Offshore Drilling
Oh, you know it's coming. I'm sure you've heard that W has lifted the Executive branch ban on offshore drilling. It's only a matter of time before the Democrats in Congress cave in too. I caught something earlier today on CNBC. The Republican congressman was well versed in the rhetoric. He even used acronyms. "OCS" for Outer Continental Shelf. Yeah, like anyone outside the oil industry uses that term. Big Oil's going to win this one.
Do I need to rehash the rhetoric? Why not, right? We ignored the oil embargoes and gas lines of the 70's. When cheap oil and gas returned, we couldn't be bothered to plan for a post-oil world, let alone strive for energy independence from the most volatile and oppressive region in the world. As oil rose, we were assuaged with "oh, it's just a bubble." And still it climbed. And there are people who still claim it'll get back down to $20. 1 year ago oil was $73/barrel. Have we learned from any of this? While some of us have, an overwhelming majority have not. We were complacent. Now, we've got $125 - $140 oil (depending on the day).
It's hard to argue against those who say that we're going to war to get oil cheaper. We've got oil men running the country, both literally and figuratively. Iraq, although its invasion has several theories, certainly looks that way now that its oil production is back up to two million barrels/day. And there are idiots who think we should knock out Iran just to lower the price of oil. Yes, that's it. Resource wars.
But Iraq has proven too costly for our military (let alone our Treasury). Soldiers and equipment are worn out and will require lots of tax dollars to repair and replace. We need something easier, cheaper. Let's start drilling offshore on America's continental shelf! It'll knock down the price of oil in say five to ten years (maybe) and we can wrap the flag around it! Let's lower our dependency on foreign oil! Drill more here! As you know, W has already led the charge. Presidential candidates, major and minor, are following suit.
A few brave souls are willing to state that we can't drill our way out of this mess. T. Boone Pickens, a former oilman, spoke on NPR (the text leaves out portions of the audio) about running cars on natural gas while building wind farms to generate electricity. While I don't share his optimism about wind power carrying a lot of the load, I certainly believe that it has a place at the energy table. It's a far better idea than ethanol, which people finally seem to realize (once food prices skyrocketed) is a bad idea.
It may be that an oilman will be the one to convince America to give up the stuff.
In the meantime, Congress plans on doing something to help. The last time they tried to help, it resulted in escalating food prices. I used to average $80/week on groceries. 4 of the last 5 weeks have been over $100.
If we're really lucky, included in the legislation will be tremendous amounts of regulation, like the nuclear power industry has. The sort that requires lots of high tech equipment that seeks to prevent the loss of any oil. Technology hasn't been at a standstill these last few decades kiddies. Since the days of cheap oil are gone, every barrel is sacred to the oil companies and they're not about to let any go now.
Don't take that to mean I'm in favor of offshore drilling. I'm not. I'm a realist and I know that the Democrats will cave. They couldn't protect the Constitution from this administration so why should I believe that they'll protect our coasts from oil development.
My point is that we missed our chance to mandate the use of clean coal technology, I'd hate for Congress to blow another opportunity.
\_/
DED
Do I need to rehash the rhetoric? Why not, right? We ignored the oil embargoes and gas lines of the 70's. When cheap oil and gas returned, we couldn't be bothered to plan for a post-oil world, let alone strive for energy independence from the most volatile and oppressive region in the world. As oil rose, we were assuaged with "oh, it's just a bubble." And still it climbed. And there are people who still claim it'll get back down to $20. 1 year ago oil was $73/barrel. Have we learned from any of this? While some of us have, an overwhelming majority have not. We were complacent. Now, we've got $125 - $140 oil (depending on the day).
It's hard to argue against those who say that we're going to war to get oil cheaper. We've got oil men running the country, both literally and figuratively. Iraq, although its invasion has several theories, certainly looks that way now that its oil production is back up to two million barrels/day. And there are idiots who think we should knock out Iran just to lower the price of oil. Yes, that's it. Resource wars.
But Iraq has proven too costly for our military (let alone our Treasury). Soldiers and equipment are worn out and will require lots of tax dollars to repair and replace. We need something easier, cheaper. Let's start drilling offshore on America's continental shelf! It'll knock down the price of oil in say five to ten years (maybe) and we can wrap the flag around it! Let's lower our dependency on foreign oil! Drill more here! As you know, W has already led the charge. Presidential candidates, major and minor, are following suit.
A few brave souls are willing to state that we can't drill our way out of this mess. T. Boone Pickens, a former oilman, spoke on NPR (the text leaves out portions of the audio) about running cars on natural gas while building wind farms to generate electricity. While I don't share his optimism about wind power carrying a lot of the load, I certainly believe that it has a place at the energy table. It's a far better idea than ethanol, which people finally seem to realize (once food prices skyrocketed) is a bad idea.
It may be that an oilman will be the one to convince America to give up the stuff.
In the meantime, Congress plans on doing something to help. The last time they tried to help, it resulted in escalating food prices. I used to average $80/week on groceries. 4 of the last 5 weeks have been over $100.
If we're really lucky, included in the legislation will be tremendous amounts of regulation, like the nuclear power industry has. The sort that requires lots of high tech equipment that seeks to prevent the loss of any oil. Technology hasn't been at a standstill these last few decades kiddies. Since the days of cheap oil are gone, every barrel is sacred to the oil companies and they're not about to let any go now.
Don't take that to mean I'm in favor of offshore drilling. I'm not. I'm a realist and I know that the Democrats will cave. They couldn't protect the Constitution from this administration so why should I believe that they'll protect our coasts from oil development.
My point is that we missed our chance to mandate the use of clean coal technology, I'd hate for Congress to blow another opportunity.
\_/
DED
posted by DED at 2:46 PM
1 Comments:
Hoo boy did you nail the Dems. Cave-a-rama.
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