# Bush Bans Drilling in Mariana Trench **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 6, 2009, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-bans-drilling-in-mariana-trench/480091 "2009-01-06T15:01:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2009, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-bans-drilling-in-mariana-trench/480091/21 "2009-01-06T21:12:28Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > How much nuclear megatonnage will I need to drop a bomb in there and split the world in half? Just curious, like. More than there is plutonium on t’surface o’the Earth. ---
**Author:** ![Omegaman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e480ec/32.png) [@Omegaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omegaman)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2009, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-bans-drilling-in-mariana-trench/480091/22 "2009-01-06T21:37:28Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > To bad > > because its a pretty darn nice place to dump nuclear waste 🙂 You trying to take money from my state? Up yours honky! I figure if they start storing nuclear waste here MAYBE THEY WILL IMPROVE THE FREAKIN ROADS!! ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2009, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-bans-drilling-in-mariana-trench/480091/23 "2009-01-06T21:38:46Z")
Not a chance… -XT ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2009, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-bans-drilling-in-mariana-trench/480091/24 "2009-01-06T21:43:15Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > More than there is plutonium on t’surface o’the Earth. \< makes fresh report for Doctor Evil \> ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2009, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-bans-drilling-in-mariana-trench/480091/25 "2009-01-06T21:43:20Z")
Maybe he wants to protect his [Dread Lord’s residence](http://www.summeroflovecraft.com/images/cthulhu-6.jpg) ? ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2009, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-bans-drilling-in-mariana-trench/480091/26 "2009-01-06T21:56:30Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > More than there is plutonium on t’surface o’the Earth. Certainly more than there was in 1939, at least. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2009, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-bans-drilling-in-mariana-trench/480091/27 "2009-01-06T22:07:15Z")
> [@xtisme](#): > > I thought he set up some kind of big ass Pacific natural reserve years ago though. Is this a different initiative? > > -XT The nature preserve you’re thinking of is in Hawaii, way, way to the east of the [Northern Mariana Islands.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Mariana_Islands) ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2009, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-bans-drilling-in-mariana-trench/480091/28 "2009-01-06T22:17:11Z")
And we thought Bush couldn’t go any lower (har har). Like someone said upthread, it’s pure legacy-building bullshit. Now the Bushies can make misleading claims like: “No president in U.S. history protected more blah blah blah than George W. Bush.” Assholes. ---
**Author:** ![Rufus\_Xavier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@Rufus\_Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rufus_Xavier)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2009, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-bans-drilling-in-mariana-trench/480091/29 "2009-01-06T22:53:25Z")
This action by Bush gives me the feeling that the Trench is where all the US Government conspiracy stuff is stashed. You know, like old UFOs, moon landing sets, “unindicted co-conspirators” who have mysteriously disappeared, that sort of thing. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2009, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-bans-drilling-in-mariana-trench/480091/30 "2009-01-06T23:14:07Z")
> [@detop](#): > > Maybe he wants to protect his [Dread Lord’s residence](http://www.summeroflovecraft.com/images/cthulhu-6.jpg) ? I swear to God I thought you were going to link to a picture of Dick Cheney in his bunker. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2009, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-bans-drilling-in-mariana-trench/480091/31 "2009-01-06T23:15:39Z")
> [@Rufus\_Xavier](#): > > This action by Bush gives me the feeling that the Trench is where all the US Government conspiracy stuff is stashed. You know, like old UFOs, moon landing sets, “unindicted co-conspirators” who have mysteriously disappeared, that sort of thing. D000d! That’s freakin’ _brilliant!_ Far, far better than anything I’ve ever heard on various nutter shows like Coast to Coast AM! Bet they’ve got Osama down there! ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2009, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-bans-drilling-in-mariana-trench/480091/32 "2009-01-06T23:25:29Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > I swear to God I thought you were going to link to a picture of Dick Cheney in his bunker. I was expecting it to be Rove, tbqh. ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2009, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-bans-drilling-in-mariana-trench/480091/33 "2009-01-06T23:27:31Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > To bad > > because its a pretty darn nice place to dump nuclear waste 🙂 According to a book I read last year, that was one of the reasons for the infamous 20-minute voyage in the sixties – to see if it was a good place to dump nuclear waste. They saw fish and crabs moving around down there, and immediately concluded that it was not a safe place for nuclear waste, because if there were fish and crabs living there, there must be oxygen in the water, which meant there was at least some mixing with the surface. So it wasn’t, as they thought it might be, a completely isolated pocket of water that never mixed with the surrounding ocean. ---
**Author:** ![BluePitbull](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9bcb4/32.png) [@BluePitbull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BluePitbull)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2009, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-bans-drilling-in-mariana-trench/480091/34 "2009-01-06T23:53:31Z")
I didn’t even know the US owns the mariana trench. is it by Hawaii? ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-bans-drilling-in-mariana-trench/480091/35 "2009-01-07T00:54:35Z")
Not even close to Hawaii. From memory it’s directly south of Japan and, um, east of the Philippines. Nearly to New Guinea (it would be to the NE of NG). -XT ---
**Author:** ![Bartman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@Bartman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bartman)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-bans-drilling-in-mariana-trench/480091/36 "2009-01-07T01:30:38Z")
> [@BluePitbull](#): > > I didn’t even know the US owns the mariana trench. is it by Hawaii? Not really. It is 4629 Miles from Saipan (in the Marianas) to Honolulu. For comparison Honolulu to Chicago is 4249 Miles. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-bans-drilling-in-mariana-trench/480091/37 "2009-01-07T01:45:14Z")
> [@xtisme](#): > > Not even close to Hawaii. From memory it’s directly south of Japan and, um, east of the Philippines. Nearly to New Guinea (it would be to the NE of NG). So, in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat? ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-bans-drilling-in-mariana-trench/480091/38 "2009-01-07T01:52:43Z")
[QUOTE=Squink] So, in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat? [/QUOTE] I assume you are asking me where Tikrit is wrt Baghdad…and it’s to the north. 🙂 That’s an easy one though (after years of having this subject in the news). Trying to remember where the hell the mariana’s are wrt Hawaii…now THAT was a bit of a challenge to my old brain. -XT ---
**Author:** ![drewbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drewbert/32/15890_2.png) [@drewbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewbert)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-bans-drilling-in-mariana-trench/480091/39 "2009-01-07T02:44:23Z")
[near Guam](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Marianatrenchmap.png) ---
**Author:** ![Alpine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpine/32/17813_2.png) [@Alpine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpine)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-bans-drilling-in-mariana-trench/480091/40 "2009-01-07T02:51:58Z")
[off-topic] Meanwhile, a last minute push puts 133,000 acres of US Forest Service land up for oil & gas leasing in Colorado, _1/3 of which_ is in [my small county](http://telluridenews.com/articles/2009/01/06/news/doc4963a671342f6333738063.txt). Good thing we’ve been paying such close attention to these lease sales for the past 4 years. Lots of issues with wildlife habitat, etc. This time there are proposed leases right in the middle of a previously proposed wilderness and ‘roadless’ area. After protest, those were pulled, but there are problems with the rest of them, too. And it’s the USFS dicking us instead of the BLM this time. Drill, baby drill indeed. Nice legacy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-bans-drilling-in-mariana-trench/480091.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-bans-drilling-in-mariana-trench/480091.md?page=3)