Drilling’s Lure

[cal04]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/15/opinion/15tue3.html?ref=opinion

President Bush’s decision on Monday to lift the moratorium on offshore oil drilling first imposed by his father 18 years ago is designed to ratchet up the pressure on Congress to do likewise. Congress should resist. Offshore drilling will not bring short-term relief from $4-a-gallon gasoline, nor can it play much more than a marginal role in any long-term strategy for energy independence. The oil companies already have access to substantial unexplored resources.

At issue are about 19 billion barrels that, the Interior Department says, lie in federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico and off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Until Monday, these resources had been protected by two parallel moratoriums.

One was an executive prohibition on offshore drilling in the Lower 48 states, imposed by the first President Bush in 1990 after the Exxon Valdez disaster. This moratorium was later extended by President Bill Clinton, who added protections for Alaska’s Bristol Bay, a rich fishing ground. Mr. Bush lifted the Bristol Bay protections last year and has now eliminated the rest.

(snip)
Congress should not give into the pressures of a restless public and a campaign by sacrificing long-term environmental protections for short-term political gain.

[spag68]

1. No short term relief

is not the whole story. The rest of the story is that it will provide little or no long term relief either. If we let the Dem's. in congress get away with going along with this, we deserve what we get. When the first oil spill reaches Florida's shore in Tampa bay, Whomever is pres. at the time will be blamed, when the blame falls squarely on the shoulders of congress, for letting the idiot-in-chief get away with it.

[Tutonic]

2. Congress will NEVAH NEVAH NEVAH go for this!

GW needs to go play in his treehouse and let the grownups solve the oil crisis.

[bluebloodwarrior]

3. I think congress might cave

I think Obama will remain strong in his opposition to this worthless drilling fever, but other congressmen might be driven by polls.

[spag68]

4. We should not even be talking about this

Why is it so hard to understand that we can't use more oil, even if we had it. It's beyond my small mind to understand why people don't get this. I understand why big money wants this, but for the rest of us, I don't get it.

[comtec]

5. because if WE don't discuss it and make strong counter points

the gop talking points will rule the day.
we need to make STRONG counter points to go against theirs.
OURS are backed up by reality and facts, their are just pretty lies.
the problem is they have 200+ years of making good lies.