Drill baby drill??

#1
utvolpj

utvolpj

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#1
WASHINGTON -- In a reversal of a long-standing ban on most offshore drilling, President Barack Obama is allowing oil drilling 50 miles off Virginia's shorelines. At the same time, he is rejecting some new drilling sites that had been planned in Alaska.
Obama's plan offers few concessions to environmentalists, who have been strident in their opposition to more oil platforms off the nation's shores.
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FOXNews.com - Obama to Unveil Offshore Oil Drilling Plans

I bet this goes over very well with his base. :good!: Mr Pres
 
#2
#2
These kind of 180 turn arounds by politicians are tough to justify. I'd like to hear from him what changed his mind.
 
#3
#3
IPorange said:
These kind of 180 turn arounds by politicians are tough to justify. I'd like to hear from him what changed his mind.
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Maybe this:

White House officials pitched the changes as ways to reduce U.S. reliance on foreign oil and create jobs -- both politically popular ideas -- but the president's decisions also could help secure support for a climate change bill languishing in Congress.
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I bet there was some back room deals going on here so he could get the climate change bill through.

Nevertheless, I agree with the decision.
 
#4
#4
to be fair he never fully embraced the ban in the first place (at least starting in 2008). IIRC he even said during the election he was open to it as part of a bigger package. It will be good for states like VA
 
#5
#5
Yeah, during the campaign I thought he was solid on the ANWR ban, but kind of wishy washy on the offshore stuff.
 
#6
#6
heck yah drill, maybe we can get out nuts out of the vice of OPEC, bunch of slimy bastages.
 
#7
#7
I remember him giving a little speech about how drilling wasn't the answer, and it wouldn't make a difference in gas prices now or in the future...
 
#9
#9
IPorange said:
I remember him giving a little speech about how drilling wasn't the answer, and it wouldn't make a difference in gas prices now or in the future...
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As pj said though, he wasn't opposed to it as a short-term part of a larger package to reduce long-term dependency.
 
#13
#13
Decreased dependence on ME oil would certainly make a dent in ME economies, particularly if there were no one to take the place of our demand. You should see the projections of middle east economies under climate change legislation. If you think that cap and trade would kill western economies, have a look at the middle eastern economy projections.
 
#15
#15
TennTradition said:
Decreased dependence on ME oil would certainly make a dent in ME economies, particularly if there were no one to take the place of our demand. You should see the projections of middle east economies under climate change legislation. If you think that cap and trade would kill western economies, have a look at the middle eastern economy projections.
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only bad thing is it would make them even more dangerous and desperate.
 
#17
#17
utvolpj said:
only bad thing is it would make them even more dangerous and desperate.
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I've thought about that a fair amount since I first saw the cap and trade projections a few years ago. I can see it both ways.

I wonder how much the 'ground troops' of terrorism (forgive the comparison to an army, but I couldn't think of another term) benefit from oil money in their normal lives. It kind of seems like all of the money gets tied up at the highest level and trickles down a bit from there, but it doesn't seem to flow into all levels of the economy.

If that is the case, then it could radicalize more of those at the financier level as they lose funds from decreased oil demand. I'm not sure what the result of that would be. You may have more desperate individuals with money, but there money would be disappearing (and ability to fund large terrorist organizations) rather than building.

I do worry about the stability of the region in the face of that economic hit, but I also think that a lot of the current oil money is used by key individuals to destabilize the region as it is.
 
#18
#18
TennTradition said:
I've thought about that a fair amount since I first saw the cap and trade projections a few years ago. I can see it both ways.

I wonder how much the 'ground troops' of terrorism (forgive the comparison to an army, but I couldn't think of another term) benefit from oil money in their normal lives. It kind of seems like all of the money gets tied up at the highest level and trickles down a bit from there, but it doesn't seem to flow into all levels of the economy.

If that is the case, then it could radicalize more of those at the financier level as they lose funds from decreased oil demand. I'm not sure what the result of that would be. You may have more desperate individuals with money, but there money would be disappearing (and ability to fund large terrorist organizations) rather than building.

I do worry about the stability of the region in the face of that economic hit, but I also think that a lot of the current oil money is used by key individuals to destabilize the region as it is.
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I say we let Israel loose and tell them to have fun...
 
#20
#20
VolsNSkinsFan said:
i just want him to say two words... Natural Gas
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his arse is still well intrenched in the ethanol and alternative energy lobby. natural gas IS the solution to our domestic energy problems. and it burns CLEAN. pathetic obama never talks about it.
 
#22
#22
yup and the technology is such that we can tap into wells that haven't been running for years. shale drilling might go down as what saved this country from opec, if obama let's them continue to drill that is.
 
#23
#23
I support the idea overall but I'm listening to his speech about it and his method drives me insane.

He sets up complete strawmen then shows how his solution is the best compromise. Case in point, he just said "there are some on the other side that want to open all areas to exploration with absolutely NO restrictions or environmental regulations"

No one takes that position. He's a little closer when he characterizes the other extreme "there are some that want no new exploration period". Again, I'm sure their numbers are few if any.

He sums it up by saying we need to expand and use traditional sources of fuel while we transition to green energy so our economy will stay strong. Duh!

I'll ask again - who buys this crap?
 
#24
#24
there hasn't been a single domestic oil spill from any off shore oil rig in this country. the environmental argument is garbage./
 
#25
#25
utvolpj said:
only bad thing is it would make them even more dangerous and desperate.
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Years ago there was an interesting study published by a government think tank (can't remember which one, they were attached to the CIA though) that took a set of national metrics used to track personal liberties and democracy. They measured the metrics and coorelated them with oil price and found over the last 60 years there was an inverse relationship with freedom and oil price in the middle east. Basically, as the price of oil dropped, democracy got stronger in the middle east.

I'll see if I can find it again. It would make sense though, take away the economic strength of the governing class and the people have more power.

The only reason I am aware of it is because I used to study that kind of stuff for my last job.
 
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