Bush wants to drill in the ANWR

[Shaun]

Bush gave a speech today saying he wants congress to lift the ban to drill in the ANWR. Many are saying that it wouldn't change the price of gas for several years and even then the change would be small. Others are saying the notion of securing oil will have a positive psychological effect on people and will lower oil prices promptly. Bush also wants to drill off the coastline of Florida. The opposition to that is, an oil spill would be terrible for Florida's economy as well as the enviornment for obvious reasons. That there's a large area in the Gulf of Mexico that remains undrilled. But there is apparently likely no oil in those regions and it is too expensive too look.

thoughts ?

[Phil Williamson]

http://gas2.org/2008/06/18/honda-beg...-cell-vehicle/

Put 1% of what we'd put into drilling in the ANWR into developing technologies like this and see what happens. We obviously need to move past oil, and soon.

[Mikepjbell]

Yeah the quicker we get away form the use of oil the better the economy will be. Then again Government's or whatever make tonnes of money on tax, so they'd probably love to keep using oil.

[Breed]

we need to stop reliance on oil, at least to this extent, no doubt.

[Brimz]

Let's just scrap vehicles altogether and walk places instead

[Notch Johnson]

yeah i'd have to disagree with this. it's time to think ahead, and quit burying ourselves deeper in this oil dependency. especially not while simultaneously shitting on this planet's natural beauty.

[NearHi]

I think that's going to be the general consensus among many except for a lot of big wig republicans/right wingers/conservatives. But it's true and agreed: we need to move away from fossil fuels.

[Bowman]

I hate when people talk out of both sides of their asses about oil. They say, "we need to end our dependence on foreign oil" and "we shouldn't allow oil exploration in North America" in the same breath.

Also, I don't trust the government to invest in energy technology. The government does fund renewable energy, which sounds like a good thing until you realize that time and time again, its funding is based on who profits from the new technology and not the actual usability of the new technology. Ethanol is a good example. Besides, bureaucrats & elected officials know a lot less about which technologies are likely to be worthwhile than scientists, universities, and R&D branches of companies.

[NearHi]

Wouldn't this be something that kind of supports the idea of renewable, alternative energy? If we don't want the government funding or being involved in engergy then that would mean we don't want them to mess with oil mining. Leave the ban. Let the energy companies worry about it.

[Whitey]

I think drilling in Alaska is a GREAT idea. Way overdue. And while we're at it, lift the coastal bans and snag all the coal, oil, and shale we can get in the continental US. And let's make some new freaking nuclear plants already. The sooner the US can become energy independent, the better off we'll all be.

Alternatives to oil are forthcoming, and I can't wait for the day that the technology can adequately sustain us...but for right now, we really need to drill the shit out of this country.

[Phil Williamson]

haha I was waiting for you to show up

Originally Posted by Bowman

I hate when people talk out of both sides of their asses about oil. They say, "we need to end our dependence on foreign oil" and "we shouldn't allow oil exploration in North America" in the same breath.

Drilling for oil in the US isn't the only way to end dependence on foreign oil. Alternative energy methods would be another.

And yes, I realize that hydrogen-powered cars and the like aren't feasibly going to eliminate oil dependency for a while. Opening up a huge new area for drilling, though, will discourage, to some extent, research into alternative methods. We should be looking at oil as a "dying resource." It doesn't seem right to irreplacably destroy something like the ANWR for slightly cheaper gas for a few more years.

[Notch Johnson]

Originally Posted by WIKIPEDIA SON

The United States has the largest known deposits of oil shale in the world, according to the Bureau of Land Management and holds an estimated 2,500 gigabarrels of potentially recoverable oil, enough to meet U.S. demand for oil at current rates for 110 years. However, oil shale does not actually contain oil, but a waxy oil precursor known as kerogen. For this reason and because there is not yet any significant commercial production of oil from oil shale in the United States as of 2008, its oil shale reserves do not meet the petroleum industry definition of proven oil reserves.

that's pretty interesting.

[Whitey]

It amazes me that France heavily utilizes nuclear plants, Europe is opening 40 new oil refineries in the next couple of years, China is opening new coal plants like crazy...but in America we're sitting on our hands. We have the resources to reduce fuel costs (and subsequently reduce costs of TONS of other stuff, food in particular) and put an end to our reliance on getting fuel from foreign countries run by asshole dictators.

We get most of our oil right here in North America. Tons of it comes from Canada (thanks dudes!)...the oil we get from Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and so on is only a fraction. I think we've just gotta produce enough to replace that part.

Yes, alternative methods need to be researched. Our future depends on it. But I don't see any reason that we can't be drilling or producing more nuclear energy here in America for the time being. The thing is, oil companies WANT to look for oil and drill here. Desperately. But the government blocks them from doing so because they won't sign off on permits. WHYYYY?

[Bowman]

Originally Posted by Bryce Farlow

Wouldn't this be something that kind of supports the idea of renewable, alternative energy? If we don't want the government funding or being involved in engergy then that would mean we don't want them to mess with oil mining. Leave the ban. Let the energy companies worry about it.

Yeah but the government created those bans. I'd rather the government just not try to favor any type of fuel and that includes not putting restrictions on oil companies.

And yeah we definitely need to start building nuclear plants again. It's much safer, cleaner, and more efficient than ever before. Plus, nuclear plants can be built in places that solar and wind will never be feasible due to environmental conditions.

[Daniel Debonair]

Fuck OIL and FUCK Hydrogen Fuel Cells

We have cars that can convert pretty much ANYTHING into fuel these days, and the last one I heard of was COMPRESSED AIR. COMPRESSED AIR!!!!!!!!!!

$2.00 gets you up to like 65 miles an hour for a couple hundred miles.

Oh yeah, that's right, our government is FUCKED and eats up this oil bullshit. Did you know even MORE efficient vehicles exist that use PETROLEUM, but that the government regulates the miles per gallon a car can get so that it remains UNDER A CERTAIN AMOUNT!?! WHAT THE FUCK IS THE DEAL THERE!?!? HOW DO YOU JUSTIFY THOSE KINDS OF LAWS!?!? FUCK ALL OF THIS SHIT. THE MORE I LEARN ABOUT ALTERNATIVE FUELS AND HOW CORRUPT OUR GOVERNMENT IS AND KEEPS US FROM ACCESSING OR PRODUCING THIS TECHNOLOGY THE MORE INFURIATED I GET TO THE POINT I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT THE FUCK TO DO.

The oil solution begins with exhaustive and AGGRESSIVE lobbying to legalize better mileage cars, compressed air vehicles, and for honest funding and legalization of other forms of fuel


fucking shit cunts

[Whitey]

...what?

[Daniel Debonair]

yuh heard me. Watch the film "Who Killed the Electric Car." It talks about a number things the government does/has done to blatantly stifle the search for a more efficient fuel.

[NearHi]

Originally Posted by Daniel Garfield

yuh heard me. Watch the film "Who Killed the Electric Car." It talks about a number things the government does/has done to blatantly stifle the search for a more efficient fuel.

WORD! My fiance was in an automotive business class at AZ State and they showed her that and had an ex-employee of GM come in to talk about his, hands on work with EV1 and how they killed it in it's infancy.

Originally Posted by Bowman

Yeah but the government created those bans. I'd rather the government just not try to favor any type of fuel and that includes not putting restrictions on oil companies.

I can't go along with this. I wish companies had leaders that cared about our planet but it's unfortunate that they don't and because they don't we the people elect representatives who echo our care, and then the laws are passed to restrict the companies so that not much harm is done. It's really not the governement banning anything, it's US, the voters. We just use the government the way it was designed.

[NearHi]

oops

[Daniel Debonair]

People don't realize that NOW is the time of oil independence. We actually NEED oil for very little. Maybe lubricating shit, but other then that, there are ENDLESS vehicles on the roads RIGHT NOW all around the world that are FAN-fucking-TASTIC, and don't use petroleum, but just simply don't exist in the U.S.
Why don't they exist in the U.S, you're asking? That's an interesting question. Better contact your local senator about that one....

[Royston]

the more oil the better. the oil industry gives millions of people like me good paying jobs.

[Notch Johnson]

Originally Posted by Daniel Garfield

there are ENDLESS vehicles on the roads RIGHT NOW all around the world that are FAN-fucking-TASTIC, and don't use petroleum, but just simply don't exist in the U.S.

where?

[Whitey]

We don't just use oil for cars dude. High oil prices raise prices for the bare necessities, like food. For example...the US used millions of acres of corn to experiment with ethanol, which has been a complete bust. Add that to the flooding in Iowa and we're running into the problem of a corn shortage.

And because of high fuel costs, it jacks the price up EVEN MORE for shipping corn. So all these foods that use corn (and there are tons) are flying up in price. And we use corn to feed cattle, which give us burgers, steaks, and milk. When you consider the rise in gas costs plus the rise in food plus the rise in home heating plus the rise in other basic goods...things aren't looking so rosy.

Any product that has to be shipped by truck, boat, airplane, whatever...the prices increase as the cost of fuel increases. Small businesses in particular are getting crunched by fuel costs, forcing some to lay off workers to make ends meet.

In an ideal world we'd all be zipping around in electric cars and not burning any oil. Absolutely. And I'm not denying that the government isn't fucked up at times and does all these inexplicable things. The point is we'd really benefit at the present moment from drilling oil. Or moreover...we'd benefit from the fucked up government LETTING private companies drill. The people of Alaska want drilling to occur, they've been saying so for years. But the government blocked it. It's mind boggling.

[Phil Williamson]

you seem to be ignoring the fact that the ANWR is a wildlife reserve, and the obvious consequences that drilling in such a place would have...

[Whitey]

What? Disrupt the caribou?

From what I've heard, only 8% of the entire ANWR would be explored for oil, the rest left alone. And it is estimated that of that 8% (1.5 million acres), only around 2000 would actually be drilled.

And I'm sure in this highly testy time for environmentalism we'd do the necessary things to protect wildlife. No one's going to go up there and start blasting polar bears in the face.

What we're talking about is a HUGE area (like 19 million acres), and we want to explore and drill on a small fraction of it.