Obama Administration OKs Oil Drilling in Arctic off Alaska

[IndianaGreen]

Published on Monday, December 7, 2009 by McClatchy Newspapers

Obama Administration OKs Oil Drilling in Arctic off Alaska
by Erika Bolstad

WASHINGTON -- The Interior Department today gave the go-ahead for Shell Oil to begin drilling three exploratory wells in the Chukchi Sea, a move that opens the door for production in a new region of the Arctic.

WASHINGTON -- The Interior Department today gave the go-ahead for Shell Oil to begin drilling three exploratory wells in the Chukchi Sea, a move that opens the door for production in a new region of the Arctic.

"This is progress," said Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, the top Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. "Today's announcement from the MMS is an encouraging sign that Alaska's oil and natural gas resources can continue to play a major role in America's energy security."

The Interior Department's Minerals Management Service signed off on a plan that allows Shell to drill up to three exploration wells during the July-to-October open-water drilling season. The company's proposal calls for using one drill ship, one ice management vessel, an ice-class anchor-handling vessel and oil spill response vessels, the Interior Department said. The closest proposed drill site is more than 60 miles to shore and about 80 miles from Wainwright.

"Our approval of Shell's plan is conditioned on close monitoring of Shell's activities to ensure that they are conducted in a safe and environmentally responsible manner," Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said today in a statement announcing his decision. "These wells will allow the department to develop additional information and to evaluate the feasibility of future development in the Chukchi Sea.

Shell, Conoco Phillips and other companies last year paid more than $2 billion for leases in the Chukchi Sea off the northwest coast of Alaska. The companies and state officials believe the offshore reserves could power the Alaska economy for decades.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/251/story/80196.html

Drill, baby, drill! :puke:

[Oregone]

1. Its better for the environment than buying tar-sand oil

Better for the trade deficit too

[Name removed]

3. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Arctic Dave]

8. Drilling there is irrelevant because even if they find oil there isn't any infrastructure

to extract it with. If you are concerned about the tar sands then I would suggest to have the oil companies drill the Petroleum Reserves like they supposed to.

[Blue_In_AK]

39. That's what I'd like to know.

Why aren't they exploring NPR-A before tapping into the Chukchi Sea? It seems safer to me than risking a spill in the water. You work up there, don't you, Dave? What's the story? How do the Native people up there feel about it?



For an idea of scale for the Lower 49ers, ANWR is approximately the size of South Carolina.

[Umbral]

27. Does this prevent further development of oil/tar sands?

No? Then your justification is no justification at all.

[Oregone]

30. If fruitful, it would lower US demand on tar sand oil

And lower demand would translate to less tar sand development.

[PVnRT]

64. Nationalism is fun

[NYC_SKP]

48. Better than buying from Saudi Arabia, too.

Hats off to anyone who doesn't use any petroleum products.

Conservation & green energy production AND shifting away from dependence on imports, are not mutually exclusive ideas.

:donut:

[bbinacan]

2. Or don't drill

and you freeze your ass of in the winter. This is a stop gap until we have viable alternatives.

[mcablue]

10. Do you have any evidence that this oil will be used due to a shortage?

Are they drilling because all of a sudden oil is close to running out?

[timeforpeace]

29. Wow, imagine the reaction here if Bush or Palin did this. Instead, it's just peachy now.

[Occam Bandage]

31. Bush did do this. So did Clinton. So has every President since Alaska was granted statehood.

We'd of course have been upset if Bush opened drilling in ANWR, but this is nowhere near ANWR.

[Better Believe It]

32. Who said "drill baby, drill!" ? Oh .... that was Sarah Palin

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

4. And?

[Occam Bandage]

5. Did I miss the speech when Obama claimed he would end all domestic oil drilling?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

6. Yes.

It was the one where he announced he'd pull out of Afghanistan and promote bank failures.

[mcablue]

9. But didn't we all slam Palin for her "drill, baby drill" chant?

Just saying.

[ClarkUSA]

13. We mocked Palin about calling herself a pitbull w/lipstick, too. So what?

:shrug:

[mcablue]

14. We're not being inconsistent regarding any pitbull w/lipstick comment though

I'm inquiring about this change of heart.

[ClarkUSA]

16. What's "inconsistent" about mocking her simplistic palaver? You're grasping at rhetorical straws.

:shrug:

[mcablue]

18. I said it's NOT inconsistent. And you just asked me what's inconsistent about it

Not inconsistent.

[ClarkUSA]

20. What has Palin's "Drill, baby, drill" chant got to do with any alleged inconsistency here?

:shrug:

[mcablue]

22. You're right. There is consistency. Environmentalist groups are criticizing both her and this admin.

If we look at it that way, it's consistent!

[Occam Bandage]

23. Today the EPA declared greenhouse gases a danger to public health for the first time in history.

This gives the government unprecedented regulatory powers. But, you know, Obama hasn't ended all oil drilling yet, so fuck'm.

[ClarkUSA]

24. Environmental groups has also praised this administration far more than they ever praised her.

So what?

:shrug:

[mcablue]

28. So in your view...

Obama scores points when environmentalists praise him, but does not lose points when they criticize him? Very unique assessment system.

[ClarkUSA]

33. No. You're the one who's bringing up their criticism of Obama w/o citing their oft-said praise.

That's a common "assessment system" around here, almost always used by the 24/7 Obama Outrage Club.

See Reply #27 - which you have yet to respond to, BTW - for the latest in a long 10 months of praise for the
Obama Administration by environmental groups.

I guess you could say there are alot of Princesses Complaining About Peas at DU.

:rofl:

[Moochy]

42. OverCapitalization and Relentless Boorishness in a single package?

Reminds me of a Queensryche song!

Where can i get in on the meeting where you guys come up with the names for those who disagree with you?

They must be fun.

Leftbaggers, Obama Outrage Club, Poutragers, I-Want-A-Pony-Club!

Marginalizing is FUN!

[cornermouse]

69. The not-so-funny thing about this?

There used to be a Clark poster on DU who was pretty decent but I guess he isn't around any more.

[Occam Bandage]

17. Yes. We slammed her for saying that was the only solution to our energy problem.

"Drill, baby, drill" is a laughable excuse for a comprehensive energy policy. We didn't slam her because we thought we should never drill ever.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

34. Sarah Palin wanted to drill in ANWR.

This is not ANWR.

Sarah Palin wanted to drastically increase the areas where oil could be drilled.

This is not those areas.

[IndianaGreen]

35. IOW, the Obama Administration is as committed to fossil fuels as its predecessor

that's the bottom line in here.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

36. ...says IG, as he drives away in his solar powered car.

[Moochy]

38. Its cool that you got yours to run on methane

But to which of your ends do you attach the intake valve?

[SpartanDem]

40. Hardly

did you miss todays announcement? Let's not forget the increase in CAFE standards or when drilling was blocked near historic ruins in Utah. You want argue that there should be no more drilling no exceptions fine, but to say Bush and Obama have the same environmental policy based off this decision is a textbook example of intellectual dishonesty.

U.S. Blocks Oil Drilling at 60 Sites in Utah

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/09/science/earth/09leases.html

[vaberella]

43. Yeah, but that was in discussion about OFF SHORE drilling.

Not domestic drilling. And Obama is on the fence to leaning against Off Shore drilling and I'm totally against. That's a disaster waiting to happen.

[waterscalm]

53. I did. I am not happy with this at all.

[NYC_SKP]

47. I'd like to know how many people here don't use any petroleum products at all.

I don't see why the purist vegan litmus test can't apply here.

If one is against all domestic exploration, then I guess they're all right with giving up medicines, medical devices, plastics, makeup, luggage, clothing, and all the rest of the things made from petroleum products.

Or...They're alright with importing 57% (and rising) of our petroleum from other countries, and the wars that go along with it.

So, you are right, not only did Obama promise no such thing, this "no oil, no way" bullshit is what's helping to prevent offshore experimentation of wind and ocean energy, I kid you not.

I attended a public hearing with Secretary Salazar, Sen Boxer, many others, and I was dismayed at how the Secretary's question to his panel, "Would you support research into offshore renewable energy production in California?", was met with alarmist responses-- as if such a thing would be a sneaky way into drilling for oil.

Most of them never answered the question. Governor Kulongoski of Oregon gave a good response, something like, "yes, I think we have to."

Frustrating. Only in California.

This kneejerky bullshit is not helping.

:donut:

[PVnRT]

67. Logic fallacy bullshit doesn't help either

Granted, it is easier to belittle the opposition without actually having to form an argument yourself that way.

[doc03]

7. Drill, baby, drill!

[zbdent]

11. f*ck ...

Well, I hope that Sarah gets to see a slick from her house ...

[arcadian]

12. Changelicious

[mcablue]

15. "This is progress," said the top Republican in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

From the Anchorage Daily News: ""This is progress," said Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, the top Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. "Today's announcement from the MMS is an encouraging sign that Alaska's oil and natural gas resources can continue to play a major role in America's energy security."

http://www.adn.com/money/industries/oil/story/1044468.html

[ClarkUSA]

19. Because of 3 experimental oil wells? Murkowski sure knows how to overstate things.

Guess she has to say bullshit like that so she gets the credit in the local papers.

:shrug:

[name not needed]

21. Let's just hope the oil rigs block Sarah Palin's view of Russia

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

25. Before DU has a collective hissy fit...

This area is nowhere even close to ANWR -- it's on the opposite side of the state. Depending on exactly where they're drilling, it could be up to 1,000 miles away.

[Occam Bandage]

26. Some people take any excuse. nt

[ChimpersMcSmirkers]

41. They know this. This thread has most of the top haters in it.

[MadHound]

37. Part of that clean, green Obama machine!

Hmm, drilling in Alaska, on the day his administration also declares CO2 a poison to be regulated, Isn't there a conflict here?

Meanwhile, the rest of the world is leaving us behind in switching to alternative green energy sources.

[dionysus]

44. one, this is not ANWR, two, anyone complaining about this that drives a car is a hypocrit...

[NYC_SKP]

52. Or uses plastic products, takes medicine, the list is endless...

Better to get it here than from the Middle East.

Of course we still have to conserve, but will still need petroleum for many things.

[ensho]

45. this stinks!

no more oil drilling

[NYC_SKP]

46. Three Exploratory Drillings to Assess Reserves and Potential, Oh NOES!!!111!!

Pass the smelling salts.

[vaberella]

49. You know, if you could post a counter thread with this information would be great.

I think these threads get a lot of attention because debunk them within the thread. That's all well and good, but most people on here don't bother searching for the information. So a counter thread would be helpful to debunk this sensationlistic post.

[NYC_SKP]

50. I think I might do that.

This low-information drama does more harm than good.

The same people who say "no war for oil", then turn around and say, "no exploratory drilling" don't know what the fuck they're talking about.

All the conservation and green energy projects in the world aren't going to change our need for oil for some of our needs, better to get it here than from the Middle East.

:hi:

[dionysus]

60. their cars run on magic unicorn dust...

[NYC_SKP]

61. BWAAHAAHAHA!

I wonder if any of them are snorting the stuff.

:evilgrin:

[PVnRT]

66. Or we could, you know, reduce consumption

Nah, that would be, like, hard and stuff.

[PVnRT]

68. LOL debunking?

Seriously, you call what you guys did upthread "debunking"? Give me a break...

[NYC_SKP]

70. OK, you tell me what's wrong with three exploratory wells and I'll school you. nt

[uponit7771]

51. *******ANOTHER MISLEADING OP TITLE*************** 60-80 miles is NOT "off Alaska"...

...no more than 60 miles away from my home is off my front lawn..

The freep is dishonested

[jtylerpittman]

55. would that be international waters?

Thats far

[IndianaGreen]

62. The US claims 200-mile economic zone around the coast

and it is off Alaska.

[DCBob]

54. I guess we still need oil, right? Until we come up with some alternative energy source..

to power billions of engines in this country. At least its not ANWAR.

[NYC_SKP]

56. Maybe Poster Prefers "War for Oil", or lives a Petroleum Free Existence?

Can't have it both ways, even if we use much much less we still need petroleum.

What pisses me off is that many of the same attitudes are against green offshore wind and offshore tidal or current power development.

:eyes:

[DCBob]

58. HA! "Petroleum Free Existence" ...

That would be just about impossible unless the poster was naked on some remote island eating coconuts and seaweed.

[NYC_SKP]

59. ya never know, except one could not possibly post on a discussion board w/o petroleum.

Well, maybe the Professor of Gilligan's Island.

:P

[Zomby Woof]

57. I have just one question

Why do you still have an Obama avatar in your sig line? It seems very out of place.

[IndianaGreen]

63. That's the avatar for the LGBTs Obama threw under the Democratic bus

we are in good company with the women victimized by Stupak.

[PVnRT]

65. ...and I see the Obama-Is-Always-Right crowd has already weighed in with the talking points

I'll give this for Rahm, he's certainly efficient.

[IndianaGreen]

71. My only agreement with the Israel Lobby is that we both think Rahm is a POS

[Teaser]

72. good.

.

[and-justice-for-all]

73. Drilling is pointless and a waste...

That fuel will not hit your take for 50years, because all of it has to go to market and it will do little to nothing about prices.

AKA = FAIL.

[IndianaGreen]

74. This drilling is evidence of a lack of commitment to replace fossil fuels

and today's appointment of Larry Persily adds more credence to that viewpoint.

[and-justice-for-all]

75. Just appalling..nt

[krawhitham]

76. It is a state issue

or should be