How does drilling for oil increase motivation for the pursuit of alternative energies?

With so many Americans supposedly jumping on the ';Drill for Oil Now'; bandwagon, I was wondering just how more drilling halts our addiction to oil. It doesn't make sense to me...how can we strive for alternative fuels and still be so adamant about getting more of the one that we are addicted to. To me, its like saying ';I will chew gum instead of smoking 10 Cuban cigars day, but to help stop smoking cigars, I will now smoke American made ones.'; Maybe I am oversimplifying it...someone please help me understand!How does drilling for oil increase motivation for the pursuit of alternative energies?
The simple answer: It doesn't.





Drilling for oil locally, however, reduces dependency on foreign oil.How does drilling for oil increase motivation for the pursuit of alternative energies?
It doesn't.





Everyone wants to feed the fat boy.


Big Corporations, corrupt with greed, don't want to lose their riches.


What the heck does McCain need 7 houses for??


What happened to the Electric Car? Eliminated by Oil companies because they needed more gold plated tooth brushes and silk toilet paper.





Alternative energy isn't out of reach or untouchable.


The filthy rich are paranoid about not getting richer.












It doesn't, it maintains the fiction that the oil companies will be acting in our best interests.


If they are interested in doing that they would lower their price, and take less-than-record breaking profits. Not to make themselves poor mind you, just a billion or two less a quarter.


They could do it, they won't, once we sell those leases, we have no further control over them, although Dems are trying to add use it or lose it clauses to the leases.


Just like banks and mortgage companies had the option not to raise their subprime mortgages to their maximum.


They screw us and want us to ask for more.


And we do.


What is wrong with us?
Why oil? We have an unlimited supply of natural gas. Electric won't push a semi but natural gas will. Require gas stations to put in nat gas refills and auto makers to build nat gas ready vehichles. Retrofit homes with fill stations as well. This is a real bridge. Why are we still not requiring auto makers to raise milaege standards. There are so many different opinions we have no real direction. With electric we still have power companies using oil for generation. There are many cities and counties using nat gas for police and other emergency vehichles why aren't doing the same.
Many republicans are anti-environmentalists and see true alternative energy pursuits as silly tree-hugger stuff. However, they all want cheap gas/energy. So talking about drilling and increasing Nuclear Energy, as well as renewable sources (he means growing more corn to create ethanol), is preaching to his base. It's the anti-environmentalist direction for cheaper gas.





Makes sense. I just completely disagree with it.





Rob above me just stated: ';...we need to bolster our supply so that demand.---and cost--- goes down..... make sense?';





No Rob. That doesn't make sense. if the price of gas goes down... we use more of it, not less. Make sense?
yes you are over simplifying it.,.... what it is, we are proactively taking steps to help our problem of overwhelming gas prices and dependency on foreign oil. We are acknowledging that we need alternative sources of power but in the mean time, we need to bolster our supply so that demand.---and cost--- goes down..... make sense?
Well it provides a bridge while we search for alternatives. If we tax oil companies to pay for research in alternatives it kills us even more at the pump.
Think !!!! you need money to explore alternatives so they need to sell oil to get money!!
In theory it is supposed to curb our dependency from having to buy foreign based oil but this is really a very long drawn out plan with no absolutes that it will have the effect it is intended. There are two major issues one needs to deal with when trying to explain how such a plan will help the avg American.





1. What will be the cost of the exploration, if the cost to get the oil far supercedes the cost to refine it and then sell it to the avg American consumer, then why do it? The oil compnaies aren't going to sell it at a lost, they will need to make a profit as to be expected. When was the last itme you worked on a government project that ended on time and under budget???





2. Why should we trust that the oil companies will do the right thing by the AMerican people? We obviously live in an age of unprecedented corporate corruption and incompetence, why now should we invest billions of tax dollars for private companies to fix this very complicated problem? That's one hell of a trust risk you are taking for companies that are not known to be very trust-worthy.





So, looking at these two issues, investing that money in alternative energy sources becomes a much more safer and logical alternative.