Off Shore Drilling VS. Alternative Energy Debate

[KripDrip]

green energy is for weak smelly pot smoking hippies. Im gonna be a real american man and drive my gas guzzling truck.

[PaulYves64]

WEC 2010 and their site energy2point0 is the place we all should be debating in order to get all stakeholders around a same community energy2point0 The only way to have a constructive debate... AND the big GUYS WILL LISTEN...

[danmarino1970]

There is no debate. Its as easy as choosing life and death. Green sustainable energy is a reality. Electro magnetic motors, solar, air. The energy cartels of this country have cornered the market for the past 150 years.. They have raped and pilaged the earth enough. Their time is up.. time to say YES to LIFE.

[cbunk81]

@danmarino1970 enough with the same old cliche"They have raped and pilaged the earth enough" how about letting the free market dictate what technology works. Quit forcing this green crap down my throat, I've tasted it and don't like how the government is making it more expensive to go about doing my normal buisness.

[danmarino1970]

@cbunk81 Big petro suppresses green and know that it works..but they can't make the same money with green technology..so they will lobby congress, pay off the heads of the green innitiative within the u.n (and their scientist) to come up with a "carbon tax" which will make manuf. almost impossible and make the petro elites very wealthy (kickbacks) china is 10-15 years ahead of the pack when it comes to green (and #2 when it comes to fossil fuel consumption) but are top producers of everything.

[Darkwizzrobe]

I find it funny that we can't drill off shore, but its OK to fill the oceans with wind mills.

[ToddAldrich]

(cont) They isolate each one to distract you from the whole. A single rain drop is not significant either, but when combined with others, the power it has is incredible - just look at Hurricane Katrina.

This is what the left does when isolating oil sources. Each one individually does not add up to a whole lot, but together they MORE than meet the worldwide shortage. AGAIN. Look up the Green River Formation - there is enough oil there ALONE to meet current U.S. demand for more than 100 yrs

[Axbent]

oil shall is not as profitable, if at all to make gasoline from! Ure wrong...

[ToddAldrich]

With the In-Situ process it is profitable at a price as low as $30.00 per barrel.

Even if it is not profitable till $70 per barrel, it is worth while to allow it - because if President Obama succeeds, it will rise far higher than that.

[ToddAldrich]

Where do I begin. There is so much disinformation and so many outright lies in this video.

The companies that have expertise in bringing oil to market say they can have this oil to market in one year - if they were allowed to do so. In addition, we have enough oil in the Green river formation ALONE to meet current U.S. Demand for MORE than 100 years.

The environmentalists like to isolate each oil area and claim that they ONLY will produce X amount of oil - minimizing the impact. (next post)

[milkmandan77]

i'd drill...her.

[SaveAmericaFightNWO]

how about something that doesn't spill in the ocean? its easy.

Hemp seed oil.

can it be done? Henry Ford made a hemp car in 1941 made of hemp, ran off hemp, stronger than carbon-fiber(which is petro-based)

can it boost the economy? making/growing hemp will save the family farms and we can produce "green" products from this fiber/plastic.

good for the environment? uses little to no chemicals to grow, makes plastic that is biodegradeble that doesn't contain Bisphenol-A, legalize it!

[volifiee]

I agree we should "do it all". We need to have eggs in every basket, so to speak. Let's drill a bit in ANWAR, off coastal Fla. and look again at Mex. and Canada to increase our supply.

Nothing brings down the price of something like increasing the supply.

[jcncnc]

hey idiot - THERE HASN'T BEEN A SPILL FROM DRILLING SINCE 1969! And your brilliant understanding of economics is unbelievable. It is estimated that nationwide we have 1.2 TRILLION barrels of oil - enough to last 251 years! Why do you just limit your discussion to ANWR? That's misleading. Whether it's sold here or put on the world market, it doesn't matter. Any addition to the world supply will bring prices DOWN! You're a GENIUS!

[Bobalithmiss1]

There are oil spills every year, not including even speaking of the Exxon-Valdez oil spill.

Where do you get the "trillion"'s of barrels? They are compared in millions, and there aren't a million million in the USA.

How do you know it will bring it down? What evidence or actually - any flat-out ASUMPTION could you explain that would lower the prices down? (although it IS estimated to go down 4 cents in 20 years by the Natural Resources Defense Council and others)

[jcncnc]

Hey boba - what did u get a 3rd grade education? I said no oil spills from DRILLING! Then u idiotically say yes there were spills and u mention the Valdez. That wasn't from DRILLING it as from a ship wreck! Get it?

Yes, we do have 1.2 TRILLION barrels of oil onshore and offshore combined. It's a figure that's documented anywhere where this is discussed. And what evidence that great supply will bring down prices? Sorry, if u need an answer to that, you need to go back to school and study econ.

[Bobalithmiss1]

...attacking the person and not the topic? wow, nice way to try to win an argument.

Sorry for misinterpreting the loosely wording of your first statement. It also depends on you definition of "spill". Is 1 drop of oil considered a spill? (to me, no, but idk about you and your definition).

Telling me to study economics makes me infer that you have. So I ask again and please answer - what will specifically prove the downfall of prices in the future and how far into the future?

[jcncnc]

what will prove that oil prices will fall when supply increases? It's called the LAW of supply and demand. If you don't know about it then you'd really have to go back to school. Everyone else knows about it.

[Bobalithmiss1]

..what's with you and ad hominem arguments?

Well anyways, the laws of supply and demand are those without additional variables, of which offshore oil drilling/gas prices has.

[Bobalithmiss1]

When talking about gas prices, an increase of production taking over a large import still leaves the same amount of supply if not less when talking about the USA supply/imports/exports. Even using the over-basic law of supply and demand doesn't work as a suffice argument. So I ask again - what SPECIFICALLY will lower the price, no laws, etc - an actual instance please (look, I just wanna know. I'm not trying to refute your argument, I just would like to understand the reasoning).

[74VDC]

NO...you are the "GENIUS". You are asserting numbers never before discussed unless it was that freak religious quack (forget his name). There IS NOT 1.2 trillion barrels of oil in the US...,but I suspect you are including oil shale...that's a joke. 251 years...hahaha...gimme a break...you're a fool. The drill/don't drill debate has largely been argued around freedom from foreign oil, and if it is exported then that lessens that...does it not? Our own oil won't amount to spit in the ocean.

[cdhoskins]

The debate isn't whether to drill VS. alternative sources. The point is that we HAVE to drill until alternative sources come online. The need to drill is partly the fault of environmental lobbies who have fought clean nuclear power and other sources, while promoting infant technologies that are not yet capable of supplying energy needs. We definitely need alternative forms of energy. But in the meantime we need to be independent of the foreign sources that we currently rely on.

[taxesblow]

Oh, so lets get our oil from other parts of the world where they don't have the same safety and environmental standards as our own. Let them spill oil in the ocean or cut down rain forests. After all the safety precautions we have mandated to the USA oil companies, it's a shame they will not be utilized to maximize their benefit to the earth. It makes one wonder if some in the green movement are really in it for the environment or is it just to oppose capitalism.

[jklh7890]

Wait a minute America is the leader of innovation and technology in the world. Already we have the scientists and investors who see the potential of alternative energy. For example billionaire Ted Boone Pickens. He is a Republican and was a strong supporter of president Bush and now he is investing his money in wind energy because he sees the problem but also sees a cleaner solution. So give the capitalisms speech a rest.

[jklh7890]

There is trillions of dollars to be made in alternative energy but the problem is that there is no money being invested in it from the government. These oil companies and nations have a strangle hold on our leaders. America needs jump on this and lead the way.

[Bobalithmiss1]

...the majority of the USA's oil comes from Canada and Mexico, not the middle east, etc

[goose1077]

You're a little late to the game to be saying gas prices are continuing to rise. They have been falling a bit for a several weeks now. Alternate fuels will only bring prices down, when prices for oil are higher than prices for alternative fuels. Don't expect $1 a gallon alternative fuel. The reason we use oil is because it is the cheapest fuel out there.

[martinique226]

Another question I have is, Are we being selfish? Why do other countries have responsibility to produce oil for US? It's okay to pollute their land, because ours is more precious?

[martinique226]

Effect of offshore drilling on gas price is all based on assumption. you never know until it happens. For the moment it's like a religion- it depends on what you believe.

Gas price is not the only issue here. I agree alt energy is important, but WHAT IF alternative energy does not work alone? Are we all ready for the higher risk of the next energy crisis? Remember that we've developed alt energy for over 30 years and it still can't replace even 1% of our total consumption.

[1000buffalos]

martinique226, you have a good point about gas prices here. Talk of offshore drilling here limits the calculus to the effects on gas prices now or later.Why does oil extracted from ANWR or offshore need to be sold on the international market and thus, "not last as long"? Why can't we drill and use our own oil domestically?

Dependence on foreign regimes that are exporting terror with our, and other nations purchasing of oil is another factor.

We should do it ALL.

[martinique226]

I am more conservative on 'ANWR oil for US only'. We should let free market do its work --- when price is determined by supply, demand and competition, everybody wins. Consumers are free to buy from whoever they want; producers are free to set price as they want. Maybe at some point there can be policy set to encourage domestic sale, but any interference needs to be used with great caution. I agree we need to DO IT ALL. That's as good as it gets.