US oil exploration could threaten ecosystems - 18 Jun 08

With fuel prices out of control, Americans are feeling the pinch at the pumps. And most are blaming the White House for not doing enough to ease their pain. Under fire, the US President has come up with a new energy plan. George Bush wants to increase the domestic production of gasoline in a controversial manner. He has asked Congress to lift a ban on offshore drilling for oil. If that happens, it would repeal an executive order signed by his father, President Herbert Walker Bush, in 1990, and open up environmentally-fragile areas to oil companies. Al Jazeera's Rosalind Jordan reports.

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[WorldTravelTV]

I don't want more companies going around screwing our country simply because John down the street is too stupid to be paying over $100 to fill up his truck. When what he should be doing is demanding alternative technology, and fuels. And of course the American Petroleum Institute is going to make the claim that this will save all our problems. B.S.

[gangsterdrester]

Driving is NOT a right. If you can't afford gas buy a fucking bike or ride the bus.

[WolYou]

Too much people consuming too much of everything.

[usamericanz]

Hydrogen and Electric cars are not "promising" until they cost what a typical gasoline-powered car costs. The Tesla is $100K, which is out of reach for the vast majority of consumers. There are no production Hydrogen powered cars available for anyone to purchase, so one can only assume those are astronomically expensive to produce as well. If and until we have viable, affordable alternative energy sources for cars, we need to DRILL, HERE, NOW.

[onomus]

I think you're totally wrong. I saw a program on the Discovery Channel about the alternate sources for cars. Hydrogen and Electric power is much more promising than you think. Tesla Motors has a car out(Sure, it's over $100, a bit pricey) and it's fully electric. AND it goes faster than most street legal cars.

[usamericanz]

Taz is exactly correct. Liberals keep squawking about researching "alternative energy sources" but guess what? THEY'VE BEEN RESEARCHED. For decades. We know lots about hydrogen, solar, electric, etc. Nothing as of yet comes close to the ability of fossil fuel to provide us the transportation we need to run our economy. I'd like to think someday electric cars will be efficient enough to compare with gasoline-powered cars, but until they do, we need to DRILL, HERE, NOW.

[usamericanz]

Alternative energy sources have been researched for as long as we've been using fossil fuels. Guess what? The few alternative energy sources that exist (wind, solar, etc) ain't viable for use in cars. If they were, companies would be lining up in our capitalist system to sell alternatively-powered cars. The only thing that comes close to matching the range and efficiency of a standard internal combustion engine car is the Tesla electric roadster, which sells for over 100K. We need to DRILL.

[vujade1]

there is no peak oil. he's going straight for the kill. exploitation

[TazT75]

Great lets let a bunch of folks lose their jobs because the companies they worked for can't get their product to market. This problem goes far beyond people cruising around in gas guzzling vechicles.

[TazT75]

We both agree that we need alternative engergy sources, but thats not going to happen overnight. in the meantime we should be drilling oil, at the moment thats where we're at that's what we have. I work in the pet food business, for me to keep my job, pay my bills and eat, I need there to be plenty of fuel so those pet treats get to the market, I'm sure if most people would find themselves in a similar situation if they stoped and thout about it. Oil equals employment for 99.9% of the population

[ManicEightBall]

I don't want us to live in the stone age OR be dependent on others for oil. I want to research alternative fuels. It's because of conservatives we haven't been doing that and NOW we have that horrible choice.

Carter was telling us what we needed to do 30 years ago. I haven't heard anyone say anything until now, and now it's an emergency. Why is it conservatives get mad at liberals for making up issues, and 30 years later suddenly agree there's a problem?

[TazT75]

Never have driven an SUV. But even if I had what does it matter. We should have started drilling AND looking at alternative sources of engery a long time ago. But you libs just don't get it. You'd rather us live like we're in the stone age or be dependent on people who hate us for our engery supply than let the "evil" oil companies drill. You and your kind are the problem and the American people are starting to wake up and see what a load of crap the environmental movement is.