What's the difference between being addicted to foreign oil, and being addicted to domestic oil?

[ck4829]

Republicans are suggesting we change the way we feed our addiction, yeah, that will solve the problem.

Maybe it's time to get off the oil addiction, foreign and domestic.

[rateyes]

1. Good way to frame this debate. K & R

[madeline_con]

2. Domestic addiction means local guys will have us by the short hairs. n/t

[TechBear_Seattle]

3. Foreign oil = support for Islamic terrorism

Domestic oil = support for domestic terrorism, aka US oil companies and the Republican Party.

World of difference. :eyes:

[Oregone]

7. True, if we stop buying foreign old, Islamic countries will have NO ONE to sell it to.

Not even China....


And by not buying their oil, we will also systematically remove any root causes that produce terrorism.


No funding + no root causes = no foreign terrorism.


The Tao of America.

[TechBear_Seattle]

9. They will find a market, don't worry about that

China is starving for oil, which is relatively clean when compared to coal. And China won't give a rat's tail about supporting international terrorism.

[joshcryer]

14. Actually, alternative resources would trickle down to other economies.

Which would oblivate the problem pretty nicely. Think about it. Electric cars and nuclear power means, well, oil becomes a secondary energy resource for transportation.

[Oregone]

16. Sorry, I don't think it would do a damn bit of good in terms of terrorism...

The countries will still sell as much, if not more, to the rapidly developing China (who's oil consumption will grow exponentially for some time). Funding will therefore continue. Further, just as we have fought proxy wars by funding a variety of terrorist groups across the world, it should be no wonder that other countries could do the same (hence, even with a lack of oil sales, funding/arms/training will continue in one form or another from our new enemy of the week).

In addition, you will not be able to, with a mere boycott of oil, erase the cycle of poverty and government corruption that cripples these countries social development and hands their youth to religious extremists. Conditions exist in these regions from centuries of foreign interventions, occupations, internal/external mis-managements, geographical hinderences, etc, and these people raised here will continue to look for someone to hate and blame for their condition (just as the social elite will continue to manipulate them to increase their own power/money). Until you completely erase the stain that the US has put upon the world in their eyes, they will choose the US as the target of their hatred. Until you also completely eliminate the ability for the Middle Eastern upper echelon to profit from the US being hated (and attacked), they will continue to be.

Thinking that drilling locally and boycotting foreign oil will also miraculously lead to alternative energy development is to ignore the constant and bitter plight of the human race since the first chimp stood upright. Any other primate with a brain would of thought, well, he can only fall down further from there.

[joshcryer]

17. Were more horses sold when cars came out?

Think about it.

Oil sales would follow similar technological advancement curves. Heck if we do get some good (see: Polywell, or other super duper cool energy technology) advances, then the oil might just well stay in the ground!

[Oregone]

18. Did everyone kill their horse and buy a car?

Or did the upper class just start buying cars originally, being that only they could afford them? Did the horse lobby have as much power as the oil industry does now, and as much to lose?

Besides, wouldn't the onset of new alternative energies just make used and new oil based vehicles that much more cheaper for the common man to buy?

A car certainly adds utility against a horse (which people will pay for), but does vehicle on another fuel source add such comfort, utility, etc, in comparison to an existing vehicle (many are smaller & have less cargo room thus far).

AND...since the OP is about drilling locally, why would doing so help promote alternative energies at all? They'll just pump and pump and suck it dry regardless, while selling it on the global market (to countries whose populations cannot afford new alternative energy vehicles).

I'm just not optimistic. Who living in this world can continue to be this optimistic? If technology isn't being used primarily to get us to work faster (cars), help us work more efficiently (computers), help us work anywhere (cellphones), or help to enslave men further into the machine, well, normally it isn't deployed. :)

Has the human condition advanced or declined linearly (or otherwise) with the advancement of technology?

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

4. About the same as being addicted to cocaine or being addicted to cocaine.

[predfan]

5. The first four months of this year our fuel EXPORTS were up 33% over the same months a year ago.

Hmmmm..........we need more refinery capacity, yet we exported more than last year........could it possibly be that the multinational oil companies were shifting product worldwide to more profitable markets, while sceaming "shortage" here?

[RB TexLa]

6. For people like "Good Ole T. Boone," it's about who get's the money

"Some of dem Ahhrabs live as good as Wites! Merica, we got to put an end to that!"

[soleft]

8. Rachel Maddow did a great spiel on this last week

It's the oil companies who want to drill domestically, unless we nationalize the oil, it does jack shit for Americans. Whether oil companies get the oil from US, or get it from mideast, it all goes on world market and we're buying it just the same as everyone else.

[RB TexLa]

10. Do tell, from what market would a nationalized oil company purchase it's oil???

[hiaasenrocks]

11. She needs a class in market econ.

[joshcryer]

13. The problem is that they profit enough from foreign oil, why drill domestically when it's more...

...profitable in the short term to get money from foreign production (oil leases etc)?

It's a pretty well known fact, at least here on DU, that oil companies have thousands of square miles of government mineral leases all over the USA (on government land). They don't even *try* to explore it to any significant extent because why would they?

The government needs to stop their leases if they don't explore ASAP (with the billions and billions of dollars of profit that they can put into R&D), otherwise they're just monopolizing that resource!

[joshcryer]

12. We have more oil domestically than the rest of the world combined.

*shrug*

Go after our oil (in various forms such as oil shale). Carbon taxes. Problem solved. Economy boom beyond ones wildest imaginations.

[spanone]

15. this is what needs to be said. we need to get the junkies of the junk i.e. oil