# Should Florida be opened to offshore oil drilling? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 18, 2008, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-florida-be-opened-to-offshore-oil-drilling/453350 "2008-06-18T15:43:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-florida-be-opened-to-offshore-oil-drilling/453350/61 "2008-06-19T12:52:15Z")
[QUOTE=ralph124c] Does the US Government still maintain oilfields (like teapot Dome) as a strategic reserve for the Navy? I wonder if this reserve would yield a lot of oil with modern drilling technology. [/QUOTE] Possible, but, of course, if we start drilling our strategic reserve . . . then we won’t have a strategic reserve. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-florida-be-opened-to-offshore-oil-drilling/453350/62 "2008-06-19T14:08:45Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] I’m sure there’s nothing to worry about in that particular case, Alaska being so big and all, but remember, what causes animals to breed more is not necessarily good for the ecosystem; they might end in overburdening their food supply. [/QUOTE] Yeah, I’ve heard pundits give the caribou breeding argument before and always thought it was silly. If your goal is to _not_ disturb the native environment, that would include _not_ wanting giant caribou breeding orgies along your pipeline. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-florida-be-opened-to-offshore-oil-drilling/453350/63 "2008-06-19T14:11:59Z")
[QUOTE=Chimera] It’s a matter of who gets the money. Some Saudi prince, the **Iranian Clerics** , Hugo Chavez, or an American Oil Company? [/QUOTE] It’s less of a problem since 3.x Edition, where characters no longer get XP for treasure. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-florida-be-opened-to-offshore-oil-drilling/453350/64 "2008-06-19T14:28:44Z")
[QUOTE=Askance] Petrol prices in the US _are_ clearly affordable, since people are affording it. Petrol costs you nearly half what it does here, yet our economy is doing better than yours. Don’t confuse “much more expensive than I’m used to” with “unaffordable”. [/QUOTE] Well, that’s another topic for another thread. But let me say that if US Unemployment rates ever equalled what has been commonly accepted in Europe for decades, there would be blood in the streets. And this is a much larger, much more spread out nation and economy. To be sure, some of it is rather self-inflicted - people deciding that it’s better to live 60 miles (100km) from work because both the house and the gas are cheap, then being caught up when the gas is no longer cheap. But we\* can’t really go around blaming people for wanting better lives while being unable to foretell the future. - For values of “we” that are limited to rational and reasonable people. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-florida-be-opened-to-offshore-oil-drilling/453350/65 "2008-06-19T14:45:57Z")
[QUOTE=FoieGrasIsEvil] And don’t confuse “I’ve been paying 2 dollars USD per litre for years but have excellent mass transit options” with “gee, my price of gasoline suddenly rose 40 percent and I don’t have an option other than to keep filling this tank”. [/QUOTE] Why do you think their mass transit options are excellent? Because of that USD2 per liter gas price. I’m afraid our mass transit options will remain in the sorry state they are until gas starts being REALLY painful to buy. Nobody is going to make the cash outlay to improve mass transit infrastructure until the demand for it becomes very large. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-florida-be-opened-to-offshore-oil-drilling/453350/66 "2008-06-19T15:39:28Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] Possible, but, of course, if we start drilling our strategic reserve . . . then we won’t have a strategic reserve. [/QUOTE] But if it takes 5-10 years to bring it on line, then it isn’t very strategic, is it? ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-florida-be-opened-to-offshore-oil-drilling/453350/67 "2008-06-19T15:41:20Z")
[QUOTE=jayjay] Why do you think their mass transit options are excellent? Because of that USD2 per liter gas price. I’m afraid our mass transit options will remain in the sorry state they are until gas starts being REALLY painful to buy. Nobody is going to make the cash outlay to improve mass transit infrastructure until the demand for it becomes very large. [/QUOTE] We used to have rail transportation to small towns on the rail lines between New York and LA…when there were about 100 towns. Now there’s tens of thousands. Germany is the size of the state of Oregon, many European countries are even smaller. It’s a hell of a lot easier to have mass transit options when they don’t have that many miles of rail to lay. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-florida-be-opened-to-offshore-oil-drilling/453350/68 "2008-06-19T15:51:51Z")
[QUOTE=Sam Stone] So there are very good, serious arguments for drilling. The opposing arguments? Well, since the platforms are environmentally ‘clean’, it comes down to an aesthetic argument - they’re ugly - or a larger political issue, which is that some people simply want to keep the stuff in the ground so we can’t use it and we’re forced to feel the pain, for the good of the planet. That way we will change our evil ways and repent. I prefer the drilling. [/QUOTE] Pollution caused by the platforms themselves, of course, is not the only important kind that results. Every barrel pumped will be burned, adding to the greenhouse-gas problem. Of course, that hardly matters, since it’s obvious we’re going to keep driving our cars until we have no other option available anyway. Every barrel of petroleum remaining under the Earth, I fear, **will** be burned eventually, except for what’s used to make plastics, fertilizers and medicines. ---
**Author:** ![Caprese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9a28c/32.png) [@Caprese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caprese)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-florida-be-opened-to-offshore-oil-drilling/453350/69 "2008-06-19T16:29:49Z")
[QUOTE=Sam Stone] The U.S. would be drilling about 40mi off the coast of Florida. Do you know who’s drilling 60 miles off the coast? [China and Cuba](http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/05/09/news/cuba.php). [/QUOTE] According to [this,](http://www.miamiherald.com/campaign08/story/567156.html) that is untrue. I am so naive, I never thought that this might be an election gimmick. I hope that is all it is, drilling here seems awfully short-sighted to me, and I am very unhappy with our governor. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-florida-be-opened-to-offshore-oil-drilling/453350/70 "2008-06-19T19:06:29Z")
Thank you for that link, **Caprese**. I had no idea. That said, we still need to drill, and I’m glad Crist changed his mind. Now we need Martinez on board…I fear Nelson is a lost cause. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-florida-be-opened-to-offshore-oil-drilling/453350/71 "2008-06-19T19:17:01Z")
Wth all due, **Ivylass** , we can’t drill our way out of this mess. Our bottom line problem is a consumption of resources, the problem with obtaining resources is a result, not a cause. In the immortal words of Pogo “We have met the enemy, and he is us.” (A cartoon character, before your time, no doubt…) As we dirty fucking hippies have been saying for…God, so long, so very \*long!..\*we are a consumerist economy run amok. How much of our resources are devoted to the production of loud, shiny crap? You want to reform a drunk, you do an intervention, you don’t offer him a tab at the liquor store. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-florida-be-opened-to-offshore-oil-drilling/453350/72 "2008-06-19T21:19:14Z")
[QUOTE=elucidator] Wth all due, **Ivylass** , we can’t drill our way out of this mess. [/QUOTE] I’m all in favor of alternative fuel. In the meantime, however… And that loud shiny crap is apparently doing much to raise China and India’s standard of living. What, I should live in a hut and poop into a tin can? Raising the standard of living is good for everyone. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-florida-be-opened-to-offshore-oil-drilling/453350/73 "2008-06-19T21:56:00Z")
[QUOTE=ivylass] I’m all in favor of alternative fuel. In the meantime, however… And that loud shiny crap is apparently doing much to raise China and India’s standard of living. What, I should live in a hut and poop into a tin can? Raising the standard of living is good for everyone. [/QUOTE] Not if it displaces 60+ million people and floods many of the world’s major cities… ---
**Author:** ![buttonjockey308](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@buttonjockey308](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buttonjockey308)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-florida-be-opened-to-offshore-oil-drilling/453350/74 "2008-06-19T22:48:59Z")
[QUOTE=beowulff] Not if it displaces 60+ million people and floods many of the world’s major cities… [/QUOTE] Unless that was going to happen anyway, oil or not. The problem is that unless the largest nations on the planet (India and China, with more than a billion people a piece) do something drastic regarding their consumption, every American could ride a bike to work, wear clothes made of organic hemp and eat nothing but what they grew in their own yards, power their homes with solar and wind and compost all of their trash and the net effect of global warming, should it happen to exist as some say, and should we be the cause as others say, will be the same. Frankly, it’s not the loud shiny crap that’s killing us friends, it’s the cheap plastic crap. 2/3rds of everything we buy is made of plastic which is made from, you got it, oil. Today, right now, we need more oil. Alternative energies are too far away to be practical today, and until they get into the earth and make the determination just how much oil we have access to, right here in the US, we can’t speculate on what MIGHT be down there. ---
**Author:** ![buttonjockey308](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@buttonjockey308](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buttonjockey308)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-florida-be-opened-to-offshore-oil-drilling/453350/75 "2008-06-19T23:00:16Z")
Missed the edit window… Frankly, it’s not the loud shiny crap that’s killing us, friends, it’s the cheap plastic crap. 2/3rds of everything we buy is made of plastic. Right now, today, we need more oil. Alternative energies are too far away to be practical right now, and until they get into the earth and make the determination just how much oil we have access to, right here in the US, speculation is worthless. Drill AND develop the alternative stuff. We need solid a diversified strategy. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-florida-be-opened-to-offshore-oil-drilling/453350/76 "2008-06-19T23:00:20Z")
[QUOTE=beowulff] Not if it displaces 60+ million people and floods many of the world’s major cities… [/QUOTE] Well, a rising tide lifts all…(glub, glub, gurgle…) [QUOTE=Ivylass] …What, I should live in a hut and poop into a tin can? … [/QUOTE] Could you? That would be a big help, thanks… (C’mon, **Ivy** , fight if you must, but fight fair. Sheeeesh.) ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-florida-be-opened-to-offshore-oil-drilling/453350/77 "2008-06-19T23:27:54Z")
[QUOTE=buttonjockey308] Missed the edit window… Frankly, it’s not the loud shiny crap that’s killing us, friends, it’s the cheap plastic crap. 2/3rds of everything we buy is made of plastic. Right now, today, we need more oil. Alternative energies are too far away to be practical right now, and until they get into the earth and make the determination just how much oil we have access to, right here in the US, speculation is worthless. Drill AND develop the alternative stuff. We need solid a diversified strategy. [/QUOTE] Aren’t we supposed to be the world’s leader in technology? Then why the hell aren’t we **LEADING**? Why don’t we pioneer alternative energy and **SELL** it to all the other countries in the world, instead of just sitting on our fat arses complaining that nothing we can do will make a difference. I mean, we’re supposed to be the capitalists, aren’t we? ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-florida-be-opened-to-offshore-oil-drilling/453350/78 "2008-06-19T23:34:07Z")
One thing to consider is that the same people who are now (justifiably) railing against fossil fuels and urging us to eliminate our dependency on them, those same people viciously opposed nuclear power for decades - nuclear power with a very low rate of accidents, that has improved vastly in the short time it’s been around. It’s come a long way since Chernobyl, you know. When was the last nuclear incident? How many people did it kill? Something tells me that America should have been busting its ass working on nuclear power over the past years, and maybe we wouldn’t be in this situation with oil if we had done so. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-florida-be-opened-to-offshore-oil-drilling/453350/79 "2008-06-19T23:59:50Z")
As a DFH, I have a long record of opposition to nuclear power. Not as adamant as once, but still skeptical. I am happily impressed with the safety record, but am concerned nonetheless. To oversimplify, an utterly unexpected disaster at a coal-fired plant is pretty damn bad, but a similar disaster at a nuker is several orders of uglitude beyond. And, of course, nuclear plants don’t make gasoline. So unless you equally propose an all electric transportation system, there’s a lot left hanging, no? And, of course, the issue of what to do with the ultra-toxic waste products remains unresolved. The problem of energy can be solved. The reason we haven’t already done so is because we didn’t have to, nobody put the money into alternative fuels because there was no money _in_ alternative fuels. If it turns out that we aren’t smart enough to find a better energy option, then, ok, nuke. But why not go for the green? Heck, we got nothing better to do, let’s save the planet? Whaddaya say, kids? My uncles got a barn, **Ivylass** can sew the costumes, lets put on a show! ---
**Author:** ![buttonjockey308](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@buttonjockey308](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buttonjockey308)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-florida-be-opened-to-offshore-oil-drilling/453350/80 "2008-06-20T00:34:30Z")
[QUOTE=beowulff] Aren’t we supposed to be the world’s leader in technology? Then why the hell aren’t we **LEADING**? Why don’t we pioneer alternative energy and **SELL** it to all the other countries in the world, instead of just sitting on our fat arses complaining that nothing we can do will make a difference. I mean, we’re supposed to be the capitalists, aren’t we? [/QUOTE] Yep. We’re also the worlds leading exporter of capitalism and/or democracy, which in this case is the problem. It doesn’t pay to create something that no one is going to use. So, I say again; drill today. Work on alternative fuels today. If you try the cold turkey approach, people aren’t going to buy it, and you’ll be next to tucker and edsel on the ash heap of history. Transform this so-called “clean coal” bollocks into nuke plants, get the east coast off of heating oil (I mean really, it’s the 20th fluckin’ century already) put a rig up where ever you can get one, and midway through President Obama’s second term, we can truly start to see the effects of our efforts. Abandoning oil for “something else” when we’re not even sure what that something else is, is as dumb an idea as ethanol from corn. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-florida-be-opened-to-offshore-oil-drilling/453350.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-florida-be-opened-to-offshore-oil-drilling/453350.md?page=5)