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ANWR

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Smallpotatoes, Jun 27, 2008.

  1. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    C'mon AQB. The oil companies are paying millions for the leases. They wouldn't do that if there is no oil or it's too hard to get out of the ground. And the time to get it is now -- when prices are at record highs.

    They just want to hold the leases forever, cherry pick sweet spots like ANWR, and come back to the leases when the faucet starts to run dry.

    Screw that.
     
  2. Armchair_QB

    Armchair_QB Well-Known Member

    Hey, I don't disagree with that either. Make 'em drill there too.
     
  3. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    One problem is that since they refuse to build any new refineries they can only handle so much oil at a time.
     
  4. Mystery_Meat

    Mystery_Meat Guest

    At this point in the game, they should be drilling everywhere they can. Why they're not drilling places they own, I don't know, but I'd like to hear the explaination.
     
  5. Pastor

    Pastor Active Member

    $
     
  6. Simon_Cowbell

    Simon_Cowbell Active Member

    The impact on.... what?
     
  7. RedSmithClone

    RedSmithClone Active Member



    Exactly. I'm against windfall taxes, but if these greedy bastards don't start turning around their profits to build a new refinery or work the land they already have, I may change my view.
     
  8. Armchair_QB

    Armchair_QB Well-Known Member

    Where should they build them?
     
  9. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    They probably don't need to build one now since usage in this country is going down. Just stop using it and the fictional treehuggers joining hands to prevent any new refineries being built in the past 30 years as an excuse.

    There's plenty of ugly places in Texas that they can still put in a refinery.
     
  10. Batman

    Batman Well-Known Member

    Serious question ... since the oil issue is quickly rising to "threat to national security" status, and the oil companies can't or won't help out (doesn't matter which), can the feds step in and drill or build some damn refineries? Are there laws on the books stopping them?
    I'm not talking about taking over existing oil companies, like Maxine Waters inadvertently suggested. I'm talking about a new national oil company. They have all this federal land they could use. And the government is involved in other private-sector/public good ventures like Amtrak and the post office. I don't know that they WOULD do it because of the political ramifications (both Republicans and Democrats seem content to play the blame game and hope this sorts itself out, and both Obama and McCain seem to have forgotten they're still senators who could actually get the ball rolling on something), but COULD they do it?
     
  11. Alma

    Alma Well-Known Member

    Drilling in ANWR as a solution to our energy problem is akin to thinking a new teen section in Wednesday's newspaper would save the industry as a whole. It won't, and everybody knows it. By the time we actually used what the refuge produces, we could have overhauled our entire plan of attack for energy independence to electricity, wind, etc.

    ANWR is a pawn, one of the concessions the GOP is currently requiring as a means of getting serious about alternative/green power. Nothing more.

    Be for it, be against it, just know what it is. A bargaining chip in a negotiation. Acting as though it's some imperative - as some in the GOP would have you believe - or the first part of an "if/then" statement ("if we drill ANWR, then we can pursue wind power") is sheer politicizing. Anyone bleating "ANWR! ANWR! ANWR!" is precisely as he or she sounds: a sheep following the directive of a few talking heads, who are in the pocket of those who'd like to squeeze a few more dimes out of the oil game before making the Big Switch. ANWR is nothing more than a provincial, childish "NO! I don't WANNA!" from a select few.

    FWIW, energy companies do know what's at stake. Many of them are tired of the status quo, and trying harder than you think to ditch the Cold War "two powers for one oil" mentality for a fresh viewpoint. Some are mobilizing for a big push that will reinvent our power profile and make them a lot of money to boot. Hopefully, we can see privatized version of all the TVA jobs created during the New Deal.

    On this issue, leftist defeatism - we've got all the answers, but nobody will <i> listen </i> to us! - is worthless. This is America, not Ideologica, and while you might preach to a minority choir on the values of mass conservation, you've got to be able to highlight the financial benefits in a capitalist society. If the left understood that you can make the green revolution laden with tax incentives, this debate could be further along the path. It's probably unseemly to bait companies with the promise of money on an issue many view as moral, but it's an honest bait, at least, because great benefits await the nation that first embraces a new energy profile.

    For me, this issue is moral, yes, because I want to be a good steward of the Earth. But the moral issue has been pressed enough. Time, instead, to look at the tangible benefits of clean energy: New jobs, cheaper bills, an opportunity for American companies to dominate the green market before Europe and Japan get there. That's the key: Develop the technology (apparatus, efficient modes of delivery, etc) first, own it, then sell it to the world. Doing the right thing can be profitable.

    Bill Gates sold America on the PC as a new kind of independence, a staple in every home. It's time to stop demanding alternative energy, and start truly selling it. Companies have been softened enough up to actually listen, and invest.
     
  12. jgmacg

    jgmacg Guest

    Well said.
     
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