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ORIGINAL: SonInMe1
These electirc cars...they use up more energy than gas.

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These hydro cars...how do they run? Have they solved the hydrogen seperation from water problem? How energy efficient is the production of hydrogen? How much energy is used to seperate hydrogen from oxygen?

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When people can make money from alternative feul supplies, we will have them. Until then oil is our answer and getting more should be a concern. There should be enviromental concerns...and I bet if anyone in the oil industry were here they would tell you how much the government already regulates that.

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Oil spills may happen. Clean them up and move on.

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ORIGINAL: Sophie11

There is more oil seeping naturally out of the ocean floor every year than there ever is in oil spills. I love how you always see those pictures of the oil-slicked seagulls and the message is how horrible these oil spills are, OH MY! For goodness sakes, more birds are killed by running headfirst into shiny glass windows than are killed by oil spills!

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ORIGINAL: blessedinnyc

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ORIGINAL: Sophie11

There is more oil seeping naturally out of the ocean floor every year than there ever is in oil spills. I love how you always see those pictures of the oil-slicked seagulls and the message is how horrible these oil spills are, OH MY! For goodness sakes, more birds are killed by running headfirst into shiny glass windows than are killed by oil spills!

True. It's just annoying, though, when all that oil is concentrated into an area 50 miles in diameter in an area that doesn't seep any oil.

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ORIGINAL: tafkam

Why is it that the left is consistently against anything that could possibly be good for the United States?

Energy independance, national security, victory in Iraq, lower taxes, smaller government, capitalism, free market, etc......you name it, they're opposed to it.

Yet people keep voting them into office......go figure....

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ORIGINAL: Leslie_JnJs_mom

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ORIGINAL: Stephanos

I would like to point something out. Just because the suspected reserves that we can get in our own waters/land, is minuscule compared to what the world has, does not mean we should not go after that oil. Why? Because if, while drilling for that oil under our own soil, we also work to find ways to reduce oil spending, that oil may be all we need! If we increase cleaner energy uses (can you say NUCLEAR POWER) or in terms of cars (electric, fuel cell, hybrid, ect), reduce our oil consumption, then the oil we DO find will meet our needs! I fully agree that drilling is not the ONLY answer. But it is a major part in the line of getting this country off of our dependence on others for our way of life.

Hey when did you get the ability to read my thoughts? That was the exact same thing I was thinking.

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ORIGINAL: StephK

The problem is the envirowhacko's , NIMBY's, and spineless pols not allowing the necessary progress to be made in this area. We could have been keeping up with the refinery needs by building as the growth dictated but NOOOOO nobody wanted a refinery in their back yard. Wind power as an alternative, NIMBY, it messes up the view. Nuclear power, oh heck no. It might be like Chernyobl. Drill our own resources, it would destroy the frozen tundra wasteland, even though the residents of the area are desperately wanting this so they can have some economic growth using their own resources.

The NIMBY's and envirowhacko's need to stop their whining because they are a big part of the problem.

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ORIGINAL: StephK

The problem is the envirowhacko's , NIMBY's, and spineless pols not allowing the necessary progress to be made in this area. We could have been keeping up with the refinery needs by building as the growth dictated but NOOOOO nobody wanted a refinery in their back yard. Wind power as an alternative, NIMBY, it messes up the view. Nuclear power, oh heck no. It might be like Chernyobl. Drill our own resources, it would destroy the frozen tundra wasteland, even though the residents of the area are desperately wanting this so they can have some economic growth using their own resources.

The NIMBY's and envirowhacko's need to stop their whining because they are a big part of the problem.

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ORIGINAL: StephK

The problem is the envirowhacko's , NIMBY's, and spineless pols not allowing the necessary progress to be made in this area. We could have been keeping up with the refinery needs by building as the growth dictated but NOOOOO nobody wanted a refinery in their back yard. Wind power as an alternative, NIMBY, it messes up the view. Nuclear power, oh heck no. It might be like Chernyobl. Drill our own resources, it would destroy the frozen tundra wasteland, even though the residents of the area are desperately wanting this so they can have some economic growth using their own resources.

The NIMBY's and envirowhacko's need to stop their whining because they are a big part of the problem.

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ORIGINAL: Lizahana

Gee, maybe we should just milk out all the oil so that future generations will have none. And then, only then, we'll start to get really serious about alternative energy and putting those billions of dollars <that go to drilling for oil, funding their cause in Congress> for OTHER alternative energy sources only after it's too late. Wait a minute - that's right - we're doing this right now...never mind...

Peace and God bless,

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ORIGINAL: Sophie11

As far as oil spills go, offshore drilling does not exactly equal an oil spill. There has not been a major oil spill in at least the last 50 years that was a result of the drilling process. Most spills come from transporting the oil, in which case there is the same chance of a spill whether we drill off our shore or continue to have it transported from other countries.

The original problem the environmentalists had with offshore drilling was back in the late 40's, but then they only asked that when all there was to be taken of the oil was done, they remove the oil rigs because they were so ugly and an "envirionmental hazard". Then lo and behold when they were about to take them out years later they realized that the marine life was actually doing better because of the artificial reef the rig created.

Now they have recently banned offshore drilling because of the fear of some earth-altering oil spill, which I have already above talked about that issue. The whole thing is ridiculous. The gains this country will get by drilling far outway the possible losses.

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ORIGINAL: StephK
The NIMBY's and envirowhacko's need to stop their whining because they are a big part of the problem.

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THE BIG SPILL
January 26, 1989 The Santa Barbara Independent, By Nick Welsh
Workers on Union Oil's Platform A were pulling the drilling tube out of well A-32 at 10:45 on Tuesday morning, January 28, 1969. The tube was stuck, but they kept pulling anyway, for another 450 feet. In the process, they dislodged critical drilling mud, and all hell broke loose. Gas and mud from 3,000 feet beneath the ocean's surface shot into the air, splattering the panicked workers on the platform with grease and grime. They managed to plug the well, but nothing could control the oil and gas. Eight hundred feet away from the platform, the sea boiled furiously. The oil had burst through its fragile geological formation, ripping five long gashes through the top of the ocean floor. At least 77,000 barrels escaped in the first 100 days of the spill.

The Santa Barbara oil spill of 1969 remains a morality tale all the more tragic because it could have been avoided. In short, the federal agency regulating offshore oil production-the United States Geological Survey-granted Union Oil, an oil company with a reputation for cutting corners, permission to waive federal safety regulations when drilling in an oil formation that was known to be extremely volatile and fragile.

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THE OIL SPILL HEARD 'ROUND THE COUNTRY!
January 28, 1989 Los Angeles Times, By Miles Corwin
SANTA BARBARA - From a large crack on the bottom of the Santa Barbara Channel, about 5 miles off the coastline, a few barrels of oil bubble to the surface each day. The slick and the nearby Unocal Corp. drilling platform Alpha are the last visible vestiges of the worst oil spill in the nation's history.

Twenty years ago today, on Jan. 28, 1969, a "blowout" erupted below the platform and, before it was plugged, more than 3 million gallons of crude oil spewed from drilling-induced cracks in the channel floor. For weeks national attention was focused on the spill's disturbing, dramatic images. Oil-soaked birds, unable to fly, slowly dying on the land. Waves so thick with crude oil that they broke on shore with an eerie silence. Thirty miles of sandy beaches coated with thick sludge. Hundreds of miles of ocean covered with an oily black sheen. But the spills impact went far beyond the fouled beaches. The disaster is considered to be a major factor in the birth of the modern-day environmental movement.

During the next few years there was more environmental legislation than at any time in the nations's history. In 1969, Congress passed the National Environmental Policy Act which requires environmental impact studies before any federal action can be taken. California adopted similar legislation in 1970. A wave of national environmental legislation followed, including clean air and water acts, and laws that protected sensitive coastal areas and endangered species. The spill caused many people to doubt the safety claims of the oil industry and the government.

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The law stipulates that the environmental consequences of federal projects be considered before the appropriate federal permits are issued, requires that public hearings be held, and that the public be given access information previously viewed as the property of the developer.

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Investigators for the board said OSHA has fewer than a dozen inspectors for 2,816 high-priority facilities covered by process safety standards that, if enforced, might have avoided the accident that killed 15 workers and injured many more at BP's Texas City refinery.

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The chemical safety board, an independent agency charged with investigating industrial chemical accidents, also added to earlier evidence that top BP executives had focused on cutting expenses at the refinery despite warnings about safety problems at the plant.
The report issued yesterday noted that the central training department staff had been reduced to eight from 28, that key equipment operators had been working 12-hour shifts for 29 to 37 consecutive days, and that there were multiple equipment failures.

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Assumptions about exploration, development, and production of economical fields (drilling schedules, costs, platform selection, reserves-to-production ratios, etc.) in the OCS access case are based on data for fields in the western Gulf of Mexico that are of similar water depth and size. Exploration and development on the OCS in the Pacific, the Atlantic, and the eastern Gulf are assumed to proceed at rates similar to those seen in the early development of the Gulf region. In addition, it is assumed that local infrastructure issues and other potential non-Federal impediments will be resolved after Federal access restrictions have been lifted.

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The projections in the OCS access case indicate that access to the Pacific, Atlantic, and eastern Gulf regions would not have a significant impact on domestic crude oil and natural gas production or prices before 2030. Leasing would begin no sooner than 2012, and production would not be expected to start before 2017. Total domestic production of crude oil from 2012 through 2030 in the OCS access case is projected to be 1.6 percent higher than in the reference case, and 3 percent higher in 2030 alone, at 5.6 million barrels per day. For the lower 48 OCS, annual crude oil production in 2030 is projected to be 7 percent higher—2.4 million barrels per day in the OCS access case compared with 2.2 million barrels per day in the reference case (Figure 20). Because oil prices are determined on the international market, however, any impact on average wellhead prices is expected to be insignificant.