When people talk about offshore drilling... here is my response

[LuckyTheDog]

If you are convinced that offshore drilling should be the centerpiece of U.S. energy policy, they surely there must be a reason for it. So Where is your evidence that it will help?

How much oil would be produced? How would we make sure that it gets sold domestically? How much would that drilling bring down the cost of a gallon of gas? How long would it take for the impact to be felt? What would be the environmental risks involved? How could we mitigate those risks?

If you cannot make a basic case by answering those questions, then you must admit that you are posturing and/or blowing smoke out of your ass.

I am for some increases in offshore drilling as well. But I think we should be honest and admit that the impact would be almost entirely symbolic -- and that other things are more important when it comes to actually reducing oil imports by a significant amount.

Shouldn't honesty be the best policy here?

[TooBigaTent]

1. Do not use the "h" word when talking about this administration. And most of the government.

You cannot fight belief with logic.

Have you ever gotten any kind of response from anyone?

[The_Casual_Observer]

2. If there were any real oil deposits out there they would have done whatever

they had to to get at it already. It's all campaign bullshit brought to you by republicans, prison inmates & other low lifes.

[wpelb]

3. Centerpiece? Maybe not. An important part of the solution? Maybe

One advantage to offshore drilling is that a greater part of the U.S. energy supply would come from domestic sources, rather than forcing us to rely on agreements with countries that may have unstable political realities. Don't expect it to be a panacea, however, any more than nuclear, solar, wind, conservation, or geothermal (or any other source) can be a panacea.

No matter what is done, the large energy companies that exist today (or more properly, the people who run them) will have a great deal of influence in whatever solutions are implemented (or at least attempted). Even if we nationalized our energy industry (and I don't have the foggiest idea of how that would be done, except that many of the current energy-industry executives would be deeply involved), offshore drilling and the other sources enumerated above would inevitably have to be considered as at least part of the national energy solution.

[spag68]

4. Despite Charlie Crist

I believe most Florida residents don't want oil being drilled for anywhere near their shores. Those that support that position would never own up to that position after the first spill to reach the beach. You have to give Arnold credit for saying no go, or do you think maybe Maria had some influence on that?

[gratuitous]

5. Excellent questions

And while the person you're conversing with is mulling them over, pose them a few more:

How much oil is being pumped in Iraq right now? Because it was supposed to be paying for our occupation by this time, wasn't it?

Who's shipping the oil being pumped in Iraq?

Who's paying for it, if it's being paid for?

Who's receiving those payments?

Where is it being shipped, and who's paying for it at the end of the line? Who's receiving those payments?

Because if that person knows the answers to any of those questions, that person knows more than just about anyone else in the world.

[ColbertWatcher]

6. Good strategy.

I always say we don't need to answer to the GOP or their sheep; they need to start answering for themselves.

[randr]

7. Let us remember the tax incentives,

Billions and billions as I recall, over the last 7 years. Incentives we were told would increase exploration and development of existing oil reserve leases. Where has all the money that hard working tax paying citizens have given over to the energy moguls gone? Billions of dollars should have shown some result I would presume.

[kevinmc]

8. I say if they have a oil spill the CEO and the Board get mandatory life sentences in prison......

all oil belongs to the USA and can't be sold to another country.

If they can handle those two thing .. let them drill all they want.

[IntravenousDemilo]

9. "Symbolic impact" is very important in a time of "mental recession".

I wonder why you'd be in favour of any increases in offshore drilling at all if you think the impact would be almost entirely symbolic. Does symbolism really matter so much that it's worth risking an ecosystem over, and is Phil Gramm right about the US being a nation of whiners?

[patriotvoice]

10. Amory Lovins: There is no business case for exploration: it adds appreciably to the barrel price.

Exploration in high-risk, hostile areas -- like the Artic and off-shore -- adds significant cost to the per-barrel cost of oil to recover exploration costs. It is more cost effective to 'drill' in Detroit, he says: "producing electric cars is by far the less expensive of the two options:" we have more coal than we will ever need, and micro-generation from wind and solar will supply the rest.

He further states that the best business case for oil, right now, is to reduce or eliminate exports and use the barrels domestically.

Watch Amory Lovins explain on Charlie Rose
http://www.charlierose.com/shows/2008/07/15/2/a-conversation-with-amory-lovins

Visit Rocky Mountain Institute
http://www.rmi.org/

[Canuckistanian]

11. Conservative's arguments always fall apart on "details" like this

They have these soundbites pounded in their tiny brains, but never think beyond that.

[Popol Vuh]

12. Excellent Post LuckyTheDog

I agree with every point you make. And since I live along the cost and will be impacted by any offshore drilling, I would like to add this. For anybody who wishes to see offshore drilling will you agree to this. Any and all tar and other leaked pollutants that wash up onto the shorelines, would you agree to let us collect it up and dump it onto your properties? Secondly, since the view of the cost is going to be effected by unsightly drilling platforms, would you agree to put a refinery near your homes where you have to look at it everyday?

Just a couple of other little tidbits I wanted to add.

[Kajsa]

13. NO- Big Oil isn't utilizing the leased land

they already have for drilling.

http://resourcescommittee.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=389&Itemid=1

The 68 million acres of leased but inactive federal land have the potential to produce an additional 4.8 million barrels of oil and 44.7 billion cubic feet of natural gas each day. This would nearly double total U.S. oil production, and increase natural gas production by 75 percent. It would also cut U.S. oil imports by more than one-third, reducing America's dependency on foreign oil.

The Rahall bill would force oil and gas companies to either produce or give up federal onshore and offshore leases they are stockpiling by barring the companies from obtaining any more leases unless they can demonstrate that they are producing oil and gas, or are diligently developing the leases they already hold, during the initial term of the leases.

Coal companies, which are issued leases for 20-year terms, are required, as a result of the Federal Coal Leasing Amendments Act of 1976 to show that they are diligently developing their leases during the initial lease term. The law was enacted in an effort to end rampant speculation on federal coal as a result of the energy crises of the 1970's.

Oil and gas companies, however, are not required to demonstrate diligent development. Because of this, oil and gas companies have been allowed to stockpile leases in a non-producing status, while leaving millions of acres of leased land untouched. The Rahall legislation directs the Secretary of the Interior to define what constitutes diligent development for oil and gas leases.

[FormerOstrich]

14. Excellent!

Great questions, LuckyTheDog. I am frequently shocked at how the most verbal spouter's of the talking points are so ill informed!

gratuitous, asked about Iraqi oil down thread. I recently posted an excellent source of US oil information. In that thread, I had questions about Iraq Oil. My thread received very little discussion.

Here is the link to the data:

http://www.eia.doe.gov/oil_gas/petroleum/info_glance/petroleum.html

Here were my comments about Iraqi Imports:

I was under the impression that Iraq was not producing/shipping much because obsolete equipment, sabotage, lack of security to correct the former, etc.

Therefore, I was really startled when I reviewed our Imports by Country. Iraqi imports for the first quarter of 2008 was a 42.99% increase over first quarter of 2007 with an average of 21,000 (Thousand Barrels) per month.

In context...for April 2008, we imported 43,867 from Saudi Arabia and 35,672 from Venezuela.

Here is the link to the original thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=3619869

[DailyGrind51]

15. Offshore drilling is like selling the family silverware,

A very temporary solution to a much greater problem that you will eventually live to regret. :-(