Comments on: To drill or not to drill http://www.scottallan.com/2008/06/to-drill-or-not-to-drill.html Slapping my bumper stickers on the Internet Fri, 21 Nov 2008 21:38:53 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Scott Allan http://www.scottallan.com/2008/06/to-drill-or-not-to-drill.html#comment-1494 Scott Allan Fri, 20 Jun 2008 15:18:01 +0000 http://www.scottallan.com/?p=758#comment-1494 <p>All I know is that doing nothing will solve nothing.  If it's not more oil, I'm open to all other solutions as long as it doesn't devastate the economy, nuclear, solar, bio, wind, hydrogen, anything.  Unfortunately doing nothing seems to be our national policy.</p> <p> I really find it hard to believe that it would take 9 years for oil to reach the market .  The article you referenced says oil would start flowing in 2013, but even that seems ridiculous.  We're the United States.  You can't tell me that with all the technology we have and all the money at stake, that we couldn't get it done much faster than that.   How long does it take to dig a hole and put it in a barrel?   Even a 4% increase in supply would help.  It's better than the 0% increase we have now.</p> <p>Obama wants to use the windfall profit tax to invest in green energy research.   I don't see this to be a great benefit either.  How long will that take?  How will that effect food supply and prices?  Gas prices will rise even more dramatically in the meantime due to this tax which will get passed on to the consumer.  He will be hurting the poor most of all in the short run.  Somehow we need to provide incentives, not penalties to improve our situation.  Simply saying no to every possible solution is not a solution.   Most likely we will need a combination of solutions to solve this problem.</p> All I know is that doing nothing will solve nothing.  If it’s not more oil, I’m open to all other solutions as long as it doesn’t devastate the economy, nuclear, solar, bio, wind, hydrogen, anything.  Unfortunately doing nothing seems to be our national policy.

I really find it hard to believe that it would take 9 years for oil to reach the market .  The article you referenced says oil would start flowing in 2013, but even that seems ridiculous.  We’re the United States.  You can’t tell me that with all the technology we have and all the money at stake, that we couldn’t get it done much faster than that.   How long does it take to dig a hole and put it in a barrel?   Even a 4% increase in supply would help.  It’s better than the 0% increase we have now.

Obama wants to use the windfall profit tax to invest in green energy research.   I don’t see this to be a great benefit either.  How long will that take?  How will that effect food supply and prices?  Gas prices will rise even more dramatically in the meantime due to this tax which will get passed on to the consumer.  He will be hurting the poor most of all in the short run.  Somehow we need to provide incentives, not penalties to improve our situation.  Simply saying no to every possible solution is not a solution.   Most likely we will need a combination of solutions to solve this problem.

]]> By: Silke http://www.scottallan.com/2008/06/to-drill-or-not-to-drill.html#comment-1493 Silke Fri, 20 Jun 2008 14:39:50 +0000 http://www.scottallan.com/?p=758#comment-1493   Getting back to the original point of your post (whether to drill or not), even the White House’s own Energy Information Administration says that exploiting the outer shelf wouldn’t yield noticeable amounts of oil until the 2020s, and even at peak production its impact on oil prices would be “insignificant.” Also, according to a study conducted by the Energy Department in 2004, drilling in ANWAR would not reduce the price of oil significantly. We would still have to import two-thirds of our oil, as opposed to an expected 70 percent if the refuge’s oil remained off the market (less than a 4% difference). This wouldn’t even be a short term solution since it would take 9 years for oil to reach the market and 21 years to reach full production. <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4542853/" rel="nofollow">http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4542853/</a>  
Getting back to the original point of your post (whether to drill or not), even the White House’s own Energy Information Administration says that exploiting the outer shelf wouldn’t yield noticeable amounts of oil until the 2020s, and even at peak production its impact on oil prices would be “insignificant.”
Also, according to a study conducted by the Energy Department in 2004, drilling in ANWAR would not reduce the price of oil significantly. We would still have to import two-thirds of our oil, as opposed to an expected 70 percent if the refuge’s oil remained off the market (less than a 4% difference). This wouldn’t even be a short term solution since it would take 9 years for oil to reach the market and 21 years to reach full production.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4542853/

]]> By: Scott Allan http://www.scottallan.com/2008/06/to-drill-or-not-to-drill.html#comment-1491 Scott Allan Wed, 18 Jun 2008 06:57:36 +0000 http://www.scottallan.com/?p=758#comment-1491 <p>Let's hope it happens sooner rather than later.  I'd buy a hydrogen car in an instant if I could.</p> Let’s hope it happens sooner rather than later.  I’d buy a hydrogen car in an instant if I could.

]]> By: Silke http://www.scottallan.com/2008/06/to-drill-or-not-to-drill.html#comment-1489 Silke Wed, 18 Jun 2008 04:23:44 +0000 http://www.scottallan.com/?p=758#comment-1489 When serious scientists publish peer-reviewed studies that indicate the Earth is warming and the burning of fossil fuels is a major factor I personally do not consider that a hoax. I do think reasonable people can disagree on this issue and I agree with you that the political resolve is not there yet. But when your economy is based on a limited and non-renewable fuel supply located primarily in a volatile and hostile part of the world, prices will continue go up (even if we inject a small percentage into the current supply). The bright side of all this is that as alternate fuel sources become more economically viable the free market will voluntarily make the changes that are so necessary and will eventually happen anyway. When serious scientists publish peer-reviewed studies that indicate the Earth is warming and the burning of fossil fuels is a major factor I personally do not consider that a hoax. I do think reasonable people can disagree on this issue and I agree with you that the political resolve is not there yet. But when your economy is based on a limited and non-renewable fuel supply located primarily in a volatile and hostile part of the world, prices will continue go up (even if we inject a small percentage into the current supply). The bright side of all this is that as alternate fuel sources become more economically viable the free market will voluntarily make the changes that are so necessary and will eventually happen anyway.

]]> By: Scott Allan http://www.scottallan.com/2008/06/to-drill-or-not-to-drill.html#comment-1488 Scott Allan Wed, 18 Jun 2008 03:13:42 +0000 http://www.scottallan.com/?p=758#comment-1488 <p>I'm totally with you Silke.  I want to get off oil completely, but it's not because of the global warming hoax.   I think using a finite supply of energy that is controlled by fanatics that want to see our demise is absurd.  I would not mind seeing the Middle East go bankrupt.  If we both have the same goal, I guess it doesn't matter how we get there.  Unfortunately, I don't think we have the resolve to get there anytime soon.  McCain promised a Manhattan Project type approach to solving this problem during the primary debates.  I haven't heard anything about it since then though.  I hope he's true to his word.</p> I’m totally with you Silke.  I want to get off oil completely, but it’s not because of the global warming hoax.   I think using a finite supply of energy that is controlled by fanatics that want to see our demise is absurd.  I would not mind seeing the Middle East go bankrupt.  If we both have the same goal, I guess it doesn’t matter how we get there.  Unfortunately, I don’t think we have the resolve to get there anytime soon.  McCain promised a Manhattan Project type approach to solving this problem during the primary debates.  I haven’t heard anything about it since then though.  I hope he’s true to his word.

]]> By: Silke http://www.scottallan.com/2008/06/to-drill-or-not-to-drill.html#comment-1486 Silke Wed, 18 Jun 2008 01:13:37 +0000 http://www.scottallan.com/?p=758#comment-1486   I don’t see any point in feeding our addiction to oil at the expense of our environment and putting off what we will eventually have to do anyway – switch to a cleaner/renewable energy source.  
I don’t see any point in feeding our addiction to oil at the expense of our environment and putting off what we will eventually have to do anyway – switch to a cleaner/renewable energy source.

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