I saw today the President gave his approval for offshore drilling for the first time in several (I want to say 30) years.

Now, I've had friends and family working off shore all my life-drilling.

What does this newest approval really mean? We can now drill off shore in US waters, or- does it mean we can now drill off shore as we have always drilled. As far as I know, we've been drilling off shore darn near all my life.

Anybody catch the gist of what's going on, and what the president's approval means to us?

 

X2
I think they are opening new areas

 

He lifted the executive ban to put pressure on congress. We know who controls congress, so.... Ain't gonna' happen!

 

While drilling offshore in the western Gulf of Mexico has always been common, Bush's order will allow exploration and drilling off the Eastern seaboard, along the West coast, and along the Florida side of the Gulf.

The Democrats will over-rule it in Congress, thus putting them in an awkward position during an election year when gas is $4.00 per gallon. Obama will also have to stand in front of a microphone and spew Democratic talking points about how this is not a good idea, making him look like an idiot in an election year when gas is $4.00 per gallon.

Awesome political maneuver.......

 

So the republicans are just puten the screws to the dems., and turning up the heat. Typical election stuff

 

Slippery bunch of eels! LOL

I knew there was nothing of value to it. Just a political move to cast the Republicans in a better light in an election year. A move that many won't see through, and will make those that don't try to- blame the democrats for not taking steps to lower oil prices (If they don't sign the law)- temporary though that may be. And, they will forget that Republicans sat on their collective ***** for 3 years as gas got more and more expensive. Now, 4 months from the election, it's time to "take action".

Bush is smarter than I thought. No matter how the Democrats vote, they're screwed. Vote to continue the ban, America's across the board hate you, because the idea of gas getting affordable again, stirs the interest of anyone making less than $100K a year. Or, vote to all the drilling, and **** off every tree hugger in America.

Pretty sneaky... Excellent strategy though.

But, on the lighter side, oil did drop $7.00 a barrel today on "economic fears". The sharpest decline in 17 years...

Who knew that the price of oil & diesel skyrocketing, causing everything that moves, to be more expensive to operate, and everything you use or consume (food, clothing, etc.) to be more expensive (because it gets hauled there on the back of Diesel-powered trucks @ $4.79 a gallon). Who knew Wall-Street bartering, Big-Oil reducing the amount of fuel on hand, and OPEC failing to increase output, would hurt many American's in their wallets?

 

I won't happen anyways. Even though the ban was lifted, and even if Congress/Senate was to also agree, you will still need the States which would have drilling to allow it as well.

I highly doubt that the State of California or the non-drilling part of Florida will ever allow off-shore oil drilling.

If the state of California was its own country, it would be the 7th largest economy in the World, and a lot of that has to do with it's scenic coastline. No way they would ruin it with off-shore drilling.

If hell froze over, and pigs flew, and somehow they did allow oil drilling on the coasts, and no one sued over it, it will take at least 10 years before your first drop of oil would even come up for sale.

 

Aren't those rigs going to be pretty far over the horizon

 

Actually, this is a really tough issue for the Democrats. They have absolutely no plan as far as energy is concerned, unless you call some fairly-tale fantasy that we're all going to be driving around in cars fueled by solar panels a plan.

They're not for drilling more oil. They're not for going more nuclear. They're not for going more coal. They like wind power as long as you don't install the towers anywhere near where liberals might see them.

In short, to believe in the "Obama Plan for Energy" requires you to be nibbling on little bits of paper soaked in hallucinogins.......

 

How many people in this country bought new vehicles this year? How many people financed them? For everyone who has a car loan, cheaper fuel would be a blessing.

The democrats say that drilling for oil more wont help. They say that what they want to do is to reduce demand with alternatives. What that sound like to me is that the democrats want all of us to turn in our petroleum burning vehicles for one that is fueled by an alternative source.

I'm ok with the quest for alternatives. It's actually exciting to imagine what will be in our future. But it's in our future! How can the democrats expect us all to just turn in the vehicles that we are currently using to get an alternative? Are they somehow going to be able to make the new to market technologies affordabe to the masses?

If the democrats get their way, it's the people who can afford it least who will be the worst hit, financially, by the forcing of new to market technology.

I just picked up this Edge a few months ago. I have a loan. So far I've been able to squeeze 24mpg highway and 20mpg city, that's with only 2600 miles so it should get a little better. I say drill now. It would make it easier on me, just like it would make it easier on every single person in this country, if fuel prices were even a little lower. Let's get the fuel prices in check and supplies ample for the forseeable future. Then we can shift our focus to the alternatives. The rich can be the guinea pigs so that by the time the products make it to the masses, they will be as reliable as our tried and true, petroleum powered vehicles.

Drilling now is the only common sense alternative for the near future that I can see.

 

We will succeed any way we can. America hopefully will lead the world in a new technology. I just haven't seen a goo Idea yet. except nucs..

And In know if you can oull a train with electricty , we can have some out of this world F150's

 

Well, as mentioned, it would be 10 years before any new drilling produced anything, so at best your gas prices might go down in 10 years, but I doubt it, and I'll tell you why: We have plenty of oil. What we don't have plenty of are refineries. THAT is what they should be building!

The other negative point to new drilling is that most spots would be expensive to drill. That creates a catch 22; if oil became cheaper because of new drilling, the new drilling would no longer be cost effective, and they'd shut down the rigs.

All this will really do is make some fatcats wallets fatter. True story.

 

Bush is an oil man
I was looking for something else and got pissed when I learned Reagan made 10,000,000 . While he was president. Dang he was always my favorite.
Dang Craz3d had me reading to much.

 

I'd rather send my money to some fatcat in a cowboy hat that some fatcat in a turban. Besides, I work for a company that sells combustion equipment for offshore platforms!

Grim

PS. American owned, non-union, and we export heavy industrial goods to China!

 

I'd just like to be the fatcat cowby myself

The rock where I live has magnetic properties tho!:santa:

:santa:Is wish it were worth something.