No Way To Drill US Out Of Oil Trap - Scripps Howard

[hatrack]

Good news from Washington: The Senate just passed a narrowly focused bill that would open 8.3 million acres for new energy development in the Gulf of Mexico. A hundred miles off Florida, it is called Sale 181 Area, and may contain as much as 1.2 billion barrels of oil. The House has its own, even more ambitious version: It would expand the drilling to most of the continental shelf off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist rammed the Senate's bill through during the remaining time for legislation this year, with no amendments. Hyped to "enhance the energy independence and security of the United States," the bill will be sold to the public as an answer to our problems. And some people will believe it.

It seems the Bush administration's attitude is to convince the people that we can deal with our oil gluttony if we just focus on drilling the last reservoirs of oil under our control. This blind charge doomed any Senate discussion of sensible provisions to address our addiction to oil, leaving only a misguided attempt to feed it. As dictated by Frist, there were no amendments offered for stringent fuel-efficiency standards for cars, which could drastically reduce imports. Try for a 40-miles-per-gallon average, rather than the current 21 miles per gallon. That would save the import of some 4 million barrels a day, much of it from you know who.

EDIT

And far beyond the imagination _ much less discussion _ of most senators is the development of renewable energy for long-term sustainability. The senators could at least have extended the modest production tax credit for wind energy, which ends next year. But no. Not in this bill. Better to drill for the dwindling reserves, feed the profits, and get elected again. A billion barrels sounds like a lot of oil. But consider it in relation to our import of 11 million barrels a day. Just suppose this new Gulf area could be magically producing at a rate equal to these foreign imports: The production would last about 110 days! Or, more plausibly, if pumped at a rate of just one million barrels a day, the oil would last for about 3 1/2 years.

EDIT

http://www.scrippsnews.com/node/11292

[whistle]

1. Conservation and rationing is a good beginning

[outofbounds]

2. I may get flamed but what else is new.

I for one am glad that the US considering doing this. I recently read an article that said Cuba would soon have an oil rig drilling as close a 25 miles off the gulf coast of Florida. I really don't want see oil rigs off the coast of the US but if anyone is going to drill there I had rather it be The US with our people. I think the citizens of the US will have more respect for the environment than anyone else just looking for money.

I know that our energy source answer needs to come from new innovative ideas but I also know that other countries are able to take advantage of the international waters that start a mere three miles from our shores. I just don't trust any other nation at this unsettling time to drill any where near our coast. $.02

[NickB79]

3. The US is the largest emitter of CO2 in the world per capita

We use 25% of the world's energy reserves for 5% of the world's population. The majority of the citizens of the US have no respect for the environment, as evidenced by the huge popularity of SUV's and trucks purchased by people with no need for them. People recycle, buy organic food and think they're doing their part while they commute 30-40 miles per day in vehicles that get 18 mpg, live in McMansion suburbs that were once farmlands, use huge amounts of electricity generated largely by natural gas and coal plants. We ignore the largest pollutant we produce, CO2, and ignore the global warming that comes with it. We set an example for the rest of the world, which is now resulting in China and India rapidly modernizing to become like the US with massive highway development and skyrocketting car sales.

Global climate change from our CO2 production and that of our clone nations will kill far, far more people in the next few decades than any other pollution we have produced. I'm sure in 30 years the people of Bangladesh will be touting the respect the US showed for the environment as half their country is drowned by the sea.

[outofbounds]

5. So are you saying that you would rather have

a country that hasn't had a lot of experience drilling for oil 25 miles off the US coast? That is what concerns me the most. Face it people are going to use fossil fuels until they are gone. My problem is I don't want some country that couldn't care less about our coast spilling oil 25 miles off shore so they can sell the rest of back to the US.

I heard on the radio Thursday that a man, in Florida, built a car that would run on water. Claims to have logged 1100 miles on a gallon or so of water. I expect he will perish along with his technology before big corporation's will allow this to advance into production. In the meantime we are forced to use gasoline.

I have a Chevy Tahoe that I use to pull a boat and lawn mower. Its more like 11 mpg. I use this vehicle about three times a month. My daily transportation is a Geo Storm it gets far better gas mileage but if I get into a wreck I'll probably die. I'm 6'2 290lbs so i should charge people to watch me get in and out of this miserly little beer can with wheels but hey, I try to do my part.

on edit, I'm not trying to aggrevate you or hurt your feelings. I'm not one of those people. I just feel strongly about this issue. We can get the oil from under our ground, our waters. Or we can watch some one else get it and sell it right back to us. Meanwhile praying that they don't rape our coastline and kill our marine life.

[Nihil]

8. Karma is a bitch at times isn't it?

> We can get the oil from under our ground, our waters. Or we can watch
> some one else get it and sell it right back to us. Meanwhile praying
> that they don't rape our coastline and kill our marine life.

Maybe if a little less time & money had been spent on doing this to
other countries, not only would fewer people say "Tough shit" but
the US citizens may have learned to consume sensibly by now.

[NickB79]

10. I would rather we left the oil where it is and found other energy sources

Increased drilling is a stop-gap measure that is bound to fail quite soon as Peak Oil sets in. These new fields we are finding are crumbs compared to the mega-fields of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Mexico that are passing peak production rates.

The ironic thing is that, the more oil we drill from the Gulf, the more global-warming-strengthened hurricanes will form and rip up those very oil platforms.

"Face it people are going to use fossil fuels until they are gone."

That sounds like a drug addict talking:

"Face it addicts are going to use heroin until they're dead."

Sadly though, you are right. Humans are going to continue to use coal, oil and natural gas until we're all dead from resource wars, global climate change and civil unrest. 100 years from now, the damage done by an oil spill in the Gulf will be nothing compared to the damage we will have done by burning that oil.

[NNadir]

4. Of course, running out of fossil fuels is a good thing.

We simply have no more capacity to deal with the waste of fossil fuels. The attempt to dump more of these wastes into the atmosphere or oceans will stretch them further beyond the breaking point.

The sooner the oil is gone, the better.

[jpak]

6. The sooner the better??? That makes no sense whatsoever.

By rapidly exhausting fossil fuel sources, all we do is rapidly transfer lots of carbon from the lithosphere to the atmosphere.

Leave-it-in-the-ground is the best solution...

[4dsc]

7. Leave-it-in-the-ground is the best solution...

Inasmuch as it may be the one of the best solution around, I'm afraid we are too set in our collective wasteful ways to change and we are all on the train headed for the cliff.. Burn away people, burn it all and lets not think about any future generations as long as we got ours, let them worry about getting their's..

[Oerdin]

9. I personally support more drilling.

It is an ethics issue for me. If we are going to keep consuming oil without ever pushing for increased conservation or tighter environmental standards then we should be forced to produce as much of it here as possible. That way the pollution and the consequences of our actions end up squarely on our country instead of being outsourced to a third world country where we can conviently ignore them. We shouldn't be pushing our pollution off on others any more then is necissary plus once faced with the real effects of our choices maybe American voters will start making wiser choices.

[NickB79]

11. Unfortunately the CO2 pollution won't stay in the US

It will be a global disaster as climate change shifts into high gear....

[4dsc]

12. We are producing as much as we can

It will never be a matter of forcing any oil producer to produce oil but rather how and when will they quit selling it on the open market?? In your lifetime perhaps?? I know if I was sitting on oil fields like they are in the Middle East and I saw that my production was peaking I would take a second look at why and to whom I sold it to. Then I would consider the future generations of my country and know that without oil the USA would be toast!! Get enough countries thinking like that next decade and then watch TSHTF!!!

[OzarkDem]

13. Consumption is declining here, not rising

Like the BP problems in Alaska, this is mostly a smoke screen to justify raising prices again.

[NickB79]

14. On CNN it said we were using 2% MORE oil than this time last year

Despite $3/gal gas, we are still not seeing a decline in oil consumption.