Since there are already millions of acres leased in the Gulf of Mexico for oil drilling?

why are the republicans trying to drill on the beautiful coastlines? Why can't they force the lessees to use their leases or cancel them?Since there are already millions of acres leased in the Gulf of Mexico for oil drilling?
They aren't trying to drill anything. They are trying to lease more public land to oil companies for 3 bucks an acre per year, and then the oil companies will be happy because they know no competitors will ever get that land, and then they won't drill it either.





So.. aside from keeping minerals on public lands out of your competitors' hands, what other incentive is there to tie up these future leases? Well, they can use them to inflate their stated reserves, and that helps their stock price.





If Republicans in Washington wanted oil companies to drill for oil, they would do what Alaska is now doing with leases the oil companies have been sitting on as long as 30 years: they are suing them to get the leases back so they can lease them to somebody who will drill for oil.





Exxon, BP, Chevron and others have been sitting on the Point Thompson field since oil was discovered there in 1977, and there are hundreds of millions of barrels on each lease in that field, and trillions of cubic feet of natural gas.





So go tell yourself more fairy tales if you think handing out land means drilling for oil.





Note: Point Thompson is adjacent to ANWR, and the oil companies haven't drilled there in nearly 30 years even after oil was discovered there. This makes the whole ANWR discussion ridiculous.Since there are already millions of acres leased in the Gulf of Mexico for oil drilling?
Why can't they sideways drill from over 60 miles away, like they claim the Chinese are doing from Cuba?





But in reality, they aren't trying anything but to make it look like democrats are preventing it.


None of the rich republicans who have beach houese mansions want their property values ripped in half by oil rigs be slammed right intheir view.





Why right-wingers actually think oil comapnies are charities who want to lower oil prices for us, is quite comical.
Get your facts:





1. 97% of the offshore areas are off limits. The remaing 3% has no oil.%26gt; http://www.instituteforenergyresearch.or鈥?/a>


2. US Oil production is the lowest since the 1940's


http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/hist/m鈥?/a>


3. Nearly 1000 oil wells were damaged/destroyed by Katrina/Ruth.


None Leaked!





You may be a victim of misinformation. Check out this website/article from the Co-Founder of Greenpeace!


http://www.greenspirit.com/key_issues/th鈥?/a>





If you read all of those, your next question will be ';why are the dems blocking this over and over again?'; You may find your answer in the previous link to the Greenspirit Website.
because the oil companies want to stay in control of all energy production


In the 70s they bought the coal industry to prevent the conversion of coal to gas and diesel fuel


They raped the coal industry and after taking all cash reserves and wearing the machinery out they dumped it to escape paying to clean up their environmental mess
we should be drilling off the northwest part of Florida





there is plenty of oil out there. I say drill here, it will not destroy the coastlines.
Because it would be a waste of time and money to drill where there was no oil just because you have a lease. BTW-- one of the places where they want to lease is still in the gulf of Mexico.
it's not millions of acres. The leases will run out by the time the environmentalists ream them thru court. Not the coastline, the outer continental shelves.
They are unscrupulously playing politics during election season.





Note: very few people are buying into the ';blame game'; the Bush Administration is attempting to orchestrate against the Democratic Party.
Drilling where oil is not just doesn't help as much as drilling where oil is.








Greg-- What competitors?