McCain to start US offshore drilling.

[240 is Back]

McCain to start US offshore drilling.
Wants to give $ to states to drill.


I think I'm okay with that.

[24KT]

McCain to start US offshore drilling.
Wants to give $ to states to drill.


I think I'm okay with that.

He'd have to get elected first.

Where would he find all the money to give to states. He's got a 100 yr war to pay for remember?

pssst: but economics has admitedly never been his strong point.

[shootfighter1]

I don't believe there needs to be monetary incentive to drill.  With the price of oil this high, the extraction of oil from multiple sources becomes profitable.  States will profit and will add jobs by allowing drilling.

[youandme]

pssst: but economics has admitedly never been his strong point.

I think he understands supply and demand better than Obama who wants to tax Oil Companies when they are already calling it quits (Exxon) great way to increase gas prices even more when he will be waiting in office for alternative fuel services that are still in the lab, and relying on OPEC.

[Decker]

Absolutely.  Let's rid the country of environmental and ecological handcuffs.

"Americans consume about 20 million barrels of oil day, about 60 percent of it imported."

We can end that foreign dependence...for a while.

"The oil companies that drilled in the rain forest were responsible for "felling thousands of acres of trees, dynamiting the earth, spilling vast amounts of oil, destroying habitats, and fouling rivers." Fish have died from water pollution and the game the tribes once hunted have retreated deeper into the jungle as a result of the deforestation. The Rainforest Action Network found that Texaco alone spilled 17 million gallons of crude oil, abandoned hundreds of unlined toxic waste ponds, and constructed oil roads that opened more than 2.5 million acres of the forest to colonization. As a result, Ecuador's rain forests are being cut down by oil companies and settlers at a rate of approximately 340,000 hectares a year. The wood is used for construction, roads, fuel, and furniture."
http://www.american.edu/TED/projects/tedcross/xoilpr15.htm

Ahhh shit happens.  I'm sure Big Oil will be very careful drilling in our oceans and forests and such.

[youandme]

I don't believe there needs to be monetary incentive to drill.  With the price of oil this high, the extraction of oil from multiple sources becomes profitable.  States will profit and will add jobs by allowing drilling.

Yep, we have not opened a refinery in the US in the last 35 years, in fact we have closed more than two-thirds of them.

[Decker]

"[T]he most critical factor facing the refining industry on the West Coast is the surplus of refining capacity, and the surplus gasoline production capacity. (The same situation exists for the entire U.S. refining industry.) Supply significantly exceeds demand year-round. This results in very poor refinery margins and very poor refinery financial results. Significant events need to occur to assist in reducing supplies and/or increasing the demand for gasoline."  Taken from an internal Texaco memo.

"If the U.S. petroleum industry doesn't reduce its refining capacity, it will never see any substantial increase in refinery margins (profits)," said an internal Chevron document in November 1995."

"The documents suggest that major oil companies pursued efforts to curtail refinery capacity as a strategy for improving profit margins," said Wyden, who released the papers at a news conference Thursday.

"In fact, 24 refineries - many of them small independents - have shut down since 1995, according to the Energy Department, accounting for the loss of 831,000 barrels a day of refining capacity."
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2001/06/14/national/main296584.shtml

It looks like the limit of refineries in the US was a strategy by Big Oil to increase profits.

I trust these boys as much as I trust the commanders of Big Tobacco.

[CQ]

Either way is a catch 22 as far as the electorate goes. Don't drill, the pragmatists will be unhappy. Drill, the tree huggers will come out in force tying themselves to trees and stuff. Will be interesting.

[shootfighter1]

Every other country with any economic influence is increasing their drilling & exploration for oil and natural gas.  But we are above that....
China, India and Cuba have a partnership to drill in the Atlantic south of FLA.  They have determined its profitable enough to drill there.

I am all for being environmentally friendly and think we must practice extreme caution with drilling but we cannot allow this country to handicap itself and hurt its citizens.

Same thing with nuclear power, Europe has expanded its nuclear power greatly while the far left and environmentalists continue to hold us back.

We can sit here and 'protect the possible consequences of drilling and expanding nuclear power' while we suffer in this energy crisis or we can be proactive on several fronts.

[shootfighter1]

The difference now, CQ, is that people and businesses are hurting.  That may sway policy.  The majority of voters now want to increase our own energy supplies while pressing for alternative energies.  Most people are smart enough to realize we must be more proactive than we have been the last 30 yrs in this country.

[Decker]

Every other country with any economic influence is increasing their drilling & exploration for oil and natural gas.  But we are above that....
China, India and Cuba have a partnership to drill in the Atlantic south of FLA.  They have determined its profitable enough to drill there.

I am all for being environmentally friendly and think we must practice extreme caution with drilling but we cannot allow this country to handicap itself and hurt its citizens.

Same thing with nuclear power, Europe has expanded its nuclear power greatly while the far left and environmentalists continue to hold us back.

We can sit here and 'protect the possible consequences of drilling and expanding nuclear power' while we suffer in this energy crisis or we can be proactive on several fronts.

I think the US should cut some the subsidies to big oil paid for at taxpayer expense.  Big Oil has made more profits than anyone in history over the last year.  They don't need our help.

Especially considering since the mid 1990s, Big Oil planned the shortfall of refineries to drive up the price of fuel.  Now with the perfect storm of the Iraqistan wars, they really hit paydirt.

[CQ]

Oh, I am all for you guys drilling. Drill away I say. People first. Plants and fish can place 2nd fiddle.

[headhuntersix]

Yeah except that we can do it much safer now...do u honestly think a rig now is the same as 30 plus years ago...as for Decker's post...sure..give them the rights and then let them invest themselves.

[shootfighter1]

I'm not opposed to that Decker.  Although another idea is to tie the subsidies to investments in alternative fuels.
Some economists point to the fact that oil company profit margins are not that high but overall profits have risen significantly this yr. as people have suffered.
I am opposed to the windfall taxes which will penalyze the oil companies and be handed down to us.  Here is where I am very much opposed to Obama.

[Decker]

I'm not opposed to that Decker.  Although another idea is to tie the subsidies to investments in alternative fuels.
Some economists point to the fact that oil company profit margins are not that high but overall profits have risen significantly this yr. as people have suffered.
I am opposed to the windfall taxes which will penalyze the oil companies and be handed down to us.  Here is where I am very much opposed to Obama.

That's sensible re tying subsidies to R&D in alternative fuels.  I think that AF R&D should be treated the way this country treated the space race 50 years ago.  With that sense of urgency.

The subsidies are the reason that windfall taxes should be paid.  The US taxpayer should get a taste of the goods b/c we are financing a big chunk of the endeavor with our taxes.