Those who are against Obama's offshore drilling policy should give up oil-based products for 1 day

[zulchzulu]

Let's see how pure you are.

That includes all electronics, all cars, all soaps, solar panels, wind turbines, electrical devices and wiring, any plastics, any housing material and so on.

Let's see how you do.

:rofl:

[earthside]

1. Oh, my gosh.

I thought I had hit a wrong key on the computer and somehow ended-up on Free Republic.

Drill, Baby, Drill!

[joeybee12]

2. And those of you cheering it on should pledge right now to head down

and help clean up any spill that results from this...oh, and use your own money becasue the oil companies won't pay just like they didn't really pay for the Exxon Valdez...it's we taxpayers who will fit the bill.

Still laughing?

[Forkboy]

8. Notice how dead things don't really bother some of these people if it's for their cause?

Whether it's the dead animals from an oil spill or the dead Afghan civilians for their war hard ons they sport now that it's a "D" produced feature.

Oh, and I bet they ARE laughing.

[joeybee12]

12. Out of sight, out of mind...n/t

[Odin2005]

71. They are OK with ANYTHING that has a D label on it.

[Fruittree]

31. I think there's a big difference between cheering

and accepting a harsh reality. We've been dependent on oil products for so long that we can't just suddenly become independent without totally destroying the economy and causing a lot of pain to those who can least afford it. My hope is that there will be explorations and in the meantime, other alternatives will get going and there'll never be any reason to go beyond exploring.
All of us use, with few exceptions, oil products and way too many resources overall...
I don't know about the original poster but I'm not laughing - just not ready to blame one person for what we'va all created or at least benefitted from.

[liberalmuse]

3. I love that you posted this!

I read all the horrible posts slamming Obama on DU yesterday knowing full well that even the person who is cutting down on the most energy use in this country is still using above and beyond what people in most countries use. It's easy to rake President Obama through the coals (no pun intended) when the very people who are jumping on him are blind to the fact that they are the part of the reason why he can't just shut down offshore drilling.

[sabrina 1]

27. Couldn't George Bush make the same argument?

What this argument is saying is that we have to feed the U.S. addiction to oil and Obama is just trying to help.

Why did we oppose Bush when he did the same thing?

I just left a thread that was making a different argument. That there is so little oil there it's not worth drilling for, so Obama is just calling their bluff and there will never be any drilling. The whole off-shore drilling controversy was just a Republican sham. Of course if it was, then why were Democrats playing along? Why didn't they realize this long ago?

Obama says he's doing it so he can get Republican support for better energy policies.

[nosmokes]

28. so did he learn nothing from the healthcare debacle?

the republicans will never be bipartisan. even the stuff they support they abandon if the other side signs up as well.

[Enrique]

4. oil: love it or leave it!

i guess that logic would apply to the Iraq war as well.

[ljm2002]

5. That sounds just like "Love it or leave it"...

...i.e. a simplistic formulation that makes no sense when you analyze it.

We all know we are dependent on oil. Many of us also know that we need to wean off that dependency.

But we are where we are, and oil helped us to get there. That's fine -- I am not "against oil" per se. On the other hand, the amount of oil that might be obtained from offshore drilling, vs. the potential environmental hazards, are tradeoffs that need to be looked at carefully. Also, any money that is spent on drilling for new oil, is money that won't be spent on alternatives.

I don't know the right answer; I do know that if we keep always doing the same thing, we will not wean ourselves from oil and we will run out sooner.

But hey, if you prefer a simplistic analysis, feel free. You have lots of company - goodness knows there are plenty of DUers these days trying to score cheap points off the hides of their compatriots.

[HughMoran]

26. Sounds like having fun to me

...apparently at your expense - doh!

[stray cat]

6. It is hypocritical to promote no oil or nuclear power or coal and use them anyway

or anything made with them. I respect people who actually live what they preach

Both free republic and DU are not always consistent with their lifestyle choices versus their strong policy stances.

[joeybee12]

11. What a load of horsepucky...

...Does the word conservation mean anything to you? God, how can you type when you're holding pompoms?

[PVnRT]

53. No, it doesn't

Obama did it, therefore it is right, and all who disagree are wrong and deserve to be mocked. Except for Republicans, of course. We need to reach out to them.

[eleny]

7. you'd be surprised how well you can at least cut back

and since some plastics are unsafe, it's wise to at least try.

i feel just like i did about offshore drilling during the 8 years of bush. so i started cutting back on plastic usage during those years.

[joeybee12]

19. A little conservation would eradicate the need for drilling where there

really isn't much oil to begin with.

[eleny]

24. That's my position

We owe it to ourselves to at least try and preserve our waters and shores for pity sakes.

[nosmokes]

9. Wins my 'head up your ass' comment for today n/t

[tango-tee]

49. No kidding.

Odd, isn't it - for some people, as long as it has the "D" label, it's the most phantasmagoric idea ever presented.

[Jakes Progress]

57. +100

Nailed it in one. You can't blame someone for having a narrow view of life is all they can see when they have to view the world through their anal tunnel.

[ZombieHorde]

10. Naked in the woods, high as a kite. Fun times.

Should people who are against drilling in the ANWAR do the same?

[flvegan]

13. And anyone against the live skinning of puppies should go vegan for a year.

Even MORE :rofl:

[Fruittree]

30. True.

[ZombieHorde]

46. I am against the live skinning of puppies and I did go vegan for a year. nt

[VMI Dem]

14. You should table for it.

Make it happen!

[The_Commonist]

15. I did that once!

I spent a day sitting naked on a cotton towel on a hill in Death Valley.
Actually, two days.
I had an old wine skin filled with water, and I didn't eat or do anything.
That's about the only way you can accomplish this.

Of course, I had to get back into the car to go home...

[eleny]

25. You never had coffee in a glass mayo jar?

Well, son, you haven't lived! :rofl:

[SwampG8r]

60. the towel likely

was made by a machine loaded with petrochemicals
wine skin too most likely

[Cant trust em]

16. Where am I?

Did I click on the right website?

[QC]

20. Lately it's hard to tell. n/t

[zulchzulu]

36. So are you implying you want to go to stupid web sites?

You have a problem with oil-based products?

Turn in your computer pronto. It's loaded with plastic, that's not made from the plastic tree... in case you're wondering.

I bet you live in a house that has rubber siding... oil!

[tango-tee]

50. Of course! You're on GDP!

Where all ideas proposed by The Prez - well, you know....

[Enrique]

17. yeah, and anyone complaining about climate change should stop breathing

because, as the Competitive Enterprise Institute so wisely said, CO2: "They call it pollution, we call it life"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wq_Bj-av3g0&feature=player_embedded

[Forkboy]

18. ...

:spray:

[KansDem]

21. Okay, I'll substitute vodka for my salad dressing...

:9

[Bluenorthwest]

22. I'll gladly go without all the stuff they are going to get from new

drilling. It is many years away, and will be all gone in an instant anyway, especially without large scale conservation in the interim. You are splitting your spleen over a drop in a bucket, when the bucket is going empty by the liter. Not sure how your post is funny, but it sure is a pathetic stance to take.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

23. "Well Billy, you wanted to live in a world without zinc..."

[depakid]

35. Phosphorus is the big one

http://www.energybulletin.net/node/33164

[zulchzulu]

45. Cool link! Between phosphorus and cellulose, we might have some non-oil-based alternatives

Of course, we could use recycled plastic now that it's been produced to make newer products...

[Overseas]

29. We know a lot of products are made from oil. That's why we want to hurry with alternatives

to get them up and running so we can stretch the petroleum much further.

It is so silly to hear people raise this question today and yesterday as though -- AHA-- GOTCHA !! As though we don't know that already. It is precisely because we know how many other things require oil that we want alternatives to be the main priority right now. We want strong alternatives up and running when the oil gets more limited and needs to be rationed more than it ever has.

Telling us we gotta drill drill drill and use all the oil we've got first just doesn't make as much sense as pushing ten times as fast on alternative energy so we can stretch the remaining petroleum to cover the very many products it is now used in.

[Zenlitened]

65. Good post. - n/t

[Oregone]

32. Those against drilling in sensitive ecosystems are obviously anti-petroleum products

These are the type of Nazis that want life saving pharmaceuticals banned I bet

[Name removed]

33. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[depakid]

34. It would certainly raise awareness about what's coming all our ways this decade

It'll make for "interesting times," that's for sure.

[zulchzulu]

38. Exactly!

If anything, this should be a warning to people that are "just against oil"...

It is an integral part of our lives, like it or not.

What does that mean?

We could devise ways to make materials that don't use oil or use a lot less of it. Let's put on our thinking caps and figure out how we can produce materials with oil byproducts that are perhaps from biofuels or extractions from cellulose.

That would be way cool.

[harun]

37. Fail. Point is this drilling doesn't lower prices or reduce demand.

I don't care if they open up this drilling but he should have got something in return for it.

[zulchzulu]

41. That has absolutely nothing to do with it

First of all, the very oil and natural gas companies who haven't drilled for decades in open lots and approved permitted areas in millions of acres don't want to drill more now.

Why haven't they drilled in millions of approved, permitted offshore acres in the past decades that they've had the chance?

Because if they flooded the market with oil and gas, they make less money. So how is it that they would suddenly want to drill more now?

It might simply be over some people's heads how basic economics works. It also appears that some people have no idea just how much we depend on oil for how we go through our daily lives.

As for Obama being able to come up with something for his announcement, it should be more than obvious to most thinking progressives that Republicans have been banging the "Drill Baby Drill" drum for years all while they know that oil and gas companies DON'T want to interfere with their profits by investing time and resources to drill more and losing their profit margins.

Obama has the Republicans against the wall saying they want to drill for more oil, but not under a Democratic administration... just in time for the 2010 elections.

[harun]

54. So you like Obama doing this because you feel it is politically advantageous?

What does having everyone stop using dinosaur oil based products for a day do to support that argument?

If you want to highlight the hypocrisy of dinosaur oil consumers, do that.
If you want to highlight Obama's political strategy against the opposition, do that.

However, mixing the two isn't getting your point across because they have nothing to do with each other.

[Jennicut]

39. We all contribute to the huge demand and possibly to climate change.

However, I don't know if Obama himself believes that offshore drilling would make much difference in our dependence. He may be throwing it out there as a way to eliminate it.

[IndianaGreen]

40. And when Florida becomes an archipelago, then what?

If that had been a President McCain announcing that very same policy, you would all be ranting and raving mad about it.

Put a "D" after Mussolini, and you guys would be telling us how great he is!

[zulchzulu]

42. So you're giving up oil-based products for a day ... OR WHAT?

Enough of the avoidance argument...

I assume your computer is made of a cellulose-based fibric hybrid...

:rofl:

[IndianaGreen]

47. Obama travels in a caravan of SUVs, and flies a jumbo jet

Let's put him behind the wheel of a Chevy Malibu, and fly him in a smaller jet. Let's begin at home!

[Warren Stupidity]

43. Sorry, but that is stupid.

I'm sure you think you have struck brilliance here, but seriously that doesn't even rise to dim.

[zulchzulu]

44. C'mon... take the non-oil-based product/lifestyle challenge for a frickin' day...

You can't use a computer...

[Warren Stupidity]

51. You actually would have to go out naked into the woods and forage.

We live in the petro-age. Our entire civilization is based on oil. But that is beside the point. There isn't enough oil to matter off our coasts. You know that, or should know that.

[zulchzulu]

58. The oil companies already know about how little oil there is offshore

That's why they haven't been drilling much at all offshore even with open permits and leases of millions of acres of seabad for decades.

That's the whole point of this argument. People somehow think Obama is opening up all beach to be polluted... they haven't been paying attention.

[Warren Stupidity]

59. Oh I agree on that. It is an end run around DINOs and NONOS

[boppers]

48. Been there, done that, and I'm not snotty about it.

Quite a change (and learning experience).

Actually, I found the "only non-processed, organic, food" challenge harder. Turns out that that most Tofu is processed out the Yin-Yang.

These are good exercises, to remind us not to be silly.

I'm thinking a "no radiation" day could help: No TV, Radio, microwave, cell phones, internet, or light. Just sit in a dark bunker, free of radiation.

I did it once. It was a good 12 hours. It reminded me that I *needed* radioactive input to survive.

[PVnRT]

52. Unrec. Is that the best you can do?

I guess that means supporters of the drilling should buy the least fuel-efficient car they can and stop recycling plastic, to show how much their behind new offshore drilling.

If you supporters would quit being condescending for a moment (I know, I know, it's really hard), you'd realize that most opponents of new drilling realize that refining oil is not going to go away for a long time, they just think that the focus should be on conservation and alternative energy, not taking an action which does absolutely nothing to achieve those ends.

Nah, the new way is to simply shout and belittle all your opponents, because apparently that's in keeping with the "new" politics of bipartisanship and rationality that I thought Obama was all about.

[Forkboy]

63. It really IS the best he can do.

:rofl:

[DCofVA]

55. Well, we better figure out a way to do without it for more than just a day.

In the not to distant future it's going to run out. We have two ways of approaching this; waste all our money squeezing out every last drop till we run into that brick wall or, put a lot more effort in developing alternate renewable resources. The longer we put the transition off, the worse it will be.

[Jakes Progress]

56. Purity is as purity does.

What a really asinine, off the wall, pointless OP.

[KansasVoter]

61. This may be the dumbest post I have seen from anyone here! Idiot!

[zulchzulu]

64. Take the Oil-Free Challenge! You can do it...

It would mean you'd have to turn off your computer!

:rofl:

[niceypoo]

68. I would concur

PomPoms as a replacement for grey matter.

[TheKentuckian]

62. A rare unrec for pure baloney

I guess if you don't like stupid puking drunk then you have to become a teotoller.

If you are in favor of sex you have to hire a whore.

If you don't like dressing up then you have give away your suits.

If you are hungry then you must spend every future moment eating.

If you are awake you must forgo sleep.

If you support gay marriage then you better find a same sex partner regardless of orientation.

If you don't care for brocoli then don't eat ANY vegatables.

Don't like split pea? No soup for you.

Don't like vodka then give up the bourbon.

If you enjoy a nice walk then give away your car.

Don't like Pepsi then give up Coke.

[mkultra]

66. or they could just STFU for one day.

either way works for me.

[niceypoo]

67. This is the same position espoused by my freeper relatives

[MadMaddie]

69. I have thought a bit about this topic and have come to some

hard to accept conclusions.

1. If we STOPPED 100% of importing oil from around the world today the U.S would be dead in the water.

U.S Oil Consumption by the barrel 20,680,000 bbl/day http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/ene_oil_con-energy-oil-consumption

2. At this time the U.S does not produce enough oil products to cover what we import.

Solution: President's Obama's rule that there will be specific new places for oil drilling
Solution. He also PROTECTED specific areas from drilling.

3. Vehicle consumption of oil products is huge.
Solution: President Obama has introduced new requirements for new cars.

4. Nuclear Power (not my favorite) the U.S may have to use it to cut dependency on foreign oil products and coal.

NATIONAL SECURITY "oil crack"

As long as we continue to be the bitches of foreign countries who are robbing us blind with their oil products and committing terrorism against us for the same reason.

What is the solution: Complaining about the issue resolves nothing, we have smart people in this country. When downturns in the economy history has proven that America is capable of innovation. Until then we have to have a plan or semblance of a plan to get off of the "oil crack" that we are dependent on.

These are random thoughts and I am sure that these are not the only answers I am sure many have thoughts on the subject.

Okay
Putting
On
Kevlar
Vest
Now......

[Odin2005]

70. FALLACY ALERT!!!

A person's own actions does not in any way change the truth-values of statements.

This post is as stupid as when people say "GO ENLIST" when one supports the Afghan War.

[polichick]

72. Those for it should take a bath in crude - just like more wildlife will be forced to. nt

[Vinca]

73. We might have been able to give up oil-based products by now

if we had focused on getting off oil. I think when it comes to the latest promise of drilling, the benefits need to be weighed against the potential peril. From what I've read, the reason all the permits already issued haven't been acted upon is because there's not enough oil to bother with. Maybe Obama is just calling their bluff or trying to shut Palin up. In any case, I'd rather protect the oceans than the pockets of Shell and Exxon.