionally, the Mineral Management Service states, “over the past 20 years, less than .001 percent of the oil produced in U.S. state and federal waters have been spilled.” Furthermore, almost 60% of the oil that enters North American waters comes from natural seepage.
Like many of you, I love the beach and would be completely against offshore drilling if the slightest chance of an oil spill existed. Nevertheless, the revelation of $15 gas in just 10 years is enough for me to DEMAND CHANGE AND DEMAND IT NOW. So, sign the American Solutions petition at http://www.americansolutions.com/ to implore our Nation’s leaders to “DRILL HERE AND DRILL NOW”. In doing so, you will be heard amidst the masses of millions that feel the same pain as you instead of the government drowning out your single and silent voice.
If you have never heard of FiveThirtyEight.com, I think you should bookmark this website throughout this entire election. It is probably two steps ahead of the great Chuck Todd when it comes to "scientifically" staying on top of this polling non-sense and which candidate is truly ahead, by how much, and where!
This morning, they posted a great message about how Senator Obama can own the energy issue just like he currently owns the Iraq War, Afghanistan, and Pakistan issues. Basically, the post says he should join the bipartisan Gang of 10 and make it 11. He is currently leaning towards their position but hasn't fully embraced it as he's trying to walk the tightrope on the drilling issue. At the same time, John McCain is leaning against it because it doesn't offer any financial benefits to the oil companies.
If Senator Obama joins the Gang of 10 by signing on to this legislation, then he would team up with the likes of Senator Lindsay Graham (McCain's best friend and chief surrogate) in pushing bi-partisan legislation to really tackle the issue. Yes, it does involve offshore drilling in states that welcome it (like Florida), but continue to ban it in states that oppose it (like California). The biggest benefit is that it represents his themes of change, working across the aisle, and it forces McCain to either join his position or defend his opposition which is nothing more than protecting the oil companies.
Senator Obama has to take this position before Senator McCain smartens up and flip flops towards it.
Here is the link to the article: http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/08/gang-of-10-obamas-checkmate.html
The full article is posted in my extended text.
I am posting this article on the compromise as it is shaping up that will if paseed devestate our beaches. Note that the compromise would force Florida and only Florida to frill against it's will with no vote. IT exmepts everyone North of VA and on the West Coast. A very elitist approach.
Loved Barack's speech on Energy Policy. You may be interested to some of my readers' reactions to post I wrote on La Marguerite green blog:
http://lamarguerite.wordpress.com/2008/08/04/obama-shows-flexibility-and-strength-in-energy-policy-speech/
Especially worth noting is comment from reader Meryn, on Obama's need to do a better job of including his supporters in his decision changes, particularly regarding offshore drilling.
