How do you feel about Bush lifting the offshore oil drilling ban?

I think he's wrong to do that. you have to consider what wildlife we have left, and if there is an oil spill, look what happens!


Our coral reefs are already depleting.How do you feel about Bush lifting the offshore oil drilling ban?
GREAT!





I like animals as much as the next person. But last time I read my Bible, God told me though His Word that man kind has dominion over the animals. Not the other way around like the liberals think.





Nancy Pelosi is now enemy No.1 in America.How do you feel about Bush lifting the offshore oil drilling ban?
It is about time. Crude oil is natural. It oozes up from the ocean all the time. Eskimos were sealing their kayaks with it for centuries before anyone even knew it was a viable energy source. There is a massive amount of wildlife habitat. Nothing the Oil companies will be doing will cause any permanent impact.





Stop believeing the Socialist claptrap that hides behind the environmental movement.





Drill here, Drill now, Pay less!





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1st there have been no oil spill from offshore drilling rigs ever even during hurricanes. Second wildlife will survive no matter what. A few years ago ';greenie'; decimated the logging industry in the northwest because of the owl and so everything was shut down to protect this poor little owl who could not find a way to build a new nest then 20 years later there are fewer owl than when started protecting them. ASSIGNMENT WHY hint(a predator owl is killing them) also the Caribou in Alaska is walking around the pipe line and increasing in population everyday.
It's not about the environment, though that is an issue. The major issue involved here is the efficiency of what we're doing right now. Our offshore drilling sites are only being used at about 10% efficiency, a testament to American wastefullness. Rather than fix that already active system, our solution is to make a bunch more drills, which will effectively raise oil prices rather than reduce them, and maybe stand to gain from these locations over a period of several decades. I for one am not willing to wait that long for relief with gas prices, especially when that relief comes paired with a ruined offshore environment.
Since this is a two key process congress will have to do its job and lift the ban as well. If you haven't noticed crude plummeted because Bush did his job and lifted the ban. Crude went down 10.00 a barrel in the last 2 days! This is a record jump! Not a fluke!


Speculators saw this and speculated that America may be serious about becoming oil independent and began speculating that price of crude will go down in the future because of more supply in the market. Remember, speculators are driving the price up!


Lets become oil independent and in the mean time lets keep looking for better sources of power so we can ween off oil forever!
I am tickled pink as the saying goes. Now we must get Congress to go along with it. If you were concerned about the wildlife, you would have looked into the issue and realized that these oilrigs pose no threat. Not one drop of oil was spilled during Hurricane Katrina, despite the destruction in many other areas. In fact, there are actually claims that these oilrigs are good for the environment. Many people claim that we cannot remove these rigs once we are done drilling because they provide wildlife habitats by acting as artificial reefs.





A Louisiana Congressman has introduced a bill - the ';Rigs to Reefs Act'; - that would change the law to enable oil and gas companies to leave the platforms in tact for use as artificial reefs, scientific research platforms or for marine aquaculture.





Removing these rigs rips out thriving ecosystems - each platform supports a diverse array of marine life including coral and between ';10,000 to 30,000 fish,'; says Steve Kolian of the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality. The mud floor of the Gulf has very little reef habitat and natural rock bottom, Kolian explained, so ';oil and gas platforms represent the only reef habitat over much of the Louisiana continental shelf.';





In the summer, Kolian said, much of the ocean floor in the region is covered with an anoxic layer of decomposing algae in the summer months - the result of excess nitrogen inflows into the Gulf.





The rigs are ';incredibly important to fish in the area,'; Kolian explained, because they are the only hard structures that rise through this anoxic layer to provide reef habitat and food.





';Platforms seem to act more or less like natural reefs do,'; according to Dr. Milton Love, a marine biologist with the Marine Science Institute at the University of California at Santa Barbara.





Love examined California offshore rigs - the state has 27 in operation - in a study funded through federal grants and with money from the California Artificial Reef Program.





';There is very little fishing around our platforms so they tend to act as de facto marine reserves,'; Love said.





The California marine biologist determined that removing these rigs once their use has expired would result in the death of ';thousands, if not tens of thousands of fish.';





Studies in Louisiana, Kolian told the subcommittee, show that the ';platforms clearly produce fish rather than merely attract fish.';





If you really care about the animals, don't just run with your gut feeling because you could be doing them more harm than good. Educate yourself and we will all be better off for it.
It is a bad decision. If we don't get off our addiction to oil, a non renewable source of energy, the same thing that is occuring now will occur time and time again. Gas prices will continue to increase because developing countries are going to want more and more of it as the continue to develop. We can't drill our way out of the problem because it would take 7 years or more for us to get the oil from the drilling and it would also take billions of dollars to invest in putting new rigs out in the ocean and also billions more in research to find out where the good places to drill are. We could use that money instead to fund new renewable sources of energy which is more abundant in the US and more cost effective.
Since drilling will have no impact on the immediate situation we are faced with, I say, it's politics as usual. He just want s to wash his hands of his responsibility for his part of the problem, this way he can do what he's good at doing, passing the buck to the next administration and blaming other people for his mistakes.
I will be polite: you are wrong. Mr. Bush's gesture is meaningless. The Democrats in Congress have to approve legislation to allow for drilling.





In Central Pennsylvania, oil drilling began in 1867. They are still pumping out oil in some of the wells. Central Pennsylavania is intact.





Wildlife are not more important than human beings. There are no oil spills damaging coral reefs.





Some scientists believe there is more oil seeping through ocean floors, naturally than there would be if the oil were pumped out. Pumping would relieve the oil pressure that now exists.
Offshore drilling is the most ineffective, inefficient, and expensive method of getting oil. When it is in full swing, it will produce a drop of gasoline for every gallon poured. What does Bush have to say about this?





“I readily concede it won’t produce a barrel of oil tomorrow, but it will reverse the psychology”


-Bush on offshore drilling, July 15th 2008





http://officeofstrategicinfluence.com/bl…
It's his prerogative to lift the executive ban on offshore oil drilling. Congress' ban is still in effect, though.





Personally, I don't care where they try to drill, as long as they are not in any of our national parks or wildlife preserves. I think the risk of an environmental catastrophe is too great. I will laugh my a$$ off if an oil spill ends up shutting down Myrtle Beach and Virginia Beach for a summer. I don't like going to the beach for vacation, and the loss in tourism dollars will convince the oil-drilling advocates why we had the ban in the first place.
Well first off most people can not afford 4 to 5 dollars a gallon.Only tree huggers want higher fuel prices. Second by not drilling we will depend on foreign oil for decades till there is alternative fuels. So by drilling more, building more nuclear plants,working on clean coal this will allows us to wean off foreign oil and be energy independent. While we are doing this we then can do research into wind,solar and other possible energy sources.
Oh brother! It is a little to late and will not do much even if the Congress does anything which I doubt they will. It is nice that you care about the wildlife but this is 2008 and they can do it better/safer than they use to. If you really care about the environment, demand that they move to alternate fuels and stop buying so dependent on the Middle East. They appose wind power, coal and nuclear. You may complain about Bush but he at least is trying to do something. Peace
63% of the oil in oceans nature itself puts in the water as it seeps from natural vents.





1% comes from drilling yet 4% comes from the tankers that transport oil from foreign countries





Now, some can say that the percentage due to spills from drilling and extraction remains low because we restrict that activity — but we don’t restrict it everywhere, and drilling spills have become very rare. On the other hand, we keep buying more of our oil from abroad, which means we have to bring more of it by big tanker across a much longer voyage, and that brings more risk. Already it accounts for four times as much as drilling and extraction spillage, and it could get worse:





Considering that U.S. oil consumption and oil imports have steadily increased, the trend of declining spill incidents and volume in past years is noteworthy. Yet, recent annual data indicate that the overall decline of annual spill events may have stopped. Both consumption and imports are projected to maintain upward movement, and the United States is expected to increase the proportion of its imported oil. More oil-carrying vessels will be entering U.S. waters, and a higher percentage of transported oil will likely travel by vessel. The threat of oil spills may increase if more oil is being transported into and around the nation.





http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/RL33705_2…





Enhancing domestic production would reduce opportunity for environmental damage. Further, opening up oil shale and other land-based oil reserves would eliminate risk for shore spills altogether. More importantly, it would put the US on a path to greater energy independence, create jobs, and slow down the massive transfers of wealth from America to nations of questionable friendship with us, or worse.
I agree with it.





Of course it's unfortunate that offshore drilling is the last resort, but the fact is, it is our last resort. I'm tired of the dependency we have on foreign oil and having to give an arm and leg to buy gas due to the cost of it. Enough is enough. We need a different tactic and we need it now. Some of us really can't afford for it to stay this way for much longer.
i think that is long overdue. i retired from a major oil company as a Property Analyst so i have knowledge about how things work.





today's technology is great and if you remember Katrina where Mother Nature threw her best at us, no oil spills occurred. not one drop. that should tell you something!





my company was involved in drilling in Prudo Bay, Alaska. it didn't hurt the wildlife and the land is still in pristine condition. you really should educate yourselves on the facts rather than parrot talking points by uninformed pundits.





i have heard liberals state that if we start drilling now would take at least 20 years before we would see any production.. this is simple not true! it would take maybe 1 to 2 years and the mere fact of us starting now will immediately impact the market and lower prices for us at the pump.





if you are really interested in the facts and the history, i suggest that you read this letter which if very infomative and then you will understand the real facts.





http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/…





http://www.fourwinds10.com/siterun_data/…
I like it Drill now.


http://www.americansolutions.com/actionc…
i think it's a ploy to win votes for repubs. dems hate america that's why they don't drill drill drill.





yeah, drilling for oil and investing in nuclear will help us get off those two things. except not.
Its not a bright idea, but in a country with a population dominated by poor idiots, it sounds reasonable.
I would drill through a reindeer's / caribous head - OK a fishes head, if it meant that I didn't have to depend on a foreign nation for oil!





Sorry answered a silly question with a silly answer!
Yeah, I think he's wrong too. We should keep oil expensive so everyone will push harder to adopt alternative technologies.
Feel free to stop depending on oil at anytime you choose. Until then, options are limited.
once again, he's trying to one-up daddy.
There's always an oil spill, and Bush is this case is not the decider.
It's about time, and long overdue. We really have to stop being victims to the Middle East oil Princes. They have us over a barrell. No pun intended!
F the wildlife DRILL BABY DRILL
oh booohooo the poor coral reefs.
He's a damn fool...what happens when we have NO reserve? War, because we can't operate without oil.
I think it is long overdue.
It's not going to have any impact on oil prices for longer than two days and won't affect gasoline prices. We have already ruined enough of our environment.
Very, very sad. :'(