Off Shore Drilling

[rn79870]

I haven't seen the exact verbage of Obama's recent switch to being in favor of off shore oil drilling, but he did switch. McCain has apparently had the Republican view that that is a wise thing to do for some time now. In this case, I have to believe that the Republican stance was the better one, and I applaud Obama for recognizing that.

I tuned into cspan for a while yesterday and listened to callers from all over the US calling in with their opinion on this. I'm amazed that many of the die hard dems with their old "no drilling at any cost" view miss one simple point. True, we need alternate fuel research. True, it will be years before the new found oil reaches market. But, will we not need fuel then too? And even assuming we all have cars that ran on sunlight or rain by then, wouldn't it be wise to have oil to export? Wouldn't that have a positive influence on the balance of trade?

Since the candidates pretty much agree here now, what's your opinion on off shore drilling?

[OriginalWheelman]

I've been for it for years. Still am. Dig it up, pump it out. Hell, even if the bans get lifted it will drop crude prices. All we have to do is talk about increasing production and the futures people panic. My question is, will we ever see the price drop at the pump?

[wingFeather]

In this case, I have to believe that the Republican stance was the better one, and I applaud Obama for recognizing that.

If Obama has really had a fundamental change of belief, then this is good news. There is a high probability he is doing this ONLY to get votes (judging by his extremist liberal past).

Yes, we do need this. It's not a red or blue issue. It's an American issue, and in fact a GLOBAL issue. The less money pouring into unstable regions, the better.

Obama, you better be doing this for REAL. Not just to get votes

[Marenta]

Offshore drilling is about as dangerous as Nuclear Power. I say go for it.. who cares if it takes 5 or 10 or 15 years.. apparently we're addicted to crude. Hell, we might as well start drinking the ****.

I care about the environment and all, I really do. I care about the planet, I want it to stay around. And the ecosystem is a lot more tough than we give it credit for. Mother Nature's a *****, and she'll win in the end. We're just along for the ride.

[smockers83]

Finally people on the left are starting to come to their senses. Yes, we need different forms of fuel, but we also need to make sure we have what we operate on now. It would take many years to phase out gasoline as the norm to some alternative source and probably just as many years to develop a good alternative car--my guess would be 50 years. We need to develop the resources we have now while at the same time researching this crap. Drilling for oil may not change the price, but it keeps that much more money here in the States.

Since Obama conceded on this issue, now McCain is calling on Obama to get the rest of his stupid friends back to D.C. instead of ladeedaing as they have for the past 1.5 years and vote (that's what they're paid to do, isn't it?) and do something about it.

[OriginalWheelman]

I care about the environment and all, I really do. I care about the planet, I want it to stay around. And the ecosystem is a lot more tough than we give it credit for. Mother Nature's a *****, and she'll win in the end. We're just along for the ride.

This got me thinking...

What would be the damage to the environment if say, there was a big quake on the continental shelf, and all that crude was released into the environment? I bet we'd be wishing we burned it. These fossil fuels are part of the ecosystem.

[wingFeather]

We need to develop the resources we have now while at the same time researching this crap. Drilling for oil may not change the price, but it keeps that much more money here in the States.

Well stated

[Marenta]

This got me thinking...

What would be the damage to the environment if say, there was a big quake on the continental shelf, and all that crude was released into the environment? I bet we'd be wishing we burned it. These fossil fuels are part of the ecosystem.

Well, who are we to be so uptight to think that we're the only ones that don't deserve disaster? Other countries have been off-shore drilling for years and they have to live with the fear of tsunamis or earthquakes.. and, you know what.. it's the price we pay for our greed. Personally, I couldn't care less for the dirty mixture of hydrocarbons.

[OriginalWheelman]

I was talking about an untapped pocket rupturing, not sure if we're on the same page. I wasn't very clear in retrospect.

[srellim234]

I'm in favor of drilling, if for no other reason than to take pressure off the naturally occurring seepage that is dumping oil into our environment. The chaance of a spill is better than the 100% occurrence of a spill that is happening every day off the California Coast. I tried to find an impartial link to some info here:

http://www.mms.gov/omm/pacific/enviro/seeps1.htm

[96Qowner]

I've never been eager to drill in environmentally sensitive areas, but I've also never bought the hysteria that opponents use to oppose it. The danger of a spill is much lower than it was, say, 30 years ago, due greatly to the lobbying by the hystericals, so we have to give them some credit. But that doesn't mean the time does not come when the rewards outweigh the risks. Today, the rewards outweigh the risks, since the risks have fallen and the rewards have risen.

The argument that today's opponents are using, namely that it won't help for 10 years is just facetious. If we had drilled 10 years ago, the supply would be online already. We'll need the supply even more ten years from now. And finding more supply won't prevent anyone from converting to other sources at the same time. We can do both.

[rn79870]

Now all we need to do is get congress to see the same thing.

[Eikon]

I'm in favor of drilling for a couple reasons.

1.) As stated.. keeps money here in the US. It will also provide more jobs for people in the US. Just the construction of the platforms and machinery will mean good pay for lots of workers in the various construction industries.

2.) Any indication that supply will increase in the future helps prices today. As we've discussed already, much of the increase in the price of oil today is due to speculation of the market and the future potential increases in price. Just a policy to allow for the possibility of increased supplies may reduce tension on the market and help bring those costs back to where they should be.

Personally.. I'm really hoping to see some breakthrough in the Western Colorado oil shale region. I've read a few articles that talk about VAST amounts of oil in that region.. like more than they have in Saudi Arabia. It's just locked up in shale and we are slowly learning methods to bring that oil to the surface in a usable state. That could be 10+ years away, but it could bring a huge swing in world economy and politics when it happens.

And... by the way... I also applaud Obama's change in thought on this topic, and his willingness to admit that he's changes his stance. Lots of politicians change their minds on certain issues over the course of time. I think that's natural. But so few are willing to openly admit a change in opinion for fear of looking weak or alienating a certain part of the voter base. His lack of "cover up" or attempts to obscure his previous stance vs. his current stance is impressive to me.

[smockers83]

Now all we need to do is get congress to see the same thing.

Amen to that. There is a group of 10 reps, 5 from each side, who have come up with some sort of plan. Everyone write a letter to Pelosi and tell her to suck it up and stop PMSing all over Congress.

[96Qowner]

There's actually a prominent Senator who has a reputation for working successfully with the other Party to get important things done. He's running for President this year, too.

[AZhitman]

Great topic, great OP.

I listened to a lengthy dissertation on a talk radio channel given by a group of prominent non-partisan enviroscientists that discussed the enviro impact of drilling offshore...

We have come a LONG way. Spills now are virtually nonexistent, and containment is almost absurdly over-wrought.

In fact (and my understanding of the actual data is failing me here), they indicated that the Earth's natural activity releases more crude into the oceans than the Exxon Valdez in X amount of time, basically indicating that offshore drilling represents NO environmental threat.

Keep this in mind, Kiddies: There as many left-wing oil men as there are right-wing oil men.

Don't be fooled for a MINUTE into thinking there aren't Democrats who'd like to see higher oil company profits and who'd like us to be MORE dependent on foreign oil.

[ishkabibble]

I'm indifferent as to whether we drill or not. On one hand, we will have more oil. On the other, it will encourage use of other energy sources. We'll cope either way.