Oh, so there’s no connection between drilling for oil, and the planet’s environment? Silly me.
Maybe if we quit selling it to so many other countries we wouldn’t have to drill. I’m against drilling except as a last resort. This current situation does not seem like “last resort” to me. It’s all about greed.
I have to wonder what the excuse will be after we open all oil field everywhere to drilling. Will it be that the heads of the oil companies had a collective “bad day”? Will it be the unforeseen demand for oil in the Australian Outback? Maybe there was some bad weather somewhere on the globe (or maybe Mars)? The lack of verifiable fact except at the lofty “supply & demand” level makes it hard for me to believe that opening oil fields will make any difference at all. We will continue to get gouged as long as we have no choice.
Remember when E85 was going to provide relief & the auto companies scrambled for Flex Fuel vehicles? Has anyone else noticed that this has interestingly been controlled by the oil companies? Has anyone else noticed that while you get 20% less mileage from E85 that the price for E85 never gets less than 20% lower than gasoline? Only 15% of that is gas! What is keeping the ethanol portion from making the gap wider?
Yeah, I trust the oil companies. :rolleyes:
I don’t know enough about it, but I think increased oil drilling will stunt development of alternative ways to produce energy, which everyone agrees we will need eventually. I’m against it based on that principle.
You should trust them, at least in regards to what’s best for the oil companies. This is why I discount any argument against drilling that claims these new areas are a “drop in the bucket” and not any better to drill in than the areas that are already available.
Companies will drill where it is most profitable to drill. I want them to drill where it is most profitable to drill. Pick the low hanging fruit today and save the oil shale for a time when the low hanging fruit is gone. When it actually becomes more profitable to extract from shale, the oil companies will dive into that shit post-haste. Until then, why force them to earn less money?
I’m in favor of drilling, how about adding a surcharge to the oil from these “protected” places in order to fund environmental protection and alternate fuels.
I’d prefer they wait. About a month. I’m about to sign on 2 oil/gas leases on some of our (small) property and I want the price to stay high for just a little bit longer. 
Then drill away. Wherever you need. I don’t really care about the fish, or moose, or whatever’s in the way. They’ll move.
I believe that the idea is to extend the amount of time we have so that alternate technologies can be made viable before having to swap over.
I don’t believe it would make any difference in fuel prices or availability, so I’d rather see the money and intellectual wherewithal invested in alternative fuels, higher-mileage vehicles, and so forth.
And stay out of the ANWR, dammit. There are some resources more precious than oil. Damned drill-happy whippersnappers.
I think he meant, you raised some Big Questions with your post, so it was by no means a “slight” hijack.
Against.
Strongly opposed.
We won’t solve the energy crisis by drilling in more and more remote locations. We should be spending our time, energy, and money on developing alternative energy resources so we aren’t beholden to oil interests.
I’d also very much like to have some places on Earth that haven’t been invaded and used up by humankind for our own selfish reasons.
We can and should survive without the oil.
Against for all the above reasons.
I’m in favor, although new oil fields won’t produce for years.
Which won’t happen as long as the supply continues. Pain is required to force change.
So, yeah. Opposed.
Strongly opposed.
It simply does not make sense. Grow the alternative fuel systems so they are not alternative anymore, make oil the alternative fuel. Seriously, start making the world a more sustainable place and not one where we simply drill, drill, drill for more oil. That does not solve anything for our childrens children. Oh wait…are we even thinking about them?
Because although oil shale is less profitable, it’s also less risky. It is geographically and meteorologically remote from the Gulf of Mexico. Such a source would not be affected by hurricanes in the Gulf; it’s called not putting all your eggs in one basket.
I’m tired of having gas prices spike 15% whenever there’s a cloud within 50 miles of Florida.
I’m all for it. The extra few years it will give us will allow us to move to another alternative when it is mature rather than possibly being stuck in some kind of intractable crisis.
I’m not into it. I’m just getting really f’n sick of oil. We need to start consuming less of it, not looking for more ways to get it, especially when it comes to getting our troops killed or getting our environment killed or just plain wasting a bunch of money for little payoff.
My mom heard some guy on the radio (Bob Golic…ugh) say something along the lines of “I have a big SUV and I can afford to fill it with gas and use as much gas as I want, so I will.” A bunch of people called and agreed with him, and for some reason my parents agree too. That sort of attitude makes me want to hurl.
Water aquifers. Oil is the Earth’s shit.
There is no truth to this. Alternative energy is being researched at a breakneck pace by many, many, many companies. Pretty soon solar will be much more efficient and dirt cheap as companies that spent millions or billions or research are all competing for market share. So many companies will come out and then go out of business and there will be a bust like with the dotcom boom, those patents will be bought out by GE, Intel, IBM, Dupont and Siemens. Expecting the oil companies to research alternative energy is pointless. GE is devoting billions to research. Better tech is a matter of time, not effort.