Should we lift the ban on offshore and Arctic drilling for oil and gas?

might be worth a try. I'm willing to have a lash at it. thanks for your input.

I agree, unfortunately. Fortunately I make more than minimum wage, But I would like to know how people that are making it, are going to get by. I mean it seems to me they probably have to work 2 hours a day for gas, and then the rest for those lovely expenses you suggested, Like Utilities, Food, Clothing. I know I have a hard time with all those myself right now, I can't imagine how they are making it. And, does anyone really think this election is going to help? No it isn't! Cause like you said we definitly have a way of adapting.
Congrats on your speech and I hope people in this area are smart enough to get what your saying without the childish bashing!

No bashing here..sounds like plain common since >>>>

carry on.

This is not rocket science people! What would be so hard about having an on-board generator with a very small gas motor, starts up on demand, shuts off when the batteries are charged, VOILA, no more plugging in, (unless you want to), problem solved. with such an arrangement it is not unreasonable to expect 400 to 500 MPG. Your idea is?

On the electric cars that would be the way to go. I am convinced that you can put more power into the battery than you can take out of it. By using alternators, notice I said more than one. You can recharge the battery as you drive down the road. Think of the big truck, I know, I drove one over the road for 26 years. One alternator charges the lights, fan, bunk, TV, radio, and everything else you may have to pass time inside the truck. If one alternator can do all that. Why can't we recharge the battery in a car while going down the road, and keep it recharged. That would eliminate having to stop and recharge or change batteries. No need for gas, because it runs off electric. Problem solved, it is that simple. Thank you for the comments on this at Quentinhardin197@aol.com.

I live in Saint Petersburg Fl. and our city is known for clean beaches. If they drill for oil and have a large amount of it to spill where is it going. If they would start drilling this week it will take ten years before we can see any results. We need it now not ten years from now.

Possibly not the total answer, but combined with conservation, could win our energy independence. All electricity does not come from coal. If we would push our legislators to pass laws, subsidies etc. favoring solar instead of oil, we could all have panels on our roofs to charge our cars. The vast majority of the population lives within the existing range of those electric cars. If you have to take a longer trip, you can rent a car. Again, lots of energy being put into excuses, instead of productive IDEAS to make this work.
For heavens sake, at least use the info from the following post and buy only domestically produced product. Every good idea destributed and followed, is going to produce positive results.
Please lets just all put our heads together, and put forth some effort to make some positive changes.

a true American has spoken.

Let's face it, If Exxon owned the sun, we would probably all be burned to a crisp by now.

Nobody said it would be easy. Whether your round trip is 20 miles (like mine), or 5 miles, it is always tougher and more dangerous than ploping in your car and going about your business the way you've always done. A couple of weeks ago, I rode with a guy who does 40 plus miles on his bike 7 days a week, YEAR ROUND.
The point is, we don't have to keep taking it. If you can't (or won't) bike, then CARPOOL for goodness sakes. DO SOMETHING!!! I've never seen or heard so many whiny whimps who would put so much effort into creating excuses why they should be exempt from making ANY personal sacrifice or put forth ANY personal effort, in my life.
When you realize that every tankful of gas you buy is helping to finance efforts to kill our troops, and eventually US, you should be willing to do any and EVERYTHING within your power as an American (receiving the benefits and protections thereof), and as a human being, to deny those funds to those countries, and subsequently, terrorist organizations who mean us harm. They aren't just laughing at President Bush. They are laughing at us. Have you so soon forgotten the cheering in the streets from the citizens of these countries on 9/11?
Yes drill, use solar, wind, geothermal. All of the above. But all of those things take time. We need something NOW!!! We can conserve NOW. Everybody can do SOMETHING. That is the point.
We can point fingers and blame Clinton, Bush, big oil, OPEC, lobbists, politicians who owe favors, environmentalists blocking domestic drilling, speculators, etc. until the cows come home, but what good will that do right now?
But, if a sizable percentage of us will actually be willing to experience some slight disruption in our routines, we can make a difference TODAY.
Some will refuse to sacrifice their GIANT HUMMER or their bi-yearly jaunt to Rio. Those people will be hard to convince. For the rest of us financial mortals, we can alter our lifestyles and make a HUGE difference.
Perhaps rationing would get the attention of the upper class, or a punitive tax on gas guzzlers. A federal bond to place solar panels on every roof in the country and a mandatory zero emmissions vehicle mandate for auto manufactors, are some ideas. All will take time. We can conserve now. If we did it with a passion, we could conserve our way to energy independence by next week.
Whether you personally agree or not, this IS a matter of national security and patriotism. If you're not willing to do ANYTHING

As more people get on bikes (thereby reducing the number of cars), biking becomes a safer activity. Unfortunately, in the mean time the few of us on bikes have to put up with all kinds of rudeness and lack of awareness. I've been down the W on a bike, and it's actually quite fun! But I readily admit it's not particuarly safe currently to ride on the road. It's a risk I'm willing to take, though, because the risk of not changing our lifestyles is much higher, if not quite as immediate.

it's just that our so called "leaders" are keeping it from us.

I wish I was able to do what you do. But I have congestive heart failure. My heart only pumps 20%. I am not able to do that . I go to doctors at least once a month. I am not able to ride a bike or walk that far. My drive to chattanooga to doctors is really costing. I hope you stay healthy for years . But everyone is not. And cannot aford the high cost of gas. It is almost to the point. To decide, if I go to doctor, eat or get gas. Yes, we need to drill for oil anywhere we can. People come first no matter what age. I am not that old either. Heart trouble can and does hit ever age. We should not have to depend on other country's for our oil. USA should be able to take care of us.If we had kept up the off shore drilling. We might not be in this mess with our gas that we are now. If our leaders can't decide. They should let everyone vote and settle it that way.

I'm already there, except that now I live fifteen miles from town, and my job, so I drive a VW, allways have, (30+ mpg, and less emissions than most of the jap cars). In other countries people will walk or cycle before they get in their little, fuel efficient cars and drive. We Americans are too in love with our big, smelly, obnoxious cars and trucks. Why do you need a truck with a big V8 in it when you have probably never hauled anything in your life? What we really need is for the big oil families to get the h**l out of government, and let us develop alternatives to fossil fuel technologies, (already invented, but hidden from us). Electric cars that are faster, quieter, and NON POLLUTING have already been offered, were very successful, and loved by everyone, yet were pulled from the market because of pressure by the oil monsters. Go figure.

I have nothing against riding a bike, but my husband and I live in a very rural area. He has to drive across 2 mountains and drive 37 miles to get to work at 11:00pm at night he is not going to ride a bike that far. I work 23 miles from our house and I also cant see myself riding a bike that far I would never get there on time.

What good will it do for us, the average joe, to sacrifice and suffer when the crooks in government will just take your carbon credits and give them to a major polluter, industry? What good is it for you to forego driving your little car to town when the fat ba***rds who are supposed to set an example drive around in, or are chauffered around in gas guzzling luxury automobiles, helicopters, and jets all at your expense? What will it take to make you realize that the real problem is our so called leaders who are nothing more than fat, lazy, worthless, corrupt, grafting, deadbeat, inbred, oh, and did I mention worthless, whoremongering, butt buggering, carpet baggers, snake oil salesmen, drummers, and criminals.

Clarence, you obviously have not had the time, or maybe the intelligence,(judging by your writing skills), to think your comments through. By the time we would see any monetary benefit from your proposed "plan", it will be too late. If you would look at my previous post, you will see that a quicker response, and a good way to send a clear message, is to buy only from companies that sell gas and petrol products pumped, processed, and refined from our own oil. If enough of us do this, it will bring ol' Ahab to his knees. There is enough just in the pacific shelf to equal what has already been drawn from there. That alone would be enough, at present rate of useage, to last us for another sixty years as long as EXXON doesn't get their hands on it, or spill it all over the gulf. Don't be such an ass. Instead of attacking the people who post their opinions, maybe you could educate yourself, (and maybe some English lessons wouldn't hurt), and offer a viable solution that doesn't include more oil.

Sending a message is very important, and everything we do towards gaining energy independence will help. But without actually USING less, at some point, if the domestic producers/retail outlets became inundated with additional patrons, they would run out, and someone would be forced to buy from the other companies.
Since we can't increase our domestic production by 60% overnight, the ONLY viable short term solution that will produce actual results of lowering our import needs, is to USE LESS.

My wife and I have recently converted our home to all electric, (which still, in the long run, if you think about it, uses up non-renewable resources), and told the gas monopoly to take their meter and stuff it, (in those words). We are also in the process of converting our yard tools, and motor vehicles to electric, (with on-board charging where possible), once we can find the motors, (the most expensive part), at reasonable cost. Having been a mechanic all my life, I will do the conversions myself, and I realize that lots of people don't have this luxury, but with a little initiative, I think everyone could find viable alternatives. The next big step is to build my own generating equipment and storage facility and get completely off the grid. Yes, the cost of these conversions is taking a very heavy toll on my life savings, but we are looking forward, into the future, when we can tell Opec, and the Bushes, and the other big oil families to stuff it, and the money, (Ameros, Euros?), we will save down the road, (not to mention the fact that we will not be at their mercy when the rationing begins). Give these things some thought, and best wishes to all.

Arctic drilling should be the very last option we consider. It is idiotic to consider using our reserve just to lower prices. The reason nations and governments stock pile supplies is to use in real cases of emergency, not just to waste because prices are climbing. If we know we have these supplies and have access to them, then we can afford to save them until it is a matter of life and death. Besides, whether we use oil from here or the Middle East, the price is still going to stay high if the people who stand to benefit have any control over the situation. It’s not like if we drill in Alaska gas will be free or anything. Companies like Shell and Exxon will still be involved, so prices won’t be affected by that much. Before you start pointing fingers, if Bill Clinton had done this a decade ago, the supplies in Alaska would already be depleted and we would be worse off than we are now. If we relied solely on ANWR, the best estimate would be that we would be out of oil in as few as seven months and as many as 19. So how is half a year to a year and a half going to fix anything? It’s all W. He is greedy and corrupt and you know he is making a killing off of the honest working class because he’s got his hands in the pockets of the Saudi’s and the oil companies. If you taught him how to get rich exploiting a renewable resource, then you better believe we would be funding renewable resources. If you people would quit fighting to waste time with your silly christian mythology in schools and let educators teach science uninhibited, then perhaps we would already have the technology that will replace fossil fuels.

Get your head out of the sand! Are we Americans the only one to suffer on enviromental concerns. Until you can get a world agreement to protect the enviroment, you are only whistling dixie. We must get to a position of power on energy, through developing our resorces, before anyone will be interested in the enviroment, from our prospective. Other wise, the greedy countries will continue drilling (look what is happening in the Gulf of Mexico) any place, anywhere they can. Don't mistake me. I'm for alternate engery sources and would like to see my greatgrand children not have to face this problem but we have to look at this from a power position, rather from a begging consumer.

There is just no reasoning with un-reasonable people.

It isn't clear to whom you speak. If it were I (see my response to enviroment concerns), you might be out of step, as 76 percent of those responding, agree on drilling. But, I guess that's about right, if you were speaking to me, by this I mean, about 25 percent of those in the United States, are sick enough to think their liberal ideas, make the rest of true Americans "Morons". Sorry for you.

You are obviously blissfully bereft of the ravages of intelligent thought, while I agree that drilling there is necessary at this point, I strongly disagree with your reasoning, not to mention your totally inarticulate attacks upon those who would rather see no drilling at all, such as myself. As I said before, numbnuts, the truly intelligent alternative would be total non-reliance on fossil fuels. Oh, and by the way, if the responses on this blog are the only source you can cite, you had better just give up since this poll cannot be considered even close to being a reliable cross section of the sentiments of Americans at large.

If 76% of people are too ignorant to see the damage that will be done, I should follow the rest of you sheeple into oblivion? Well, eat poop, fifty billion flies can't be wrong!

Oh, so since everyone else in the world is doing it, we might as well too? Let’s just do away with child labor laws because they don’t exist in other parts of the world. Why do human rights even need to exist? North Korea certainly doesn’t care about them. Just because other countries aren’t doing the right thing is not a cop-out for us not to! We need to lead by example and then persuade other nations to do the right thing too.

Hey Lib., get real, don't use in-your-windows to express your liberal views. I've noticed that whinners, rarely get anything done. It takes real men/women to step forward and take a positive position. Like I said, from a Power Position. Dry your tears and do something positive, like maybe donating something to the World Hunger Fund, or does opening your bill fold bother you, also.

Basically, I took the logic you used in your argument and applied it to a similar situation. You say we shouldn’t be responsible because no one else in the world is. I simply used your reasoning on a different set of circumstances to prove that your argument is fallacious. But then, if you were smart enough to understood that, then you would see things my way anyway.

Thanks for clearing up a couple things. I was wandering where you got all of your breathtaking briliance, then I remembered, same logic as on the outhouse wall. So, thank goodness that is cleared up. Next, alone the same lines, you must have a degree in hock-o-logy from the liberal bull.... university. Don't bother answering, I through with it, let it go.

Aside from your abhorent mis-use of the English language, you seem to have missed a few important points. Just as all people who advocate alternative energy sources are not "libs" or "whiners", I would like to assume that all chest pounding, earth raping, war mongering jackasses are not fascists. That "position of power" which you refer to will only lead to the ultimate demise of this once great land. The true position of power would be, one would think, a position of total non-reliance on fossil fuels. D'ya t'ink? huh? just maybe then that your great grandchildren might have a chance at a better country to live in?

If we had been drilling for the past seven years most of the wild life on both coasts would be gone, the coral reefs would already be dead, and humanity well on its way to extinction. The first and foremost priority here, if we insist upon remaining dependent on oil, and subservient to our oil masters, would be to hold them responsible for environmentally unfriendly actions with extreme prejudice. We could very well, at any given time, be one more oil spill from losing our own ability to survive. Think about it. Would it not make more sense to totally end our dependence upon theo oil industries once and for all? It wouldn't be as hard as you might think. Most of the solutions have already been invented. It's just that the clever little devils at the oil companies have bought or stolen all of the patents and hidden them from us.

But if we start drilling now and show them we are tired of their crap they would have to lower prices before 7-10 yrs.

The Oil companies own the leases on 68 million acres in the US that they are NOT drilling on now. This is land that they know oil is on. Let them drill on this land before we start drilling in ANWAR or offshore.

Wrong. They own the leases but a majority of it has never been explored yet. You got this off of the Liberal taling points. They have no idea if oil is there or not.

Alot of this land leases exploring is tied up if federal court by conservationalist groups and local govnt. preventing the drilling. (findlaw.com)

I personally know someone with 4500 acres whose lease is about to expire and the oil company can't drill because of a lawsuit that has been going on for over a decade.

well said!

There is no way that we can all buy battery powered cars have you looked at the prices of these cars. We are crying about the emission testing and the gas if we buy these cars we will really be crying.

Also I can't ride a bike to work I have Musclar Dystrophy and I don't have the leg power or the ability to ride a bike. There is no laziness there. There are many others who have very good reasons for not riding to work. I'm not sure about you, but I would rather work in a stink free environment.

Your so right. We need to find a way for us all to work together and just shut up about riding bikes to work because it just is not giong to happen. We don't live in Japan and the United States is more spread out than many other countries where the only mode of of getting around is to ride a bike. I think that some people need to get off their high horse and find another way to save the planet and quit calling all Americans lazy as was said above.

Those of us who already ARE riding bikes to work and other destinations, indisputably PROVE that it can be done. Arguement over.
The only position for those who aren't willing to step up to the plate and actually make a difference is to make excuses. If you would put half the brain power, time and energy that you put into making excuses, into actually DOING SOMETHING useful, you would have already been able to figure out a way that you COULD make a difference.
It's also been stated repeatedly, that even if you have some special physical consideration, (very low percentage do), you can still do something. Almost everyone can carpool or trade for a more fuel efficent vehicle.
We might not be able to force everyone to change, but the more of us who recognize the importance of this issue, and change our own behavior, (the only aspect we really have control over), the more other people will see that it can be logistically done, and the easier it will be for more people to join in.
It also gives you a greater understanding and appreciation for energy. I can transport myself 20 miles with one cheeseburger? Yep. Where does all that energy go when I just sit there after eating? Into those XXXL stretch pants full of excuses why I can't ride a bike, and a trunk load of extra weight to reduce my gas mileage in my giant SUV, that I need because I can't fit into a VW.
Only in America will people get angry at their fellow citzens for pointing out the obvious, while making excuses why they need to keep handing money to folks who've sworn to wipe us off the face of the planet.
I guess those folks would rather sit in their air conditioned SUV in the fast food drive through where they'll have lots of time to think up excuses why they should be exempt from lifting a finger to help our country avoid obliteration.