Wasn't it last week or there abouts that the oil industry was crowing about how safe off shore oil production has become.....guess they were fibbinga little, huh?....or maybe they were trying to get additional locations in areas that are environmentally sensitive, hmmmm?

I wonder if the same kinds of fibs apply to the nuclear energy we are also going to drill down into next?

Drill, baby, drill....glow, baby, glow....all because we lack the will to change to sustainable sources of energy and reduce the overall energy need by curbing gross waste in practical applications and antiquated distribution systems.

sumthin fishy...There's something even fishier that CA and NJ can invest in solar power and make it work while other states patently refuse to even consider it. Solar power has been working for a neighbor of mine since 1974...something Big Oil doesn't like to hear. He's on his second generation of solar panels because the technology is so much better now.

Alternative energy works. Big Oil is the gatekeeper to seeing to it that it doesn't.

Tim...and you walk to work every day...right?

Spill, baby, spill.

Svenolafson..Right. In between dealing with the economy, the joblessness and the oily slicks on Wall Street, Obama had time to come up with this conspiracy. Do you right wingers never give it a rest on this president? Or, is it that yours was such a miserable failure that you need to relieve yourselves of the stench of Bush era oily slicks?

You know what I think is suspicious? That the word oil and the word slick seem to always end up together.

hs321 - I bike to work. Is there a problem trying to have a cleaner future?

Svenolafson...From where you stand? Uh...I think if you check there are at least three verifiable sources that will attest to the fact that the recession is lifting. The recession Bush knew about and as the first MBA president didn't bother to try to fix?

No one expects right wingers to give this president any credit for anything he does even if it hit them in the ass. You have to bash Obama. To not bash this president, means admitting your man fouled up badly.

hs321...Nice try. But the Republicans work double duty on slick work. You got one guy, Clinton, with loose morals and 35 Republicans with loose trousers around their ankles and their mitts in anything slick and oily they can find. You don't seriously think Boehner isn't in bed with the titans of the HMOs do you? Or that KY fool Senator isn't hot with a Wall Street insider?

See, I don't mind men who openly commit sins. I just can't stand men like Bush and Cheney with their back room antics they think no one will ever find out about. Torture light my patoot. Sadism is more like it.

Denmark leads the world in wind power. The oil and coal lobby have managed to keep this country from investing in clean technology, and now you're going to start paying the price. The U.S. will have to buy technologies from Denmark (all of Scandinavia actually), Germany, Japan and China very soon. Peak oil is right around the corner, and the countries that have had the foresight to tax the hell out of the enormous oil and coal profits and fund alternative energies and sustainability are going to lead in the coming decades, while America follows. Thanks Reagan, why would you want to follow Jimmy Carter's sensible energy plan anyways?!

ewent...."I just can't stand men like Bush and Cheney with their back room antics they think no one will ever find out about."

Guess you can't stand Obama, Pelosi, Reid, et. al. as back room, closed door deals were the word of the day in the passing of Obamacare.

And I'm an independent and since when did either party not have loose morals. They're all corrupt. On both sides.

BLS-744646 You Left out evil mother nature.

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=36873

Texas A&M study on Natural oil seepage in the Gulf of Mexico

The study estimates global seepage is 200,000 mt/a (metric tons), with oil seepage in the Gulf of Mexico being 150,000 mt/a.

recent study by U.S. Geological Survey, commissioned by the National Academy of Sciences.

The NAS study concluded that global estimates of crude-oil seepage rates suggest that about 47 percent of crude oil currently entering the marine environment is from natural seeps.

HS321...The difference between this president and Bush is that Bush was Big Business all the way. Do you like what Wall Street is doing? Thank Bush. Do you like the back room deals Cheney made with Big Energy that drove gasoline prices through the roof and saw many families living close to the edge? Thank Cheney.

Sorry, I choose to vote for presidents who recognize that taxpayers are not personal piggy banks.

ewent....the difference?...you must be kidding? What difference?

The potential for the crash of the derivatives market was made known to the Clinton administration by Brooksley Born. She was marginalized by the administration and eventually resigned. Two key members of the Clinton administration, Geitner and Sommers, are now Obama's economic advisors.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/warning/view/

Like I said, I'm an independent I understand fully that both sides are corrupt.

str8shott....I am for a cleaner planet. I'm a nature freak and love the outdoors, so anything that preserves that is fine by me. But I'm also a realist. And the primary reason the world is advanced as it is, is because of inexpensive energy....oil. That will change over time as technology replaces the need for oil derived energy and other products, but you can't crash the world economy by trying to do it to fast.

Glad you can ride a bike to work. I have 3 co-workers who do the same. But I live over 30 miles from work, so it's not practical for me and many other people.

(Also, your bike doesn't rust because of the paint on it made from oil. And you do use oil on the bearings and chain, right? Seat and grips probably derived from oil to.)

Almost forgot, being a nature freak....those wind farms are an ugly blight on the horizon and kill birds...like...well, an oil spill.

HS321...For a poster who purports to be an independent, your posts all rise to the defense of the GOP. Is that your version of unbiased independence? Actually, if you check, GHWB also knew about the situation with derivatives, what with his uncle in the banking industry and his son's S&L failure. Or did you want to lay the blame on another Democrat with your independent thinking?

cmon...The only Kool Aid drinkers are the ones out there in those Tea Party protests. Hypocrites who'll knock any protester from the 60's but rah rah themselves as God's answer to holiness and righteousnous.

If you want to know who caused those rolling blackouts look to the east to your Texas friends at Enron. You need to watch that documentary that's been on cable "Enron". You see young snots who work for Enron laughing about how they were going to "cause some CA granny" to pay more for her electric.

You can't lay that one on any Democrat. Those blackouts were the Enron game to enrich themselves.

""and how about the drill drill drill obama plan, oh wait, any green orgs are all quiet since a dem is doing it, can you imagine had bush said let's do more off shore drilling? the usual left hypocracy. all is well, pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!"""
President Obama is wrong if he wants to drill along coastlines, and he is wrong if he doesn't want to drill along coastlines.

There is no pleasing the GOP followers, no matter what. THAT is the definition of hypocrisy.

Houston, we have a problem! The sub appears not to have been able to activate the back up manual control; which means only a relief well can stop the flow; at that depth directional drilling is very tricky; if they are right it will take about 2 months; even if the skimmers capture 80% of the float; that still leaves 20 thousand barrels at minimum, if it hits the Brenton,island and Atchafalaya sanctuaries it will destroy the fishing , shrimp and oyster industry for decades.

THE FUTURE OF OIL IS SIMPLY IN THE MASSIVE OIL SHALE RESERVES WE HAVE IN THE USA!!!!

We are sitting on the largest Oil Shale fields in the world. We have over 1.5 TRILLION barrels of oil in two massive fields. This is 5 times the reserves of Saudi Arabia. Two major deposits occur in the Eastern US and the Green River Formation out West. There is a small issue with these fields however, most of them are on Federally controlled and owned land.

Coincidence? I'll leave the conspiracy theories to your imagination.

Recent advances in horizontal extraction and other methods have made this oil affordable to recover. Actually shale derived oil is currently competitive with crude oil at prices below $40 a barrel. I think we all agree we will be enjoying significantly higher prices for oil unless we open access to these fields.

Contrary to conventional wisdom, the fuel derivatives of oil are just a small part of how oil is used. Lubricants to ammonia to yarn are made from oil byproducts. The idea that we will someday be independent of oil may be true but that will be decades from now.

Continuing development of alternative energy sources is necessary but it will be decades before we are truly able to be free of oils grip on our energy and ecconomic needs. Imagine when oil prices finally do reach $200 a barrel how these reserves can help us maintain our nation and economy.

http://dailyreckoning.com/oil-shale-reserves/

http://www.rightsidenews.com/201002158696/energy-and-environment/barnett-shale-the-latest-word-in-oil-exploration.html

Burn, Baby, Burn.

Thanks Sarah P for your divinely induced wisdom. How's that Christian/Repub thing workin out for ya now?!

Can't wait for your next book.

USARouge,

Do your right wing sites tell you how much environmental devastation will occur if we go after this Green River oil shale in Wyoming and Colorado? Look at what is currently happening in Canada at their oil shale sites. Very ugly! You're correct about not being able to wean ourselves from oil right away, but the sooner the better. A diversified portfolio of power needs to be our number 1 priority, not drilling and polluting in every pristine and fragile ecosystem we have. America the beautiful is supposed to be from sea to shining sea, not from polluted to polluted sea (and all points in between).

It'll continue to be decades away if we don't start AGGRESSIVELY pursuing other forms of energy NOW. Devote the vast majority of our capital and effort in that direction instead of trying to find more oil. Necessity is the mother of invention. We need to start capping how much power can be produced using "old" technologies and increasing our ability to generate energy in cleaner, renewable fashions. I do feel for places that rely on oil, coal etc to provide local jobs, but we can't be stuck in the past forever

For you people who claim the oil industry blocks development of alternative energy, and especially you, ewent... do you realize that all of the major oil companies have, and have had for many years, solar/biomass/wind business groups in their organizations? They have alternative energy group VPs reporting to the CEO at the same level as their exploration, production and refining/marketing counterparts. They do research, pilot projects, state-of-the-art technology transfer and dissemination. There is one problem. Oil production pays the bills - alternative energy is a long, long way off. What don't you understand about the fact that these other forms of energy are very inefficient, very expensive, and are not economic?

I do feel for places that rely on oil, coal etc to provide local jobs, but we can't be stuck in the past forever

I don't understand this comment. Every time I see it I have the same question: Who do you think is going to be doing the construction, maintenance, and development of this new technology? This is not a case of ending an industry and that is it. It is a case of new jobs replacing those in the old technology. These jobs are produced everywhere if the technology is implemented correctly. Imagine every home and business having solar photovoltaic, wind, and geothermal assisted heat pump technology installed. Each home and business having battery or fuel cell storage capacity installed. Each home and business tying their surplus power generation tied into the grid to sell back to the transmission utility.

Imagine technology similar to that in production by Bloom Energy that has a fuel cell that generates electricity from methane, propane and any other hydrocarbon gas more efficiently than a coal or gas fired traditional power plant. This technology can use the gases produced from manure, sewage treatment plants, landfills, etc on the municipal and even residential level.

Now think about it. Someone has to do the jobs of installing, maintaining, replacing this technology on a continuous basis. We are talking millions of local jobs from the size of home remodeling businesses to firms capable of municipal sized facilities to industrial employment by utilities to purchase and digest waste products for energy production and large scale renewable farms to supplement the residential and commercial building generation.

So I ask again, What jobs losses are these people talking about?

And I have even touched on the locality specific technologies like tidal in northern latitudes with large tidal swings and narrow straights that can be used like wind. Or areas of geothermal activity that can use lower boiling liquids to drive traditional style gas turbines to generate electricity.

That's the problem with America technology that's being out dated and we still won't make the change look how fast the Chinese have caught up and passing our sorry azzes, think oil, and wonder why every country is progressing beyond us, they will not be using oil and we will still be trying to produce oil, why because the people that control the oil in the US wants it that way. Sheep, they killed the search for better alternative energy all these years. The Germans just opened their first Wind-farm in the ocean that generates electricity while we're here playing with our whinner, soon instead of leading the world we will be following ......

Something I never could understand about the Drill Baby Drill people. Why would we put our food sources, childrens welfare, and the well being of the environment at jeopardy for an energy resource that at best estimates will be gone in 2045?

Everyone you ask says the government is corrupt, republican or democrat. We all know that the banks and investment companies stole wealth directly from the mutual funds that they were supposed to support. We know that oil is hurting our country in many different ways and yet we wont make the switch to clean technology.

Capitalism has failed us.

I think that's a funny comment: Spill Baby Spill!

Oil Slick Alternatives to Fire?

I understand that MYCELIUM (Stuff that grows psychedelic mushrooms) and HAIR was made for cleaning up oil slicks..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENPkgAEcDoY&feature=related

I think the only "Firing" that needs to be going on is of The Federal Government and these Illuminati oil field Corporations.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXSaEBespgs&feature=related

So the Alternative Plan I suggest is to Have a emergancie collection of everyones hair, through it all in the oil spill, while covering the beaches with Mycelium and magic mushrooms, pull the matted oily hair slick out of the ocean, and burn it in the neo-nazi death camps that they "evidently" have prepared for U.S. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQ9wtQkSHqw

Or we could have all our Bohiemian Grove Magician Leaders draw a bit pengram around it, say some magic spells when the planets are right and maybe the oil will suck back in the earth.. Do you believe in Magic? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkwBjLG1ULA&feature=PlayList&p=9CDD816AAF244549&playnext_from=PL&index=11

Svenolafson So now the weather and the oil industry is part of some left-wing conspiracy? I don't know which is sadder, that you could actually believe this or that at least 8 people agree with you. By 'this' do you mean the size of the spill or the collapse of an oil-drilling platform in the Gulf due to weather conditions or the failure of oil rigs in general? Consider:

Hurrican Katrina, alone, resulted in the failure of at least 30 oil rigs, about 6.5 million U.S. gallons of oil were spilt into the Gulf.

cjcold People like USArogue get it, they just don't care. They are selfishly concerned only about today and their interests, not the consequences to the environment (they love Palin) or to future generations, something their children, grand-children, etc. will curse them for later.

This is a 'dam ned if you do, dam ned it you don't' scenario. Either option will cause suffering and irreparable harm to people and marine life. These platforms, etc., are the cause of much suffering and harm. But, boy-oh-boy, we just HAVE to get the oil, can't use anything smarter.

I bike to work. Is there a problem trying to have a cleaner future?

So long as no teabagger's grandchild is financially strapped, who cares?

walk to work here...

and typically spend more money at the local laundromat in a month than i do on my electric bill....

and typically that's only $25.... This month I was surprised to see it under the $20 mark.

cmon-864012 Love the fourth grade attempts at upsetting someone. Most of us have grown up, you should try it, and it just doesn't work. Oh, we notice, but now we just laugh at the 'kids'.

I don't care what technology we're using a hundred years from now to "fuel" progress.

Some group will be bit$hing about "the sun is getting smaller" or "wind causes air borne disease" or, baically, "there has to be something wrong if it works".

Something tells me we don't really need to worry about it because we'll be reduced to morlocks and eloi anyway.

Mr. Fish

You must throw one hell of a party!

"A similar burn off the coast of Newfoundland in 1993 eliminated 50 to 99 percent of captured oil."

What?! Which "expert" came up with THAT range?

"However, burning the oil also creates air pollution, and the effect on marine life is unclear."

I got some news for ya. The oil is going to be "burnt" one way or another, and is going to cause pretty much the same amount of air pollution no matter which way it's done. The only question is WHEN.

So long as no teabagger's grandchild is financially strapped, who cares?

I'm a teabagger. Our stance is that federal spending must be cut, that entitlements must be cut, that we have to stop the deficit spending, and pay down our debts. What that has to do with oil drilling, I don't know. I happen to be against drilling off our coastline. And is it really too much to ask that my grandchildren not get strapped with the debt this administration is running up?

http://unrepentanttepartier.blogspot.com/

cjcold

I'm not aware of all the Canadian oil spill problems in their oil shale fields. Provide me a link if you can. I know they are having a problem with their sand oil sight but that is totally different than shale oil extraction.

Kirk, the Chinese and Obama? Can you say Sarah Palin and the Tea Party kooks? Drill baby drill, right! Damned the consequences!

Fire, I think it's going to Burn !!..pyromania once again kicks in..the oozze is thick, and like a fuse..yup, it'll burn, as to what enviromental impact it will cause; that's uncertain..while we all have our own ideas about that, I'll hope and pray..the good Lord gives us another day...sooner or Later, I feel; Fire, we're all going to burn...meaning Hot Summers, Ms Palin, could we be neighbors in the summer time......

Fire, I think it's going to Burn !!..pyromania once again kicks in..the ooze is thick, and like a fuse..yup, it'll burn, as to what environmental impact it will cause; that's uncertain..while we all have our own ideas about that, I'll hope and pray..the good Lord gives us another day...sooner or Later, I feel; Fire, we're all going to burn...meaning Hot Summers, Ms Palin, could we be neighbors in the summer time......

Fire, I think it's going to Burn !!..pyromania once again kicks in..the ooze is thick, and like a fuse..yup, it'll burn, as to what environmental impact it will cause; that's uncertain..while we all have our own ideas about that, I'll hope and pray..the good Lord gives us another day...sooner or Later, I feel; Fire, we're all going to burn...meaning Hot Summers, Ms Palin, could we be neighbors in the summer time......

The Department of the Interior has an Environmental Impact Statement site that is very informative. There are others, but I'm sure you can google as well as I. The bottom line is that oil shale and tar sand extraction is far more environmentally destructive than basic oil drilling.

cjcold

What is the link to that Environmental Impact statement and evidence that these methods are far more environmentally destructive?

You do realize that shale, sand and deep drilling extraction are three totally different methods so the link should discern that for us.

Just google Department of the Interior/EIS. Actually the process and environmental impact is not that different for tar sands and oil shale. Plenty of sites out there to research. Like an old professor of mine used to say, "I could tell you but until you do your own research you won't really know".

Most liberals have a college education

conservatives not so much!

too bad there isn't a empty tanker nearby to suck all that precious ooze up for refining......

um teabagger

u want alot of federal spending to be cut good idea?

that include the military?

if we stop spending on ss medicare/caid what do we do with all the sick people? or old poor people

we can do that and stilll not get the defict under control!

unless we put taxes back where they were before reagan lowered them

reagan tripled the national debt bush1 and clinton lowered it

clinton was on the way to eliminating it

bush2 doubled it then left obama with massive economic downturn

so yes he needs to spend to get economy back ( its getting better not the greatest but better thna Mcain/palin would have done)

so to blame Obama on the deficit alone is disengenuous

GOPS put 70% on the deficit

this is why teabagers are not a silent majority you think you are

your morons!

PS DRILLL BABY DRILL

AND COAL IS AMERICAS POWER HUH

how many solar wind workers have died this year

Well, this is just my opinion, so here goes... I think that someone deliberately sabotaged that drill... there, I said it. It just seems awfully suspicious that this happens days after Obama announces that he might open drilling on the east coast. Now who would benefit from doing that? Hmmmmm

Anyway, I read somewhere that hair absorbs oil. And just to get us to put on our thinking caps, is there any other way to collect, absorb, or clean up the mess. From the posts I've read it seems like everyone wants to point a finger at a government official, party, or a company for the woes in energy. But I don't see any constructive talk about what to do. So, all you bashers, and finger pointers put your bragging rights to the test and come up with a better idea on how to clean this up.

People are against the oil industry even though it is the oil industry that has allowed us to enjoy the luxuries and has had a hand in creating every single technology on the planet. Without oil, the world would still look very much like it did in the early 1800's.

I agree that we need to move away from fossil fuels and we are in the process of doing it.

It is the fossil fuel industry that has been and will continue to be used to build alternate energy industries. Meaning nearly all assembly, installation and transportation equipment is powered by fossil fuels.

We need fossil fuels to continue to function the way we have as a society until alternate energy sources are sufficient to take over.

Lastly, the worst part of this disaster is 11 people died.

Sorry Nick, but the gross federal debt never declined during the Clinton years. Not once. According to the debt statistics at the Office of Management and Budget, the national debt was $4.351 trillion prior to the first fiscal budget authorized by President Clinton in 1994. When he left office in 2001, the debt was $5.770 trillion at the end of that fiscal year. Check the numbers yourself, http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2007/pdf/hist.pdf

So much for eliminating the debt. Maybe Clinton was using his own version of VooDoo debt reduction, lol.

USARogue -

most of the world isn't as deceptive as you and most of us don't live for the next "zinger" like you... in short, most of us aren't ill like you.

it's real simple, in 50 years at the current rate of population growth we will be living in a toilet unless technologies are changed. think about our world with 12 billion people or more and increased industrialization in china, india, etc!

call it whatever you want but pollution = sickness is no conspiracy theory. it's not that hard to figure out. do you need a reference? try common sense.

Close the borders! -

are you kidding? like most wing-nuts you're lost in details. clinton and the GOP congress had the budget under control. it was a winining combination. period. try being honest with yourself... it's really cool!

USA Rogue:

>>cjcold

I'm not aware of all the Canadian oil spill problems in their oil shale fields. Provide me a link if you can. I know they are having a problem with their sand oil sight but that is totally different than shale oil extraction.<<

You asked the question, let me answer. First, let me say USA Rogue, you are so very ignorant in many things you have to say in your support for the continued production of petroleum. In Canada, where they are mining tar sands, it is resulting in great environmental damage to the lands there. The process is a filthy process where much of the oil is leaking into the ground. It is impossible to ever recover from the damage it is causing. And you are big on oil shale too, I understand. It was looked at by Carter over thirty years ago and found to be totally impractical. You'd have to mine a volume of equal to digging a Panama Canal each day to meet our needs and even after doing that, there are no practical ways of extracting the oil from the shale. Please find another subject which you know something about.

USA Rogue -

hey smart ass, i'm still waiting for a reply? you really aren't much for defending your casual little brain farts are you...

Forget "terrorists" as a threat to the county. Wall Street and our own corporations (and the public officials they buy, most Republicans and Democrats) will destroy us quicker and more effectively than any international terrorist around.

Could Osama Bin Laden have destroyed our economy, put millions of people out of their homes and now set lose a gigantic plume to engulf our once beautiful and life filled gulf coast line and coat them with poisonous muck?

Our great grand children are going to inherit such a waste land they'll be cursing us to their graves.

But what about drill here drill now? Americas creepy grandpa and Sarah said it would be perfectly ok. It was part of his election campaign slogans. He wouldn't have lied for his big oil friends would he?

White phosphorus munitions that we sold to the Israelis for the Gaza and Lebanon attacks! Of course, we'll have to pay the Israeli's twice what we sold them for, but hey, it's just business!!

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/images/c-17-22.JPG

and now for a bank shot:

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/images/c-17iii_060516-f-9712c-432.jpg

Guess who is going to pay for all this clean up and damages? We are in higher gas prices.

Offshore drilling is safe. This is the first rig to blow out in the United States since the 1960s and it only happened because of a long string of unfortunate events that occurred over a long period of time under the watch of a company that has one of the worse safety reputations in the industry.

This is without a doubt a disaster, but it is no reason to demonize the industry or downplay the truth that for the rest of any of our lifetimes we will need petroleum to bridge the gap between our renewable energy capabilities and our demand. Instead we should assist the cleanup efforts in anyway that we can and investigate what events actually caused this. With this knowledge we can make a necessary industry safer for the men and women that work on rigs all around the world and for the environment that surrounds them.

We've been offshore drilling for a very long time now and drilling technologies have continued to advance. Very deep wells, horizontal drilling and fracturing technology to extract otherwise unrecoverable oil, yet every time one of these disasters happens, we react with the same ineffective countermeasures. How is it that better recovery technology hasn't been developed? The problem is there's little financial incentive to do so.

If we're going to give drilling leases, which BTW are way too cheap, we should demand that 99% containment technology is on standby and ready for deployment within 24 hours of an incident. BP's dome method may be crude, but essentially simple in concept. (essentially dropping a big vacuum cleaner nozzle over the well head.) This kind of technology could be sitting nearby, ready to go if needed. Readiness would not come for free, but waiting months for containment is inexcusable. If you can't quickly contain it, then you can't drill. It should be that simple.

Many millions of barrels are pumped without incident, but when something goes wrong, the results are catastrophic. Because of the risk potential, countermeasures to deal with incidents should be considered absolutely required. The odds of your house catching fire are pretty low, but most of us think things like smoke detectors and fire extinguishers are good to have around.

If incidents like this destroyed the responsible oil company, they wouldn't happen. It's all about risk vs. reward and taxpaying citizens essentially assume the vast majority of risk while the oil companies reap the most of the rewards.

As for land based horizontal drilling and fracturing technologies for shale oil and natural gas, this may sound like good alternatives, however there have been issues with large water tables being contaminated. This is hardly as foolproof as they'd like you to believe and once invested in a well site, there's a lot of incentive to use "aggressive" approaches to increase productivity. The physical areas that these wells draw from can be quite extensive even though their above ground footprint is quite small. These drilling methods are expensive and although they may extract resources that would otherwise remain untapped, they pose potential serious risks to a much more valuable resource, our water. Once that damage is done, it's pretty much forever. There's good reason to at least be skeptical about this type of development.

The reality is that as we tap into these more challenging, less productive sources, the cost and associated risks are higher. The days of draining underground oil "lakes" are gone in the US. Low concentrations across vast areas can be tapped, but those vast areas become subject to the effects. The evidence has been before us for quite a while, yet we seem to have no urgency about alternative energy sources. Many downplay the risks because if truly adequate precautions were taken, the energy cost would rise considerably. Double the cost of energy tomorrow and alternatives would be more attractive. If you factored in the environmental costs, we'd be there now. But we ignore those costs so what we pay for energy is falsely low.

Most people don't realize just how widespread the uses of oil are in many, many products we use everyday. We should be conserving our dwindling supply for all these other uses rather than burning it for cheap energy.

I'm not completely against drilling, but it needs to be done better, virtually eliminating the risks. And it ought to bring in a better return to the US treasury. US leases by design, bring in about 1/8 the value of oil produced by leased wells. In reality, numbers games actually make it lower. There's about 2 billion barrels of oil pumped each year in the US. At $100/barrel that's about $200 billion worth. In 2007, the US took in a little over $10 billion for oil and gas together. So in reality, the oil companies get considerably more than 90% of the market value. It costs a lot of money to drill and pump the oil, but it's still a very good deal when compared to buying crude on the world market. It's oil that belongs to all of us, but we're selling it to the oil companies at bargain prices. If you do a little math, it's pretty easy to see how much more profitable US oil is than say, Middle East oil. Maybe that would be OK if the oil companies were US companies, but the vast majority are not. The point is that the US fundamentally subsidizes the oil business, while we take on the risks of the environmental damage. When you think about it, you can see why Middle Eastern and South American countries have nationalized their oil business.

This incident should serve as reminder of how destructive and expensive our addiction to oil is. The fact that we are such heavy users, also serves to keep world market prices high. Countries with relatively easy access oil, therefore take in more wealth for their treasuries. Our addiction means we have little choice in buying from them. We could never be self sufficient at our consumption levels and the vast majority of profit from US produced oil goes offshore anyway. "Drill baby, drill" mentality, really only gives away more of our wealth, even though that seems counter intuitive. We end up giving away more than it gets us. We can't keep fooling ourselves into thinking there's little to be concerned about. We won't ever be able to completely walk away from oil anytime in the near future, but we need to be working a lot harder at reducing our consumption and finding alternatives. And in the mean time, we need to be more thoughtful about the destruction of our own environment.

Many years ago, there was a man invested in oil; we all know who he is. Electric cars were being made in 1914 that were competing and in flat sand had reached the 100 mph mark. Railways were still very popular, and transit was more along the lines of trollies, electric transit, and there was a choice to be made; choose one path or the other regarding technology and the direction of public travel/ methodology. I do understand that batteries were only one part of this; electricity still relied on petrol. But, the point is that there was a divergent decision to be made.

The fellow with the money and those that saw great profits in such investments won; instead of pursuing rails and electric technologies, money in petroleum interests pushed for abandonments of such. Cars, trucks, more roadways and dependence upon oil was pursued. This provided many jobs, as would have pursuing electric technologies.... but the man's name and money and power (as well as subsequent famial power and money) dictated that America was going to go towards his interests. This took precedent over practicality (and can be applied to MUCH more.... much, MUCH more).

There were choices then; it could have gone either way. At the time, it wasn't Republican or Democrat and still isn't. It was Big Money running the show, and NOTHING has changed since. People talk about Bush and the Republicans and oil prices but what's changed with Obama and the Democrats and oil prices? Point made, give it a rest. They're ALL beholden to Big Money, and all is done in accordance.

Until people get it in their heads that it isn't about Blue or Red but about those that are REALLY running things, and elect Representatives that WILL do away with that and legislate accordingly we're not going to see any changes at the core of our ills but continue to see partisan A or B band-aids pertaining to how WE have to deal with it while THEY continue to take, take, take.

We are where we are; plastics, electricity, vaseline, toys, cars and so much more.... all dependent on oil. The choice was made 100 years ago, for the SAME reasons choices are made now. Until people understand the REAL reasons behind the choices and collectively CHANGE this we aren't going to see any relief or realistic, common sense fixes.

We have to continue to use petroleum while working towards other technologies; nothing is going to change over night. This also applies to killing Cap and Trade, and not only keeping what's LEFT of production and manufacturing here in the U.S. but also PROMOTING it to come home once again; WE NEED MONEY. Individuals, real American businesses, our nation - what technologies are we going to work on and HOW are we going to work on them without such?

As reasonablethinking pointed out, these accidents are rare and yes... more needs to be put in to not only prevent them but also to deal with them more effectively when they do happen. Really research all that crude is made into and used for; you'll see that here and now, it simply CAN'T be done away with and depending on other nation's for it isn't the best option. This clean-up may be very successful, and shouldn't dissuage from further drilling here at home nor from HIRING more to ensure it's safe, effective, and done so as soon as possible.

I've read much about what Rogue talks about pertaining to shale drilling, and yes... it can be done cleanly and safely. It has to be, as we simply CANNOT sit back and wait a decade or two for other technologies to arise for the reasons I've listed above; we have to live, eat, WORK, and survive in the meanst.

Use what we have, and work towards the better WHILE NOT GOING BROKE, remaining employed and once again having solvency in our government; America MAKING money and using Her own resources. Americans remain employed vs. unemployed and buying crap from labor and TOXINS from third world nations exploiting 3rd world wages..... WE LANGUISH.

But please... Obama vs. Bush, Dems vs. Repubs; you've GOTTA be kidding me. If people still see that as being the problem, we have little hope in accomplishing anything, not the LEAST of which being getting Real Representation back in our government. Being pro Red or Blue is NEVER going to accomplish this.

Undersea volcanoes, the one recently errupting; how much damage done vs. this spill, especially once cleaned? Doesn't it seem that after this explosion/spill, lessons will be learned, and efficiency for new drills will be realized? Planes crash, yet I've noticed that there is NOT an outcry to end air transport, nor have I heard of the blame being put on Bush or Obama.

Don't become mindless and see this as a heralding to further dependency on foreign oil interests, and don't think that by Christmas we're going to cease our dependency on oil. It's not about partisanship and it DEFINATELY shouldn't be used as a tool to further sell out our economy.

1NewDay; very good points.... there are risks, but currently, few options. Again, we are where we are.

I'm a teabagger. Our stance is that federal spending must be cut, that entitlements must be cut, that we have to stop the deficit spending, and pay down our debts. What that has to do with oil drilling, I don't know. I happen to be against drilling off our coastline. And is it really too much to ask that my grandchildren not get strapped with the debt this administration is running up?

No, Fred. That was what the movement was about when it first started, and I have no problem with any of that. It's been co-opted and corrupted by extremists and crazies, and because the real Tea Partiers just stand by and let them rant (much like moderate Muslims not speaking out against Islamic extremists, a valid complaint and one that we hear all the time), the real Tea Partiers have lost all credibility. The company you keep does matter, and just because someone says they are with you, does not mean it's true, especially when it comes to politicians and extremists.

There's nothing at all wrong with not wanting your grandchildren saddled with enormous national debt. It's just that the same people who constantly cry that that is what this administration is doing, 1) didn't care that the last administration started us down this path, 2) apparently don't care what kind of world they leave for their grandchildren, so long as it doesn't include national debt. What difference does it make what the national debt is, if your grandchildren are living in a polluted hell where fuel costs $10.00/gallon and they are paying more for their healthcare than they do to repay that debt? We have become so shortsighted in this country! I used this analogy before, maybe somewhere on this thread, but we have got to stop screaming about one tree burning, and start working to save the whole damn forest!

BTW, I do distinguish between Tea Partiers and teabaggers. But, to enforce my point, I so rarely meet a rational member of the Tea Party movement, it's a shock.

srt8shott - you bike to work. So that makes you special? How Nice. and what do you do at work? By candlelight I suppose. What is on the chain of your bike? How was your bike made? How did the bike get to the store wear you bought it? Any aluminum or steel on it? Is your bike painted? Where do you get the energy to pedal your bike? Are you wearing an animal skin when you ride your bike? Did you use toothpaste to brush your teeth before riding your bike? It all comes down to oil my dear friend. All those evil capitalists, making a profit at the expense of the environment just to make you a bike.

Big Oil - not satisfied with destroying the Northwest coastline. Now they are working on the Gulf Coast. Oils slicks and disasters will be coming to other parts of the country soon - just as soon as they can drill more platform sites. This is a complete and utter outrage. They don't even know how to stop the flow so it's not just a case of cleaning up the surface. GRRRRRRR.

Let's see.... Lst I heard from the left wing wackos is that Bush blew up the levees to kill blacks, right? So I guess Obama blew up the oil rig to kill the oil companies and workers. ROTFLMAO!!!!

And what are they going to do when they set fire to that floating island of oil and it drifts into land ?!! Oh sure, they will evacuate the people. But what about the utter destruction this will cause to absolutely everything and every other form of life in that region. This is making me sick.

The oil rig was manufactured in Korea. Same people who make the Kia. So much for offshore drilling is safe.

I'm sooo glad that there are Some People at there that get it !!! Technology in a Whole has become Very Reliant on Petroleum. Most People don't even realize that 95% of what they touch, use, and depend on Everyday comes from Petroleum. If it's made of Plastic, Vinyl, Rubber, etc...it has Petroleum in it. Even Medicines & Cosmetics!!!! Even Most of the Solar & Wind Platforms!!! We wanted it "New & Improved" while screaming for "Better Technology"....Well .....Petroleum has made it happen. Now We're Dependent on it.

Offshore drilling is safe. This is the first rig to blow out in the United States since

Only takes one to ruin the whole day .....

Safe: free from danger or the risk of harm;

You actually telling me we are so greedy for oil that we actuallly allowed them to drill for oil in a place like the gulf of mexico . When there was no method of controlling a leak been developed. This is our governments fault for letting the greedy turds drill for oil there. the government should have made these companies develope tested ways to control the flow of oil should there ever be a leak. And if the company could not demonstrate a safe way to control a leak then it shouldnt have been allowed. Just another way the usa leads the world in screwin up the environment but i am sure at some point cbs and fox news will spin the blame on to someone else besides the us government as the always do. After all the only real free press in the world are these message boards . And even they are monitored by big brother.

I just hope that the good old boys dont ask for a government bailout to clean this mess up. Remember get you hands off my medicare!

seems to me there should be a vacummn tanker truck sucking all that good oil up for further use

maybe even alll the oil companys executives diving in and filling baggies of oil

But I don't understand. BP's TV commercials insist that the company is so environmentally responsible. Yeah, right. I'm so disillusioned (sarcasm alert). BP will need to pay for this big-time. And Obammy better forget about drilling in the Atlantic where we risk an even worse catastrophe than this all for a few days of oil supply. Wrong direction. Back to the drawing board.

wwaugh...lol. Isn't that the truth though? Those good ole boys don't mind making huge profits until something goes wrong and it always does because they are too lacking in common sense. Then, they expect to blame anyone but themselves in typical wealthhead refocus and shove all the expenses on everyone, anyone but themselves. You gotta love those good ole boys.

How you figure? What common sense was lacking? What expenses are they not paying? Remember now I have told you before I work for a contractor for BP so I do have somewhat of a closer handle on this than you apparently do, but do you have ANY concept of precisely how much BP has allocated to pay for this disaster?

And yet they are happy to not pay their share in taxes even though it is tax funds that will help clean this mess up. (ie. coast guard currently)

ewent, people like you are the reason nothing gets done. the president of the united states is everyone's president. if you're a democrat, your president was still bush. if you're a republican, you're president is obama. we are ALL americans. so don't say bush was just the president of republicans. and republicans, don't say obama is just the democrats' president.

Typical corporate damage control strategy. Brake the bad news slowly, in stages. We the everyday citizens are stupid and will believe anything. Question nothing. No accountability. Only profits.

USARogue we tried shale oil during the 1974 oil shortage. The cost was some two to three times the cosy of Arab oil at the time. Further the damage to the shale and surrounding geology was massive. I agree that we have a great amount but no one, government, oil industry, or private research has explored any realistic way of retrieval. There was a company buying up old wells during all this. They had a bug that changed the viscosity of oil so old wells could produce more. When distilled one of the by products was the bugs so they could be re-used. Their process almost equaled the then current cost of Arab oil. I have noted that the company no longer exists. Name was CLECO, Central Louisiana Energy Company or some such. Wonder what ever happened to those bugs. As for this spill it was an accident just waiting to happen. The technology for offshore drilling is no different than on land. It does not take into account the environment it is in. We need to rethink what we are doing before we allow more off shore wells, especially off the East Coast. As for Green power, get your act together. You haven't improved your technology since the 1930's. Same old tired wind power or solar both of which are high maintenance and expensive. Further neither take into account the cost both in dollars and damage to the environment, for producing the machines to have environmentally friendly power production. Same with those that buy electric cars and say, look at me, I am saving the environment with my gas free auto. In reality they are polluting more than any of us because something has to burn to produce the electricity and the loss involved is enormous. No if we are really going to stop polluting and still have power we need to completely rethink all of the failed systems we currently have including alternative energy because none of it works.

If you don't know how to contain an oil leak your company should not be allowed to drill.

Off shore oil drilling is projected to provide only a miniscule amount of the oil the nation of gas guzzlers require. We let the oil companies and detroit fight against fuel efficiency since the 1950's. we can see where corporate greed has brought us. Uncontrolled capitalism has been the death of america. the media is the echo chamber for big business.

We have go to start demanding and listening to the very few voices of truth that are left.

Well, for the umpteenth time, Obama has put the GOP in an untenable position. I thought that it was pretty artful to allow drilling only off coasts of Red States, while keeping states like California out of the fray. This basically gives a dose of "drill, baby, drill" to those who want it and keeps the status quo for the states that don't (with the possible exception of Alaska.)

This has been a considerable issue because most states don't really have a coastline to be endangered and thus have no skin in the game. People in Kentucky couldn't care less if drilling pollutes all of Alaska or the Gulf Coast or California. They don't go there anyway.

The west coast, however, is still aware of the damage from the Santa Barbara disaster and there is still damage occurring from that one as lumps of asphalt wash up or are found in critters. California has intensively examined the claims that "oil rigs are safer these days because they use newer technology and a blowout is almost impossible" and found that the claims are simply not true --- there have been no advances in wellhead or drilling technology that are safer and most "advances" are only cost-cutting measures.

Alaska is still seeing new damage from the Exxon Valdez disaster. But in Alaska the situation is different ---- a) most of the damage effects Native Americans who are grossly second-class citizens and widely seen as illiterate and ill-informed, and b) Alaskans were given a "slice of the oil pie" in the form of an annual check. If drilling stops, the checks stop. If drilling is increased, the checks increase. Pretty predictable where this stands.

Now you are going to see Jindal literally commit GOP suicide. Louisiana (and its moderate, but pretending to be conservative) governor is going to be saddled with a 20-year problem as the oil drifts ashore there. Ditto for Mississippi's governor who has presidential aspirations, though luckily Mississippi has only a small amount of coastline, and Alabama which also only has a small coastline. Jindal will be forced to take some action and it will be impossible to do anything realistic or moderate without conflict with the unlimited drilling advocated by the GOP. This could be a small boost for Crist in Florida who has advocated in the past for limited additional drilling, but only with demonstrated new safety technology.

I hope that the Tea Party is organizing to go help clean this mess up.

Wind Baby Wind!!!!!

Get to the Point, the balanced budget was mostly Clinton. Most Republicans voted against his budget-cutting plan and warned it would be the end of the world (much like the Healthcare debate, and that bill was the largest budget-deficit reducing bill since Clinton's 1993 one). Fortunately, he got it through, but only for long enough for George W. to undo all of it so he could give huge tax cuts for the top 1% so they could buy that extra house in the Caymans and that 3rd yacht they needed for the Mediterranean ocean-view property.

Sweet crude oil. It is a disaster that there was an explosion that killed several workers, like the mining fatalities in WV earlier this month and the roof fall in KY this week. The environmental disaster is one we now have to deal with in the Gulf. Get the oil drilling on shore in Utah and other areas where mother-lode deposits have been recently discovered. Poisoning our fresh water directly kills our salt water and these sort of accidents add to the crippling effect that industry has on nature.

thank you TJ, ewent is what's wrong with this country. but even the environuts are playing partisan politics. if this had happened during the last admin, they would have been yelling loud and long, but since there's a dem in the white house, it's awfully quiet.

Chris, the Alaska Oil Fund was created in the 1960s by lease sales bonuses fuelled by the discovery of Prudhoe Bay Field in 1968. Initially, $900 million was raised. North Slope production did not begin until 1977 because the Trans Alaska Pipeline System had to be built first. The state had spent the lease bonus money on infrastructure before any North Slope oil was produced, so oil companies with no production yet were asked to pay severance taxes beginning in 1975, two years before anything was produced. The fund was replenished with additional lease sales and grew to about $30 billion. The investment earnings from this fund (dividends, interest, capital gains sales) are used to pay the dividend checks to every man, woman and child in the state. Therefore, the check amount varies from year-to-year depending on how the investments did. It is not dependent on drilling or production, although oil production and related activity funds 80% of the state's budget.

So the GOP cried drill baby drill and wanted off shore drilling opened. Obama opened 1200 miles on the Atlantic Coast. Where are the rigs? It's not a matter of supply and demand in oil, it is a matter of futures speculation that controlls the oil prices. Gamblers risking money and then manipulating costs because they can. Now all of a sudden this disaster is a political thing? cmon, please. The environmentalist screamed when Obama gave the green light for off shore drilling in the Atlantic but understand that he is smart enough to know that the oil exploration companies are not going to drill because there is ample opportunity to extract oil in mother-lode finds like the one last year in Utah. Agreeably, Obama did not put that particular rig in the Gulf, nor did Bush. Now everyone says Obama is a socialist and bailed out the banks but fail to realize that the TARP fund was a Bush initiative. Politics have no place in this disaster.

jmonarchy, of course it is supply & demand. If the number of barrels estimated to be in reserve in a leased location multiplied by the current per barrel price of crude doesn't exceed the cost of drilling and production in that location, then NO company is going to drill. Plain and simple.

BTW I am not so sure I'd be proposing more onland drilling versus offshore. Just remember oil floats if leaked offshore giving one at least the chance of containment. On shore it will leach into the ground.

Oh Fred, so you admit you are a "teabagger".

Too. Much. Information.

Keep what you do in the bedroom to yourself. Please.

:)

For those who think Obama created this disaster - come on. It is about as hilarious as those who claim Bush/Cheney caused the Twin Towers to collapse and the levies to break in New Orleans.

Does there have to be a conspiracy in everything? Good gawd...

Wonder what Sarah Palin thinks about her advice on drilling for oil? Oh wait...she doesn't think!!!

Instead of doing their job of protecting our borders from invasion of illegal aliens, Janet Napolitano and Homeland Security is coming to protect the gulf coast from the oil slick invasion. I feel safer already!

radar015

You Liberal Progressives need to get your nose out of Obama's mom jeans and stop sniffing so hard. You obviously didn't read my comment, you just saw "oil" and went into a seizure as most Liberals tend to do. Then you didn't read either of the articles I provided because as is most of the time Liberals don't need to read they just listen to their party and are programmed HOW to think. You also ignored my support of alternative technologies but thats never enough for you Liberals.

Now, let me borrow a quote from your own comment,,,

you are so very ignorant in many things you have to say.

This applies to you and many of your Liberal Progresive sniffers. If you even glanced or perhaps had one of your children who can read look at the article you would immediately see that oil sand "mining" is totally different than coal shale extraction. Coal shale extraction is a combination of vertical and horizontal drilling with supportive heating to help the extraction. The current technology even provides a method of freezing the subterrain area to prevent contamination of subsurface and water tables. Sand oil "mining" is exactly what it says, mining. More exactly, strip mining and yes it is very difficult to extract oil this way. But as usual you combine the two just because they contain that dirty word,,,"oil"!

And as I stated in my comment, fuel is NOT the only product of oil. How will you lubricate all those wind turbines? How will you power the tens of thousands of jet aircraft that keep the world connected? How will you produce all the plastic casings for all those solar panels? How will you produce all the hundreds of products that come from oil? Will you use corn? Maybe water? Do you Liberals ever think outside the box? Or are you not allowed because your party doesn't want you to think,,,just obey.

USARogue -

BWahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i love how your tone gets more moderate as your general position erodes... you assume extreme from opposing sides because you are extreme. the world isn't as full of "liberal sniffers" as much as you're just full of hate.

we are our worse enemy

Send a submarine and torpedo the hole or lower a pallet of explosives to blow the leak...the solution is so simple yet all we do is hear a bunch of bs from a bunch of treasonous politicians with typical in-action.

Clueless!

Correction to my above post:

If you even glanced or perhaps had one of your children who can read look at the article you would immediately see that oil sand "mining" is totally different than oil shale extraction. Oil shale extraction is a combination of vertical and horizontal drilling with supportive heating to help the extraction.

For those of you who posted negatively on here touting the dangers of offshore oil drilling I say this. You are correct. There are risks and probably always will be. I also say this if you are for stopping offshore drilling based on this latest incident, then you must be for banning alcoholic beverages and all drugs of all types because without them in existence people could not drive while impaired. You must be for banning automobiles because with out them there would be no traffic fatalities, nor any pollution caused by autos. In the wake of the recent and tragic coal mine accidents perhaps we should stop all mining of coal? I am sure the people who make their living mining coal would not mind losing their jobs, way of life and homes. Lets all go back to the stone age and use wood for heat and lighting. NO WAIT! That involves cutting down trees and polluting the air with wood smoke so we can't do that! No doubt solar and wind are they way to go. The problem is the technology for reliable solar power on a large scale is still coming sometime in the hopefully not to distant future. As for wind power,,,,well the wind does not always blow everywhere. At present time the two combined can not supply this nation with the power needed on a daily basis. Another problem is the American people themselves. We simply are not willing to give up what we have. As far as I know there are no RVs that run on wind or solar power. There are no SUV/pickups powerful enough to pull an RV trailer that run on solar or wind power and people are not willing to live in the dark in times when the wind does not blow or after the sun goes down. Combine this with the fact that when and if the technology allows these things to happen you have to ask yourselves two questions" (1) Will I be able to afford it?(2) Will I be able to afford to have it repaired when it malfunctions?

I could go on and on but hopefully you get the idea. What happened is tragic and will have devastating effects for years to come, of that I have no doubt. But the bottom line is without risks there can be no rewards. The quickest way to free ourselves from dependence on foreign oil is to drill for our own right here right now and the sooner the better.

One last thought: Perhaps I missed it, but has anyone determined if this was an accident or sabotage? While I refuse to believe that anyone in their right mind would want to cause the wide spread pollution that is happening, it is just possible that all they wanted to do was destroy the oil rig and believed the technology involved would prevent the large oil spill. Just something to think about.

I wonder if the US Navy has some sort of deep water submersible that can get to the problem area and shut off the valve? They do have vehicles for rescue of submarines, maybe they can be used in this situation.

Aside from something like that, there is pretty much nothing that can be done to fix this in a skinny minute. the coastlines are going to be devastated for a very long time. What a shame.

It would seem to me that the oil rigs should have more than just one method of emergency shut down, in anticipation of things like this happening. I would highly suggest that NO additional off shore oil drilling platforms be permitted until more and better emergency solutions be employed for all rigs, so things like this can be more readily fixed should, or I probably should say WHEN, something happens again.

Its of National significance for sure. Funny how many people here berated Bush when all those houses in New Orleans went underwater and many people were killed or displaced.

But if its anyone's fault that nothing is being done about this oil spill, then its the current administration. You can't have it both ways. Obama has let the ball drop and he is the one to be blamed.

Time to stand up and accept responsibility. If he ain't big enough to do that he needs to get out now and let someone who can handle the job - do it.

Man amazing...how people can take politics out of an oil spill. How dare you basturds not show care toward he innocent, hard working, low crime residents of New Orleans and Houma. It is disgusting your thoughts are toward partisan and not "Bad things happening to good people".

Thoughts of a President: The Skewed Years

Barack Insane Obama

Its not like it is a common event. The gains are worth the risk in this case. Keep drilling.

Before we get ahead of ourselves lets ask ourselves one question.

Why did, just moments ago, the President order SWAT teams to all of the rigs in the Gulf of Mexico?

I'm no conspiracy theorist, however, this action makes it appear that there is some evidence that this was intentional.

Ernie-201266 -

i agree. i think the problem for many (myself included here) is that what we've seen in the recent decade is gross irresponsibility in terms of acknowledging the interests of oil companies and ignoring mainstream science trying to tell us that we COULD face major problems given certain trends...

we can't just talk about alternative fuels or "methods" and conduct business as usual... it all comes down to "what will be the result of the position you're defending." outcomes not rationalizations.

Another question we should ask is why there was no shut off valve on this. Because the oil companies and government are corrupt we will continually put safety of the enviorment on the backburner. No need for safety valves, nothing could ever happen to oil rigs that the company can't fix.

So now - is it time yet to fund the oil company bailout with taxpayer dollars.

He said the oil company BP ultimately will pay the cost of the cleanup

Time to pass on the cost to consumers.

This was intentional? What like the conspiracy that Bush brought down the towers in New york. That we knew during WWII that the Japanese were already coming and did not warn Pearl Harbor. The list goes on and on.

How many people had to die on this Rig? Plain and simple our dependence on Oil is the conspiracy. Ford even wanted to use peanut oil. But the oil barons of the day blocked him.

He had the idea of bio-diesel back then. Battery technology we have had for at least two decades was blocked by the Auto industry under patent. From being used in cars. Face it we are slaves to OPEC and the money is leaving the USA like the oil leaking in the gulf right now in large amounts.

It is not just Washington to blame our consumer habits had, and have. A huge part of this Why do we have to use plastics for everything what Steel is not strong enough? It is very recyclable and cheap now. Paper from hemp or bamboo products. Are other alternatives to plastic.

"The Obama administration pledged an all-out response Thursday to the massive oil spill now expected to reach the Gulf Coast within a day and dispatched top officials to the region to help coordinate defenses against the potential environmental disaster."

Why is this hilarious and scary at the same time? WTF are these no-good career politicians going to do to coordinate defenses? Wait a minute. I know. They're going to walk around organizing the Gulf Coast communities. That will help. Then we'll have a bunch of illegals, people on welfare, gays, lesbians, union thugs, out of work ACORN workers, and anti-war protestors carrying signs telling the oil to stop the hate while anarchists in the crowd throw bricks at it. Can't wait to see the You Tube videos on that.

Svenolafson How the hell do some conservatives even begin to relate all of this to a political parties agenda. From either side. Plus maybe the tea baggers should be dumping oil in Boston.

Think about it for a second from Just an American point of view no political affiliation. Brittish want more taxes Bostonians revolt. They throw tea into the Boston Harbor.

Oil owned by Wealthy Sheiks bin Ladens family in Kuwait. Americans TEA BAGGERS get tired of being gouged throw oil in Gulf of Mexico and stop using it. Oh wait they might get arrested for pollution laws. so they will just wave signs and blame any NON white christian republican Citizen and the illegals for it all even though this started in the 70's

Talk about sign waving nonsense. And you tube videos why wait they are now available and hilarious at best.

Joey,

Obama is the one sending SWAT teams to all oil rigs in the gulf. So please take your attitude and direct it toward Obama, not me. I was just the messenger.

I'm not going to get into an argument with your because we may have different view points. That is redundant. However, why would anyone send SWAT teams to an oil rig unless they think there is a threat? What if it turns out that it was an intentional act?

Why can't people wait until facts are in before pointing fingers? This country is so on edge, so divided, it gets worse everyday. Sad.

We need this. We need this FAST:

http://www.solarairship.net

Man it seems like everything bad seems to happen in Louisiana. What's next a huge asteroid slamming into the state? It's like the wrath of God is apon them. What did these people do to deserve one calamity after another? Anybody ever visit New Orleans that can answer my question?

Maybe the protestors on Bourbon St. that hold religious signs about the sins of Mardi Gras are to blame?

But really... politics need to be out of the picture, and there needs to be dedicated cooperative effort to get this thing sealed off. We can play politics and the blame game afterward.

where did all the GOP go???

- Total
1,545^[2] sq mi
(4,002 km²)

- Width
37 miles (60 km)

- Length
48 miles (77 km)

If the rule was that you shouldn't do something because you might have an accident, there would be no cars or planes.

Accidents happen, and the Oil Companies do everything that they can to prevent them. Losing workers, a billion dollar rig, and all the cleanup costs are the best incentive for safety.

Unless you don't think they like to keep their money.

Living near the Texas coast, I've seen my share of oil spils.

Ixtoc in 1979 was a huge spill. 200,000,000 Gallons of oil.

You can't just burn off the oil on the water. The water keeps it from getting hot enough to really burn.

But realistically, the US faces huge monetary problems going forward. We will drill off California in the next 20 years. They are almost insolvent now.

It's just a matter of when.

We don't have the money for a massive conversion to alternative energy, and we probably won't in my lifetime. 2/3 of Ferderal spending is entitlements, and our debt interest payments will keep going up.

I wish there was a better solution, but if we can't make any products the world wants to buy, and continue massive Gov't spending on entitlements, we won't be able to afford not to drill.

This is terrible...if you read the article, BP will be paying for the help to clean up this spill...

BP will raise the cost of gas etc...and guess who will be paying for it in the end? The US Tax Payers...will be paying. Either at the gas pumps or home heating oil...

Politicians, government and foreign oil drilling companies are a bunch of crooks. They will raise the prices, and our wonderful federal government wont do anything to stop or protect us from these crooks...we will end up paying...

It seems like one sickening thing after another...

Ixtoc was 13 TIMES the size of Valdez.

The Mega Borg spill outside of Galveston the year after Valdez was 1/2 it's size, but got 1/1000 the press.

Hopefully, they can get this thing leaking at a slower pace soon. At least we will learn new techniques for dealing with a deep well blowout and spill. We will need to know those techniques as more deep well offshore deepwater drilling is inevitable.

Drill, Dummy, Drill. Those gas guzzlers are mighty thirsty.

Imagine having voted for McCain.

The, we may have had this disaster a year earlier....in triplicate.

I agree with those who have stated that this catastrophe is beyond politics. This is a national emergency of enormous proportions and with huge economic and environmental consequences, and we should all come together to resolve it as soon as possible. Stop your stupid partisan bickering.

Brandon: What does McCain have to do with this mess? See my comment above. Can't you Zombies drop your evil rants even for a minute?

Waterdog - You are dealing with people that think Gas comes from the gas station, Food comes from the Grocery store and Money comes from the Gov't.

They have no idea what risks working people and the companies that they are part of take to make all of these things "appear".

Republicons won't worry about it until it is the size of Texas.

Republicons won't worry about it until it is the size of Texas.

If you don't mind a little change, but Republicans won't worry about it until it is IN TEXAS.

UnKill the electric car!

Hopefully Louisiana are ready with a mass of volunteers to clean up the beaches. I was involved in a cleanup on the West Coast and it is a messy job but they are going to be fighting to save the wildlife. This stuff comes on shore in big gooey clumps so gloves and boots are the best bet.

If they assign beaches to organized groups of volunteers they can make a dent. This spill is not something we are used to so it is anyones guess how it will plant itself on the shore. Wildlife is in real danger. My best wishes to them in the mess.

Ain't that just amazing no contingency plan if something like this would have happened, these companies rake in Billions of dollars a year and yet they could not spend to train for a disaster like this, comes to show what this company is all about just greed ....

They are spending $6 million a day on cleanup. All the booms and dispersants are being deployed. Of course the Gov't reaction takes a few days. You know, like Katrina (or was that Bush's fault personally?). The Gov't makes plenty of money off the leases too, you know. So maybe the Gov't should have better equipment for the Coast Guard.

These spills will happen from time to time. Alot of people forget that the leak represents about .001% of all the oil we use daily. From a percent lost, it's pretty safe.

There's not really all that much wildlife on the beach. Most is back in the swamps and wetlands. Hopefully alot will end up on the beaches. It's easy to scoop with a front end loader when its on the sand.

I wish there was an easy answer, but life doesn't work that way.

Ryan on the west coast spill the wild life was the birds. It is horrible to see them totally covered in that black goo either dead or dying. I agree with you that there is no easy answer.

Ok.. here's something else to consider:

Because of the oil spill, the price of seafood will probably be astronomically high for years to come. Oil is going to be high as well, as the cost of clean up, plus the loss in oil will play out in this as well. With meat prices expected to be high due to low supplies, and inflation around the corner, what is one supposed to do?

Become vegetarian and use a wood burning stove.. :P

Maybe something good will come from this. Maybe the boogeyman-like paranoia against nuclear energy will finally be abandoned. I'm not approaching this as a political agenda or anything, but since we're decreasing out nuclear weapons stockpile (as are the Russians) through treaty, why don't we finally see the logic of nuclear power? All those warheads would make great fuel in nuclear powerplants. We fell off the right track when 3-Mile Island happened, and the media had a field-day. Nobody died or even got sick as a result of that mishap. Chernobyl -- different story, but that was the Soviet Union's lack of care for it's own citizenry that caused that debacle. Wind farms, cattle flatulence, biomass, geothermal power, wind power, solar, all could have applications in the future, but the majority of energy will have to be generated by nuclear power. Safe, if implemented properly, cost-effective (once the expensive power plant is built, we already have a lot of fuel), non-dependent on evil foreign regimes (unlike oil), and provides way more "bang for the buck" than any other generation method. And oh, I almost forgot... Except for a miniscule amount of waste compared to the amount of energy generated, non-polluting, especially for the climate-change people out there. And Harry Reid's home state of Nevada has PLENTY of desolate wasteland in which to put that until we figure out what to do with it.

We can't "have our cake and eat it too". Unless we want to revert to a pre-industrialized world, we need realatively cheap energy in HUGE amounts. Nuclear is the future (again). Just ask France... I hate to admit it, but they have us on this one...80% of their electricity is generated by nuclear power.

You like driving your car don't you? You like your computer don't you? How bout your iPad? The plastic in those products are made from petroleum. Tell you what crybaby, why don't go out into the wilderness and build yourself a log cabin, and stay the frak a way from me moron.

Not only the Chinese but also everyone of us...this thing called CRUDE OIL is our water-proof under the sea....and nature gas is our nature air-cushion...now everyday we drill 80.000.000 barrel CRUDE OIL...WHICH IS 400.00 FULL SIZE FUEL TANKS FOR 60 YEARS...No wonder: we have more erathquakes now and more in the future: Please visit: www.usgs.gov/and you will find out how worse the situations we are facing...no one can l us...it's already too late to save our planet...let's give this to God, Thee will fix her and also us...most of us who have sins...Creator create and provided us unlimited energy power from Sun, from Moon(See Wave and Tides), wind, volcano ( Unlimited heats)...and we skip the all of these but digging, drilling our mother land all the time...think...it's about time God decides to CLEAN HOUSE...Why not? Are we really the day that we need to face ourselves yet? Stop all the wars, hands in hands, we all under the same Creator, but just calling Thee in different names, in different ways, different places...but we are all Earth's children, right? Why killing each others in battles, in Wall St...? we have to help each others in order to save all of us...no colors, no religions, no clotures...differences at all...we are human....

We need to install solar panels on every house and business in the southern US. First even if we put just enough panels to cut into the power use by 10% we save enough so we do not have any need to import middle Eastern oil. Second it takes a massive weight off of a sagging power grid and de-centralizes our power sources making us far less vulnerable from attacks on the grid.

Second we need to be pushing hard for Diesel Hybrid Cars. Toyota already has the Eco-Spirit getting 104mpg, why hasn't this car been released in the US. Power of the oil lobby maybe!

where did all the GOP go???

Why does everything turn political? It's a freaking oil spil.

Do Democrats not use as much gas as Repulicans?

Hell, even the President approved offshore exploration for oil and last I checked, he's a Democrat.

ewent

"sumthin fishy...There's something even fishier that CA and NJ can invest in solar power and make it work while other states patently refuse to even consider it. Solar power has been working for a neighbor of mine since 1974...something Big Oil doesn't like to hear. He's on his second generation of solar panels because the technology is so much better now.

Alternative energy works. Big Oil is the gatekeeper to seeing to it that it doesn't."

There is no argument that alternate energy works. The problem is the huge cost and low payback.

Only the wealthy can afford solar and wind power, but neither cuurently supply a constant power alternative. No viable existing way to store the energy for future use. The wind doesn't blow all the time and cloudy days are plentiful of most of the nation. Alternative energy only provides about 10% of California's power. Wind farms are there, but no transmission lines because people don't want them in their back yards.

Then there is the middle class who can afford to insulate the house but not much else.

And finally, those who can't afford any improvements. Maybe you could shed some light on how you would propose to pay for all of this.

crockett1929

You say no one got sick from Three Mile Island, but there are correlations. There has been an increase in cancer around the plants, but it is blamed on stress.

http://www.ki4u.com/three_mile_island.htm

Nuclear energy is considered clean energy because it does not pollute the air with Carbon Dioxide, but I feel that radiation is just as harmful. I think we need to start using clean energy that is natural.

http://www.alternative-energy-news.info/

There are new alternative energies being founded every day. I am not saying we need to make a dramatic switch from one energy source to another, but gradually. Sooner or later Oil, Uranium, and Coal will all run out. They will all leave toxic waste behind. We might as well think in the long run and use what will be beneficiary in terms other than money.

Did I read correctly that hybrid automobiles were developed that run on water as partial fuel? I did.

Alright- people, wind and solar power will save you money and energy, its clean, clean, clean, and doesn't destroy wildlife, or create wars. Here's a few facts which are not discussed in the news on your local channel- the oil companies earned 107 BILLION bucks in 2007, and the American economy tanked- completely. Now there are multitudes of interviews with companies in the mid-east who produce oil-that have stated the war is about oil. Is this true? And would those who controlled the war want you to know that? I fricking doubt it.

So get this you now poor people, Americans paid for the wars and you will see how much in return profits? And that investment made who wealthier?- not your brainwashed asses, that is for goddamn certain. And, god forbid you'd be wrong or betrayed and misled....or feel stupid.

With the rate of extinction in species- I'd say the spill is an icing on the cake in sorts. I guarantee you people- you and future generations are going to regret it. Now carry on.

recommended books: "Straw Dogs Thoughts On Humans And Other Animals" and "Black Mass Apocalyptic Religion And The Death Of Utopia" both by John Gray a former adviser to Margret Thatcher.

BP may take the heat for the rig, but it was built by Transocean. One wonders is there any way to check these shut off valves and why wasn't it activated before the rig sank? I would guess that with the explosion and fire no one could get near the rig? The Fed has a role in this also. They should have gotten there a lot sooner to evaluate the oil spill, how big, and which way it was heading. This will be costly to the public as a whole---loss of oil---disaster clean up---the loss of income to those who live off those waters---the loss of life. BP may get hit with a heavy clean up bill, but the price of crude will affect us all. Ultimately, we will pay for this in a lot of ways.

Boy that Iran is really destroying the U.S., no wait it's corporations and the government officials who serve them like just about all the Republicans and Democrats....

Could any international terrorist do the kind of damage that our own business and political class has done? They trashed the economy, got us into two wars that are causing people all over the world to hate us and now they are trashing one of our great national treasures (both natural and cultural, the Gulf Coast.

Obama or Bush it doesn't make much difference. Bush let New Orleans get destroyed by Katrina, Obama is going to finish the job on the whole area with this spill (and to suck up to the energy companies he recently opened more of the U.S. off shore to drilling)

Maybe Obama will do a fly over like Bush did. But Obama is much more clever about PR than the Bush. He knows how to fake concern for the public and the environment much better.

Article from the WSWS (World Socialist) website:

Gulf oil spill threatens economic, environmental catastrophe

By Shannon Jones
30 April 2010

According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig lacked a device called an acoustic switch that could have shut off the flow of oil. The remote controlled device sends acoustic impulses through the water that can trigger an underwater valve to shut down the well.

All offshore rigs have one main switch to shut off the flow of oil by closing a valve located on the ocean floor. There is also supposed to be a backup, a so-called “dead man,” that will shut down the well in the event of a catastrophe on the rig. Apparently neither of these devices worked on the Deepwater Horizon rig. The crewmembers who would have been closest to the shutoff switch are among those missing and presumed dead.

With an acoustic trigger a crew can shut down a well even if the rig is damaged or evacuated. However, BP, which reported profits of $5.598 billion for the first quarter of 2010, vigorously resisted changes to US regulations that would have required acoustic triggers on deep sea rigs, citing effectiveness and costs, about $500,000 per unit. Compliant US regulators agreed, saying other backup plans were sufficient. They called the acoustic triggers unreliable and prone to causing unnecessary shutdowns.

However, according to a spokesman for Norway’s Petroleum Safety Authority quoted by the Journal, acoustic triggers are “the most successful and effective option.” Norway has used acoustic triggers on almost all its oil rigs since 1993.

The response of the Obama administration to the disaster is indicative of its prostration before the powerful corporate and financial interests it serves.

Following the oil rig explosion the Obama administration remained silent and indifferent, not even offering condolences to the families of the 11 workers who died. The White House continued its silence as the scale of the disaster widened, continuing its calls for expanded offshore drilling.

Only when the extent of the catastrophe became fully evident did Obama make a perfunctory statement. Downplaying the significance of the unfolding environmental catastrophe, he merely called the oil spill an “incident.” Inevitably, he assigned the US military a prominent role in the response, even calling for the deployment of (Special Weapons and Tactics) SWAT teams to inspect oil rigs. However, the White House has held firm on its plans for opening US coastal waters to oil drilling.

Meanwhile, Obama appealed for advice from major oil company CEOs on how to minimize environmental damage from the spill. These are the very individuals that have relentlessly lobbied against safety and environmental regulations.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/apr2010/oilr-a30.shtml

Once again Big Oil shoots us in the foot and will try to get out of paying the hospital bill too. Sorry to burst anyone's but there is no easy way out, getting off oil will require not only lifestyle changes but economic harm as well. (green energy investments do create jobs, but it causes more economic damage then it mitigates, higher taxes hurt business, higher electricity costs hurt industry) i being 19 will feel the impact of climate change in my lifetime, changes are going to happen it's just a matter of sooner or later and in any case it will be very painful

I am going to echo the comment earlier - you think this is bad, you don't even want to think about the effects of a nuclear power plant accident. We should not be investing in nuclear when we can invest in wind, solar, hydro, and bio.

FAILURE, FAILURE, FAILURE. NO PLAN AND NO CLUE. THIS MESS IS OBAMA’S FAULT.

Obama sat around for ten (10) days and did absolutely nothing. Obama has no plan. Obama has no idea what to do. Obama did nothing to regulate BP or the oil industry. Obama did nothing to prevent the spill. Obama has done nothing to stop the spill. Obama has done nothing to clean up the spill. Obama is doing nothing to protect our coast. Obama is just sitting around waiting for someone else to fix the problem. Obama does not even care enough about our environment and about our Gulf Coast States to visit the area to find out what is going on!!

I thought Government had the answers to all of our problems. I thought Government could solve any problem. I thought Obama was the "savior". I am so disappointed; I guess we were wrong. Obama's pathetically slow reaction and then ineffective action is the real catastrophe. I will not vote for him next time.

IT IS TIME FOR CHANGE, FUNDAMENTAL CHANGE, IN OUR LEADERSHIP.

OBAMA IS NOT THE ANSWER TO THE PROBLEM. OBAMA IS THE PROBLEM!!!!

No teadunger, you don't want big government helping or interfering in corporate business. This is your enterprise completely. Drill baby Drill and Drill some more. Remember?

Obama isn't the problem. This is you teabag republicans doing what you do best, which is destroying the country and being stupid doing it. Now, get down to the gulf and clean your mess up.

No company should be allowed to drill if they do not have a way to plug a "leak". The fact that Obama is still touting off shore oil drilling in spite of this disaster proves he is beholden to big oil companies and the industry that builds these rigs. When we are free to elect politicians that can only use citizen generated money and not corporate money will america function "by the people, for the people". Now it is "by the corporations, for the corporations". The great hope that Obama was unique and thoughtful politician who cared about the environment, the working man and main street america has thoroughly been dispelled. We have probably eaten our last shrimp and oysters and swam at our last clean beaches.

Alan, WTF was that deranged, incoherent rant about?

the responsibility was with BP, not Obama, get a freaking clue.

Alan

To put it mildly:

1.-Your a jerk.

2.-Blaming anyone other then the guilty makes you an imbecile.

3.-To believe that Obama is responisible for this catastrophe is greater evidence that your Anti-American, or Pro TeaParty/Repubilcan or Obstructionist.

4.-Your still a jerk.

Me too ! Great roasted with potatoes and garlic !

Hello, Mr Bush. Fancy seeing you here!

jbird..Any chance Crawford will get any more slicker than it is?

Do they even teach ecology in schools any longer????

NiteOwlett...Big Oil doesn't allow any education that doesn't include how to build oil rigs, how to pump oil, how to decimate the sea bottom with pock marks 35,000 feet deep and how to use up the last drop of oil on the planet.

These lamebrains actually think that there are NO consequences to destroying ecologically sensitive areas. Until they start flushing toilets with oil in them or their laundry is an oily black color.

:)

ewent, you forgot to include how earthquakes are caused because big bad oil....

Now ewent, please turn off your computer built from oil products that is using power created by oil prodcuts and make sure you walk home tonight so you don't use any transportation that may involve using oil-driven energy. Also while walking please remove any clothing that was created by machine power or is made from synthetic materials. Please make sure you don't use a creditcard or other "plastic" on the way home. Do not buy any food from a supermarket tonight unless it was delivered to that supermarket by horse and buggy (no rubber tires on the buggy either) and ensure that the food was grown on a farm that relied on manual labor to sow and harvest. Then definitely do not watch that tv tonight either (uses power and contains plastic). Instead cut down some more trees, burn a fire so you can see and read a book printed on paper again from trees.

Damned hypocrites.

...too funny, ewent, "Big Oil doesn't allow any education that doesn't include how to build oil rigs, how to pump oil, how to decimate the sea bottom with pock marks 35,000 feet deep and how to use up the last drop of oil on the planet."

...All I heard all last week from my 6 yo was how we must save the planet (ya know, that non-fed holy day on April 22).

40% of the world's population is in two countries: India & China.
Both those countries have increased their demand for oil. In fact China has rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, near Cuba, that utilize slant drilling where they can 'steal' oil from the owner(s) of oil sites.

If you think that either of those two countries give a rat's patootie about the environment or 'Mother Earth', then you need to lay off the bong hits.

here we go again, 'but they are worse than we are. . ." What a lousy excuse.

I live in the Tampa/St. Pete area where we're starting to smell some fumes in the air from the oil spill. There's no easy answer to this problem. There is not a country in the world who does not use oil so the probability of this kind of accident is not going away any time soon. Switching from gasoline-driven vehicles to other forms of transportation is not going to happen in my lifetime. It's no specific government or political view that has caused the problem. Blame is useless because we're all somewhat to blame.

Comrade,

So it doesn't matter that the USA has polluted more of the planet better than any other country since the industrial revolution (GO USA)? Is this a case of having to keep up with Joneses (or Lee's and Patanjal's)? Since we lead the way to pollution, maybe we should lead the way to environmental responsibility. Sounds like your 6 yo. is smarter than you. You might want to try learning. Out of the mouths of babes and all that.

Many of you seem to think that it is all or nothing (If you don't like oil then stop driving and buying anything). Actually things just aren't black or white in the real world. Cutting back and trying to reduce our carbon footprints is a viable option. Becoming active in politics and the environment is also a positive thing to do. Every little bit counts.

Both parties have different agendas. Doing small things makes a difference. A 6 year old might have more sense than his parent. The parent being a party line fox fed republican.

onewoman...I don't live anywhere near the spill, thank goodness, but I agree with you . Everyone is a little/lot at fault. We like all of our stuff made from the byproducts, ect. of oil.

With all of the problems in this country the past 2 years or so, it's just one more burden

onewonan- If we thought the smell was bad in the last 2 days, wait. The USCG wants to do a controlled burn of the slick to get rid of it. More pollution on the way! I cant wait for that one!

So ewent, the oil industry educates people on how to use up every drop of oil? I'm dying to hear your explanation of that one. Smash any store display windows yet this year, ewent?

There's no easy answer to this problem.

Yes there is a simple answer to this problem. It just isn't the wave of a magic wand. The answer is we start.

• We stop the billions in subsidies that coal, gas, oil, and nuclear get on an annual basis.
• We start to implement the technology we do have at an ever accelerating rate.
• We start putting those subsidies into sustainable, renewable energy technology.
• We stop giving the traditional industries a market advantage and let capital flow to the real entrepreneurs in the energy sector.

It really is simple if we start now. It becomes much more difficult the longer we put it off and the greater the damage we must recover from. But either way makes no difference to me. We meet this survival challenge and advance as a civilization and species. Or we fail to meet the challenge, collapse as a civilization, and die off as a species and have a new species evolve to take our place and see if they can meet this inevitability. No skin off my nose, I don't look at humanity as exceptional and don't have a vested interest in some mythical being that causes mental blindness and stupidity in arrogance of importance in the universe.

It is amazing what one realizes when one understands that there is no aspect of the universe that give one @!$%# if humanity survives or even existed. It forces one to face reality and realize that our survival and prosperity is solely on our shoulders and no "savior" is waiting in the wings to pull our asses out of the fire. Good luck with that.

Dontcha think it would have been a better idea to put the 'kill switch' for the oil tube a little closer to the surface?..lol.

"However, burning the oil also creates air pollution, and the effect on marine life is unclear."...spilling the oil does too, and the effects on marine life is effin obvious.

Wait, shrimp is in jeopardy?! Noooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Wind Power can handle all of America's and the World's energy needs.

World energy use in 2009 is 16 TWh

Available wind energy(technology of turbines and storage) 300 TWh

The only reason why we suck on the oil teet is how entrenched that industry is with our government.

There is NO REASON TO DRILL OIL.

Leave it to the armed forces-They either want to blow it up, or set fire to it...sigh

.

Well, I was just going to come on here and make a joke about being time for a fish fry. But, I love the Tampa area, Clearwater, the manatees... bummer. :(

And the city gov't guy in Biloxi who said ....."we're not equipped to deal with this..." - The bleeping oil company should be on that, they surely are equipped???

Can't wait till they start drilling on the Eastern seaboard. From the beaches, the flames will be lovely at night.

America today-anthony, You have to be stupid to say there is no need for oil. Oil is used in manufacturing of so many things today, it is used in so many ways they are almost countless. Yes, we must look to alternative forms for energy but we must also find alternatives to all the other products that have some form of oil in them. Myself, if Iwere in a hospital, I want to have plastics available for the tubes used to administer oxygen, deliver blood, ect. the bags for blood, the syringes, the gloves doctors use to help prevent infection... it goes on and on. Now what were you saying?

I was at the Santa Barbara spill, then ironically, decades later, at the Prince William Sound spill, and brother, I can tell you true, you better all be standing on the beach screaming into your cell phones at the USCG and the USAF, otherwise these bureaucrats will dither endlessly, and BP will proclaim it's not their oil because insurance only covers AFTER the ecological disaster, then it's on YOUR dime. You'll have a great stinking mess like you would not believe in your worst wild nightmares that will stain your beaches and your feet for DECADES!!!

Kiss that sugar sand and sea-shells beach goodbye until 2025! Tourists? What tourists?!

Get on the horn! Burn, baby, burn!! Do mass-calling campaigns to the White House, or else!

try wearing a manatee skin to work today. Have a manatee sushi lunch. Use manatee blubber to burn in your oil candle for light.

Five times more oil a day than previously believed is spewing into the Gulf of Mexico from a blown-out well of a sunken drilling rig

Oops. We will have to increase the price of gas more than we expected. Sorry. I guess the consumer will have to pick up the cost for their blunder.

gillanator

Five times more oil a day than previously believed is spewing into the Gulf of Mexico from a blown-out well of a sunken drilling rig

Oops. We will have to increase the price of gas more than we expected. Sorry. I guess the consumer will have to pick up the cost for their blunder.

Oh yeah, oil companies are fking loving this disaster because now they can bump up the price of gas just in time for the warm months and they will dump the cleanup bill on us. After all, they just don't make that much money, and they really shouldn't be responsible for the oil they can't sell and make a killing off of! Wait, killing might be a bad word here considering the death toll from this spill is going to grow and grow...

Valdez Spill Lessons

Indeed, one of the lessons of the Valdez is that the effects of a spill can persist far longer than researchers anticipated. "We used to think of things in terms of a couple of years, Rice said. "Now we think of things in a couple of decades."

For instance, a recent study in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry showed that harlequin ducks in Prince William Sound are still exposed to oil. These birds live in shallow water near the shore and eat mussels and snails, which makes them especially vulnerable to continued exposure to oil trapped in beach sands, said study lead author Daniel Esler of Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia.

"Most of the residual oil and especially the stuff that's still potentially toxic to wildlife is buried in the sediment of the beaches." Esler said. "If you were there right after a storm or if an otter had just been there digging, the oil would still be liquid and still have an odor to it."

"The amount of oil that is there is a teeny fraction of what spilled," he added. "But a teeny fraction of 11 million gallons is still a lot of oil."

Salt marshes along the Gulf Coast, like the shallow shore areas of Prince William Sound, provide sediments and lots of little pockets where oil can be trapped and stay. "If it does make it to the beaches and the marshes, the lesson from the Exxon Valdez is that it's likely to be there for a while and it's not going to be good for wildlife," Esler said.

Link

The Gulf is fked. God Bless the United States of Oil.

We need oil more than we need manatees.

Tired,

"I live in the Tampa/St. Pete area where we're starting to smell some fumes in the air from the oil spill."

Funny you should say that. Research has shown that a manatee's body can absorb 100 times its body weight in oil. The same is true for baby seals and otters. If they were smart they would tie up all the manatees, baby seals, and otters and float them out to the slick. Then bring-em back, wring-em out, and float them all back til they cap the well. Pretty simple actually.

Actually all we really need is air water food and shelter. The rest is wants. Like I want our nation to prosper. I want our car to have gas. I want to keep my job.

But the total truth is all we really need is Air Water food and shelter. Well and clothes help.

Actually all we really need is air water food and shelter. The rest is wants. Like I want our nation to prosper. I want our car to have gas. I want to keep my job. But the total truth is all we really need is Air Water food and shelter. Well and clothes help.

Pretty funny Joey. Do remember the movie "The Jerk"?

And that's it and that's the only thing I need, is this. I don't need this or this. Just this ashtray. And this paddle game, the ashtray and the paddle game and that's all I need. And this remote control. The ashtray, the paddle game, and the remote control, and that's all I need. And these matches. The ashtray, and these matches, and the remote control and the paddle ball. And this lamp. The ashtray, this paddle game and the remote control and the lamp and that's all I need. And that's all I need too. I don't need one other thing, not one - I need this. The paddle game, and the chair, and the remote control, and the matches, for sure. And this. And that's all I need. The ashtray, the remote control, the paddle game, this magazine and the chair.

I'm picking out a thermos for you.......

Obviously we don't want oil spills, but we all use oil.

It's like car wrecks, they are tragic, and we try to avoid them, but they are going to happen.

Remember, a human is at the controls on the rig. We make mistakes.

I hear people say you shouldn't drill offshore because there are spills. By that logic, we shouldn't have welfare because it is abused. And the IRS makes many mistakes, maybe we shouldn't have them unless they can make no mistakes. And of course no airplanes, trains, buses or cars unless they never crash.

It's life. Sh1t happens.

But let the first person who uses no petroleum product say we shoudn't drill. Otherwise, we all would just be hypocritical.

This is a disaster of mega proportions. I hope the people are ready to jump on the shore cleanup quickly. This is heartbreaking. When it hits the beaches that is when a new kind of headline hits based on the scope of the damage to beaches and the wildlife. We don't know how bad this is really going to be until it hits shore.

It's a small spill compared to Ixtoc. There have been many spills along the Texas coast. Several were bigger than this one would be at 3500 barrels a day for 3 months (pressure drops lead to lower leaks over time).

Luckily the barrier islands do what they are suppossed to do. Actually, oil on sandy beach isn't as bad as on rocky/gravelly beaches. You can just scoop up the oil and the sand with heavy equipment.

It sucks, but the damage will be much less than Rita, Ike, or Katrina. The saltwater went miles inland killing all plants. Also Many square miles of vegetation was ripped out and sent to sea.

Ryan it is getting worse as they are saying this may be one of the largest oil spills in American shores. It seems there is 5 times the amount of oil coming out as they thought.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N28159576.htm

Oops Largest containments is not largest spill. lol

Correct that statement. ;-)

article...."Government officials said the blown-out well 40 miles offshore is spewing five times as much oil into the water as originally estimated — about 5,000 barrels, or 200,000 gallons, a day.

At that rate, the spill could easily eclipse the worst oil spill in U.S. history — the 11 million gallons (41 million liters) that leaked from the grounded tanker Exxon Valdez in Alaska's Prince William Sound in 1989 — in the three months it could take to drill a relief well and plug the gushing well 5,000 feet (1,500 meters) underwater on the sea floor."....

An unbelievable disaster, and BP can't really do diddly about it. They said they'd welcome help from anyone.... sounds very bad, especially feel for those people in the oil's wake.

I like Oil myself, what have manatees done for people? As infuriating as oil companies can be the reality remains that we need the stuff. Even the economically harmful but in any case necessary process of weening will never go down in this country because people (including myself) like cheep gas, cheep cars, cheep consumer goods, cheep chemicals and so on. If we choose the green path expect inflation and unemployment to soar to make this economic crisis caused by careless bankers, regulators, and consumers to look like a picnic. On the other hand the consequences of doing nothing 100 years from now could be even more dire, I hope New York can float by then

Alan-

Building Nuclear Power Plants is necessary in your solution-Not subsidising them is NOT an effective "cross-over" solution. More, and more states are building plants which report more localised job growth. Advanced Safety tecniques are being imported from France, and our Construction/Manufacturing bases need the output as well. After the estimated 40-60 years of service life, perhaps when your other solutions are now "on-line" we can ramp down or downsize the importance and necessity of those existing plants. Nuclear Technology is here NOW and we can afford it, as it will also reduce our Foreign Oil imports substantially.

Charles Stark...I don't know where you live but in my state, most of the municipalities have switched their local government cars to electric or hybrids. NJ is number 2 when it comes to traffic congestion. At least 1/3 of all cars on the road are now hybrids or Smart Cars.

Even if half the car owners in the US moved over to alternative fuel vehicles, that's still a start in giving Big Oil El Dumpo.

While shifting to more fuel efficient cars and hybrids is a great idea, don't forget where the elctricity comes from for your nice pollution free electric car. Coal and oil are the two main sources of electric power in this country.

Are you awake yet? I was referring to the new hydroelectric cars that use water (steam). Not electric as in wired, wiring and juice from an electric generator. Most of the newer hybrids are heading in the direction of longer use cells and batteries that don't leave a carbon footprint.

Coal is by far the dirtiest form of energy there is. And, it kills people..miners and users alike. As for oil, only those who are addicted to it think changes to alternative fuels won't work.

The guy who owns the building where I work just installed a new solar roof at a cost of $30,000 with the SRECS, it cost him $18,000 and already he's happy with the huge decrease in the cost of electric. He was paying $18,000 a year for electric to heat one-quarter of the building. You bet your life he's happy.

The problem no one admits is that Big Oil and Big Energy know when to price gouge. They know which small utilities to buy in states that need heating in winter and cooling in summer. So, they've been on the gravy train far too long and are too rich to change...so they think.

Charles Stark-1642988

As long as we rely on this filthy oil to provide energy for vehicles, etc. we will be at the mercy of world wide pollution and being ripped off by the Middle East Sheiks and their pocketed Washington friends.

So what if the correct way to go? Lots of bitching and no ideas...

ewent

Even if half the car owners in the US moved over to alternative fuel vehicles, that's still a start in giving Big Oil El Dumpo.

Ahh the wonders of Alternative fuels.. Not one of them work well enough to replace the ( I will admit ) Out dated tech that is the internal combustion eng.
Ahh the wonders of the smart car.. the one that you plug into your house to charge, but wait a second, where does that energy come from... GASP Coal burning plants. You can claim you are doing the right thing by getting an electric car, but in reality all you are doing is subbing one fossil fuel for another. I will have to look into the hydro cars you are talking about. I expect it to be a pipe dream tech that is a few decades away since I havent heard of it yet, but I will look at it.
The simple truths... We do not have the tech to replace fossil fules. Solar, Wind, Geothermal, ALL of them have found to have issues, and cannot meet the needs of the US and their power use. Hell you even have enfiro-nutjob groups who say we cannot put a solar farm and wind farms in the DESERT where nobody lives because it would impact the natural environment.
The problem with Ewent, and thoes like him/her, They are all pie in the sky, apple pie hopes and dreams people. They do not for one minute think of reality and the everyday products they use that are ALL oil products.
ANYONE that doesnt think the same thing they do are all of a sudden Big Oil, Big Energy, Right wing idiots who dont care about anything. When in truth, we arent against a cleaner planet, we just know that the tech is not there to support us and it doesnt matter if we like it or not, Fossil Fuels ARE going to keep being used.

The automobile with the internal combustion engine running on gasoline did not replace the horse over night either. But, we are better off if we start to implement these technologies now than later. Ultimately, it at least buys us time to optimize replacement technologies and implement them.

What is the alternative? Continue with what we have today? Until we have no choice but to switch immediately because of chronic shortages and the resulting category 8 swings on the economic Richter scale?

Ford and Diesel actually used biofuels in their first engines. Rockefeller put a stop to that. First generation biofuels are not sustainable, but if researchers can find an economically feasible way to jump to third generation algae oil we could find ourselves in much better shape.

cjcold,

Check out Bloom Energy's fuel cell that can run off natural gas, swamp gas, off gas from sewage treatment plants, methane from landfills, methane and other hydrocarbon gases that can be produce through pyrolysis of almost any organic matter.

The other aspect of this technology is that it is light weight. It was designed for use in space.

This is in addition to your comment.

Yes , I have studied all of that and couldn't agree with you more. We are not using what we should be. My professors in environmental science classes stressedall of these things. Not to mention the methane generated from the CAFO lagoons. Good on ya mate!

Yes , I have studied all of that and couldn't agree with you more. We are not using what we should be. My professors in environmental science classes stressed all of these things. Not to mention the methane generated from the CAFO lagoons. Good on ya mate!

Yes , I have studied all of that and couldn't agree with you more. We are not using what we should be. My professors in environmental science classes stressed all of these things. Not to mention the methane generated from the CAFO lagoons. Good on ya mate!

How the hell did that happen? I think my computer developed the hiccups.

cj it's Newsvines server, it has been throwing three copies of other comments all day.

As long as I'm typing I feel the need to point out the largest real obstacle to biofuels is cold weather operation. To date the fuels developed gel at temperatures where we still expect to operate.

A small help is the advancement of the internal combustion engine. One US manufacturer (Waukesha Engines) has developed what they call the lean burn engine. It operates on natural gases,or swamp gasses at an air to fuel ratio of 22:1 that is much leaner than traditional engines operating in the range of 14:1.

I wonder if people realize that northern Alberta is a tar-blighted moonscape with lakes of bubbling asphalt so large you can see them from space, and groundwater polluted from now until eternity. I wonder if people also realize that the MacKenzie Gas Pipeline allegedly to bring gas to the US MidWest is actually to bring gas to northern Alberta, to burn even more tar out of the ground, then convert through horrendously polluting upgraders to synthetic crude oil that the Canadians will then pipe to the MidWest and charge us for, after we supplied the burn gas!!

It's a freaking zoo, and taxpayers and pump payers are paying out the wazoo!! Crude oil was $15 a barrel in 2000 and everyone was losing money until Dick Cheney said, "Start a Little War' in Iraq and destroyed the second largest oil producer on earth. By the time Cheney was voted out of office, oil was 1000% higher, at $147 a barrel, that's more than $1B a day in excess oil profits that Americans are shipping off to other countries, all thanks to Dick Cheney and his secret Energy Cartel buddies.

Hilarious that the Supreme Court is voting to disclose the addresses of referendum voters, when Cheney refused to disclose his Energy Policy Committee Cabal, and George Bush sealed all presidential records forever from Reagan on. We have a totally secret Corporate-State and Big Oil polluting this planet like you would not believe, and yet most of the posters on this thread are saying, 'Well, that's what you get, ... live with it.'

That's a Southern hydro-cracker for you.

Hey ewent!!! where does the energy come from to make the electric car and its parts. Where does the energy come from to put it in the fancy showroom? What do you do to make money to buy it? Where does the electricity come from to power it? Maybe Nuclear could be an answer, but you do gooders don't like that either. And the environmentalist are protesting the wind farm off of Nantuckett, and the environmentalists are protesting the huge solar project in the dessert. Why don't we ban human existence.

He Drill Baby Drill....There are already numerous hydroelectric vehicles that operate from plain ordinary water. Hey Drill Baby Drill What did you riggers do before those Texas gushers were discovered? More than half of Sweden and other Scandinavian countries do not rely on oil for heating or electricity. They rely on thermal hydroelectric energy they get from the hot springs right under their feet. You don't know much do you?

What is it about environmentally sensitive areas oil asskissers don't get? I realize that most oil kissers are brain damaged from all that petrochemical leachate in their drinking water, but get real.

Why don't you admit what your real gripe is? That you won't be able to claim Houston as the Big Oil Capital of the world if alternative fuels take over and buddy boy...they will. You really need to step outside that oil field once in a while. There are big time changes that no longer include oil rigs. Hurts doesn't it?

It is really amazing how we got to this discussion.

1) Originally the most popular cars were steam-powered or electric. Electric cars were especially popular with women because they were silent and required no cranking. But steam cars were much more powerful and could use almost any fuel, preferring alcohol. The oil companies spend millions characterizing steam cars as relics of the past and electric cars as women's cars.

2) The oil and auto companies spent millions anonymously buying trolley and electric bus systems and shutting them down. There were hundreds of anti-trust suits, but when the oil and auto companies lost the maximum fines were often less than $1,000.

3) Even today, GM's EV1 was scuttled by oil companies and Toyota was promised that oil companies would spend millions denigrating the Prius if it included the electric-only option that is standard in Japan. The word has been out in the auto industry that the American oil industry was committed to opposing any vehicle that did not have an internal combustion engine on board. Unfortunately, in a world with unsustainably increasing demand for oil, the oil companies are losing their clout (though not their profits.)

Ewent, having a car that runs on water sounds great doesn't it? (by the way, "hydroelectric" is electricty generation that occurs in a dam (from running water turning a generator). A device that uses hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity is a fuel cell)

Before you rush out to get your kit to convert your car, you might want to do some research on it. Put simply, if you can put water in your car, the water gets split into hydrogen and oxygen, and then your engine burns it right? Sounds simple enough until you realize that it requires the same amount of energy to split water molecules as is generated to put them back together. Now add to that the energy loss from friction and heat and you have something that uses more energy than it produces and it JUST WON'T WORK. Another option is to have a hydrogen tank and an oxygen tank in your car. OK, where are you going to fill them up? Are you going to have a place in your house to split the water molecules so you can fill up at home? Where do you get the power for that? (C'mon, you know. It's ok) What if you are away form your home and run out? Now what? OK, enough science.

I'm all for new technology and finding new ways to fuel our machines. But lets be realiistic here. right now, oil is cheaper than any of the new things coming out. I would love to have solar panels on my house to lower my electric bill, but I don't have $18,000 to buy them and if I did, I would have to live in my house for 20 years before I got any return on it.

Once someone is able to reduce the cost of the new technology to the point of affordability (we are getting there) then we will see more shifting to alternate sources of power.

ewent, I lived in Norway from late 2000 until early 2003. Norway is the highest per capita income country in the world. It is a critical oil-producing nation, non-OPEC. Before the discovery of oil at Valhall in the North Sea in 1970, Norway was dirt poor. Because of its geography, with lakes perched atop fjords, it has lots of unsightly gravity pipelines to the bottom fed by rain and snow melt which provide most of its electricity needs generated by hydroelectric plants sitting at the coasts of the fjords - not difficult since the population is only 4.5 million. In the summer of 2002, the normally rainy southwest Norwegian coast where we lived went two months without rain. Our electricity rates went up in the autumn by a factor of FIVE. We moved to the UK in March 2003, so I don't know how long the exorbitant utility rates persisted. Point being, your posts have holes in them big enough to drive a truck through, yet you put on like you're some kind of expert. You really can't factually back-up much of what you write.

Drill Baby Drill: "Maybe Nuclear could be an answer, but you do gooders don't like that either. And the environmentalist are protesting the wind farm off of Nantuckett, and the environmentalists are protesting the huge solar project in the dessert."

I have to agree with you there DBD. Enviromentalists are saying we need to do more wind and solar energy, but when we try they start law suits to stop them and the only ones who are happy are the lawyers (personally think most environmentalists who start the suits are lawyers or use friends who are lawyers just so they can make money). I think nuclear would be good, but do have personal reservations due to the waste that is still made from it, though it is better than it used to be. Also have the normal fear of another Chernobyl happening, though it would be almost impossible with current technology and restrictions unless it was done by sabotage or intentionally.

Ewett.... I live in NW Houston and I'd happily give up the title as the Big Oil Capital of the world. There are parts in SE Houston that I avoid like a plague due to the smell from production of oil products. Unfortunately I realize we cannot stop using oil due to the number of things that are made from it. I have gotten a more fuel efficient car and if I can will get a hybrid next time when my lease is up for this one (depends on economy and prices). I have some friends in the oil industry and they are pushing to get more clean and renewable technologies going (wind, methane, ethanol, etc), but the big problem isn't the oil industry itself, but all the restrictions they have on them. If you want to build a new plant to make ethanol fuel, you have to do environmental studies which cost millions of dollars, fight environmental groups in court to prove it won't kill off some microbateria that is in the area you want to build, then get approval from town/city officials, county officials, state officials, federal officials, etc. before you can start building. This is mainly why there aren't more ethanol and other renewable energy plants in the US. If the environmental groups would stop being such hipocrites by screaming for these energy sources NOW, then filing lawsuits to stop them from happening we could be alot further along then we are.

There are proposed wind farms off the coast of NJ (if I remember right), but the late Ted Kennedy sued to stop it because he could see it from his house. I'm not trying to be hateful of the late senator, but merely pointing out that what people say and do are 2 different things when it comes down to it. Most people seem to be for the wind farms, so long as they don't obstruct their view of the land or ocean, and if it does, then H311 no we don't want no wind farm here. Pretty sure same thing is happening in California, as all the stars probably don't want to look at a wind farm, even though the best places seem to be off the coast or in places with lots of hills.

FYI I am an independant and wish the govt would actually get serious about doing things the people want, and not what the lobbyists and big corporations want done.

I love the oil slushers on this thread. They'd eat it, slather themselves in it and feed it to babies if it meant another round of Big Oil bonuses. Help yourselves boys. You haven't much time left.

When Central American countries end up with polluted water, will you whine that US taxpayers are paying for that too? I love how the right wing doesn't mind getting everyone into the act where paying out in dollars is concerned. Just don't touch their sacrosanct slime ball Big Oil checks.

um, ewent, there is no such thing as a "hydroelectric" car that "runs on water". the closest thing to what you describe is a hydrogen-powered car. fuel-cells are best, and produce only water as a by-product, or the hydrogen can be burned in an internal-combustion engine (but not very efficiently). both are far cleaner, but the hydrogen still has to come from somewhere, and the most energy-efficient method still comes from oil refineries.

the electric methos is very inefficient, but there are other faster and cheaper ways that hydrogen can be produced from water (or light hydrocarbons) using high temperatures and an iron catalyst. one promising, possible future method of mass-producing cheap hydrogen for vehicle and industrial power use is a VHTR nuclear reactor which could supply large quantities of both hydrogen and electricity. It is considered a "4th generation" design, that type of reactor, along with another type called the advanced fastbreeder reactor (which can burn off 98% of the currently existing reacor waste as fuel) would go a long way to helping reduce our future power and pollution problems.

most of the "bio-fuel" programs simply don't add up when you include all the factors.

now I do wholeheartedly agree that we need to get away from coal and oil as quickly as we possibly can. we need to develop solr, wind, geo-thermal, and any other resources to (for one thing ) get away from the middle east and the lunacy there.

and sorry, "drill-baby-drill" folks, all the cheap oil is already either gone, or disappearing.

the other half is religion.

Wow, great straight-man Rick and Pat.

So, let me close it for ya: How about 'Dumb and Dummer'

dumb and dummer!!! Which one are you???

Actually environmentalists are the cause of much of the problems we have today. Because of their never ending hypocritical attitude which eliminates any possibility of a US energy policy that would wean us off of foreign oil and move us to more independence which would keep more money in the US for development and research for new technologies; Environmentalists are the ones keeping the oil pipeline flowing. Can't drill for oil or gas, can't mine for coal, no to shale oil, can't build dams, no nuclear. Gotta go with wind, but wait it might kill a bird or mess with some liberal elitists view. Gotta go with solar panels, but no it might affect some cricket or lizards mating habits. They are the definition of hypocrit.

The Great Jimmy Carter gave us the Department of Energy, another failed leftist government agency, which was "promised" to wean us off of foreign oil. How's that working out. Next is Crap and Tax. That makes alot of sense. Buy invisible gas from someone who doesn't create invisible gas. What a concept. As long as it makes you feel good and you "share the wealth", who cares about the outcome or consequences.

Oil and fossil fuels are not going to magically disappear in the near future, even though the dreamers have been thinking that since the 70s. Until we get some common sense policies in place that realize that fossil fuels are going to be a necessary evil and until a real cost effective alternative is developed the reality is we are stuck with fossil fuels. Reality is a place environmentalists have never been.

God Bless America

Gotta go with wind, but wait it might kill a bird or mess with some liberal elitists view.

Not when the wind generators are on individual homes and commercial buildings. The ones that kill birds are the ones that are controlled by the same energy corporations that are responsible for the messes we have now. Enron ring a bell? Do you really want them to be your sole source of energy?

DOE is a war department hidden in the guise of energy policy, first and foremost. Second, Saint Ronnie canceled the energy policy facade completely when he took office. Who knows what we could be living if DOE had been a real energy policy department all along.

No one is talking about an abrupt end. We are talking about a prolonged period of extreme price swings and supply shortages and gluts. We are talking about the extreme disruption to global economies on a decade basis or more frequently for the next 100 to 200 years. This is the future you are advocating with fossil fuels.

I am advocating a future where the price and availability of energy is known and steady. One that business and consumers can plan on to make long term decisions.

There is no Savior but us.

The single largest destroyer of oil on earth is the US Department of Defense. Between burning it in their armor, burning it on the ground, and destroying foreign oil facilities to artificially limit oil supplies to spike up profits for Big Oil and international capital, if you really want a 'green' solution to our climate- (whatever), .... you would dismantle the Pentagon.

Funny, not a single one of the welfare tax dole public employee climate 'scientists' seem to have discovered that factoid. Not a single person, scientist or political leader, has ONCE mentioned that the US Department of Defense is the single worst carbon emitter on earth.

Now thanks to Cheney's 'Start a Little War' and his clever 'emergency funding' scam, that Department of Defense is blowing out at +14% a year, even when we are going through global recession, and their little oil war in Iraq-Afg-Pak is burning through $200 BILLION a year of our precious last life savings. They make this little Gulf oil spill look like a tea party!!

5,000 barrels per day? Pfffft, it's NOTHING! A little oil spill? How'd you like to live in Fallujah!

Congress also seems to have learned Cheney's scam, and just voted themselves the same 'emergency funding' loophole, so they can continue to increase the unfunded Federal budget deficit by ONE TRILLION DOLLARS A YEAR. That $14.4 TRILLION deficit, soon $18.5 TRILLION before Obama leaves office, is the unfunded deficit for paying Mil.Gov their salaries, benefits and pensions, over and above any benefit they provide to the US taxpayers.

US Pentagon - The single greatest polluter on the planet, (and they've 'misplaced' $3T's!!)

US Mil.Gov - The single greatest deficit deadbeats in human history, with a platinum card!!

Would you like Red, White and Blue™ fries with that?

Rickpicking...I've been a staunch supporter of Obama. But, I am defiantly opposed to any drilling off the East Coast where I live. Obama will lose most of the East Coast votes in 2012, mine included if he pursues this Texas dream.

What most people fail to realize is that 1/3 of their incomes pay for taxes Exxon doesn't pay. How did Exxon earn billions last year and pay nothing in taxes?

I am not in favor of further promotion of oil for the long-term future. There are now highly technological alternatives for energy and no excuses for not moving forward with lightening speed. The only thing that stands in the way of this progress is Big Oil trying to squeeze their last billion in oil profits.

It is time to force Big Oil to step aside. 1/3 of their profit goes to lobbyists in Washington so they can bypass voters to get what Big Oil wants. And, from the looks of it, it's crippled the rest of the country.

What Obama forgets is that the East Coast is a high tourist area which brings in 90% of our tax ratables. The East Coast has had its share already of oil spills in the Arthur Kill, the Kill Van Kuyl and several other ports.

Oil and fossil fuels are not going to magically disappear in the near future, even though the dreamers have been thinking that since the 70s. Until we get some common sense policies in place that realize that fossil fuels are going to be a necessary evil and until a real cost effective alternative is developed the reality is we are stuck with fossil fuels

partially true, but we also have to develop policies that are going to encourage that alternative, and the last administrtation did as much as possible to discourage new technology, and the current one isn't doing much to encourage it.

meanwhile, China has become the leader in solar cell production, and is near becoming the leader in wind turbines, and is working hard to take the lead in alternative energy production.

tell me, should we give up all our technology and production to China now? or are we just going to cry about "the good ole days" and leave our head in the sand as everything crumbles around us?

look to new sources of energy for the future folks, not the old stuff. the old stuff is the way of the past, and if we don't try to keep up, we will be left behind.

stop sitting and cheering "we're number one" while the rest of the world is hot on our tail and catching up.

Hermann C

Your intent is well founded, yet you have misled us on quite a numbers of facts in your "statement". Especially about the numbers and the deficit results. Tho I agree with at least 50% of what your "stating", and I'm on your side; I have to disaggree with the other 50%.

lib...when you appreciate that the supporters of Big Oil get their jollies every time a drop of oil is refined, you understand their addiction to it.

spill, baby, spill

now that's funny !

Doesn't even sound like there are too many folks trying to help:

From the air Monday afternoon, the oil spill reached as far as the eye could see. There was little evidence of a major cleanup, with only a handful of vessels near the site of the leak.

Why do I get the feeling that the megacorps who caused the leak will be spared most of the costs associated with the cleanup, while me, the taxpayer, will end up paying the most?

don't forget - Exxon took their case regarding the fines they owed for the Exxon Valdez disaster to the Supreme Court and got their fine reduced by 75%... because a company that makes $35 billion in profits (that's right "b" as in "billion") in a YEAR doesn't want to pay a chump change fine of a couple billion for the clean-up (so here we are 21 years later and they still have not paid...)

all in a days work in the United Corporate States of America...

HomerS...Exxon didn't need to pay. It has 200 million taxpayers to bail them out when they make stupid mistakes. Sure does prove the point that enabling bad decisions by chief decisions makers doesn't mean the buck stops at their desks, does it?

yea GOP oh yea they are the ones trying to do more drilling not that tree hugger Obama next thing you know we won't be able to find fresh whale sushi in the US

Richard...Better a tree hugger than a rig hugger. Rig huggers can end up dead. Tree huggers never do.

they cause other people to get injured from their antics. Remember spiking trees?

Are you awake yet...No I do not remember spiking trees. I do remember spigoting maples to get sap for syrup from them. I do remember the fruit my Mom turned into jellies and jams. I do remember the wood my Dad put in those wood burning stoves that heated every room in the house all winter and made a great outdoor kitchen in summer.

Spare me your anti-environmental attitude. The environment you live in has to be protected from nuts who think just disposing of things on land, sea or in the air has no consequences. Like Bush never thought there were any consequences to getting us into a fake war with Iraq until our kids came back dead or maimed. Responsible people know there are consequences for our actions. The gravely irresponsible are too wrapped up in themselves, the dear little narcissists they are.

ewent that was meant to be sarcasm previous commenter tried to blame our president for an oil spill I hope Oboma is a tree hugger as well as me

checkerbattery, not sure where you got your information from, but I trust you are aware that there at least 32 spill clean-up vessels on the scene (which represents a good portion of the global fleet). I also trust you are aware that weather conditions over the weekend hampered the efforts to contain the spill. The cost is being borne by BP at present not taxpayers nor do they at this point to be shirking their responsibility of acting responsibly.

ewent
Richard...Better a tree hugger than a rig hugger. Rig huggers can end up dead. Tree huggers never do.

My bet is you have NO CLUE how many oil products you use on a daily basis.

Better a Rig hugger then a tree hugging hypo.

Jeremy,

As a Chemist, I have a very good idea of the number of products I use on daily basis that are oil derived. That is why we should stop burning it. It is a finite resource that has a multitude of critical uses. We should be concentrating on finding alternatives to burning it for our energy needs and save it for those uses.

Tim S., and yet you for some reason don't think oil companies are pursuing other methods, mostly bio related?

I believe they are. I just think they are doing it in a way to maintain their monopoly on the energy market. I believe they are doing and have been doing everything within their power to prevent the development and implementation to alternative energy supply to them. That is all right. It is in their self interest to keep their monopoly on energy supply. I just don't agree that it is in our best interest to let them.

I think we need to support technology that offers real competition to them. They have a role, a legitimate and important role, to play in our energy supply chain. I just do not agree that they should be the supply chain.

I don't emphasize their efforts because they are not lacking for research and development funds. They don't need my voluntary support at this time since they have my captive support in the form of gas and electricity prices .

In other words they're damned if they do and damned if they don't? On one hand people resent the profits they make and the impact on the environment in the event of accidental spills. Yet on the other hand, people are resenting the fact they are turning those profits into exploration for new clean methods of fuel and are spending more money on that than any other group is including utility companies? What would you propose they do with their profits? Meanwhile, Big Oil is offering enormous funds in scholarships each year to students entering fields of environmental sciences, bioengineering, nuclear, etc. Seems to me Big Oil is in reality actually being pretty supportive of progress. Of course freelance conspiracy authors like ewent would have you believe they are doing this solely to be self-supporting in the future and hook you into their next big product. It's always easy to hate those that are succesfull be they corporate or individual entities.

Tim S, the Big Oil supported alternatives live bio-fuels have been proven numerous times to be BTU negative, costing more in fossil fuels than they produce, and as with nuclear power, there is the off-book and unpublicized global deforestation of millions of hectares of tropical forest being converted to corn and soy to capture those 'green' fuel tax credits, which come directly out of the pocket of the US taxpayer and pump payer.

Hideous, hideous fraud, aided and abetted by the media, by Wall Street, and the Climate Cons, the al-Gore'ians and their Carbon Ayatollahs, but that's just power and politics, what I don't think people realize is that oil and gas provide 5/6's of US BTU's and a similar portion of tax revenues and jobs, and when that is gone, and it will be soon, as will nuclear power, which the USGS already estimated global uranium supplies will be exhausted by 2075, then the United States will all be surfing on food stamps and living in Medicaid welfare condos.

If they're lucky.

I hate the fact that we are so dependent on oil but we are where we are. Now, what do each one of us do about it? Turn and point fingers or do we actually do everything we possibly can do use less energy? As the old saying goes "lead, follow, or get the hell out of the way"

I never saw an Exxon Mobile employee holding a gun to anyone's head to buy an SUV that gets 11MPG. Or I don't remember Shell pushing people out farther away from work and shopping thus making more traffic and driving for a larger segment of the population.

Big oil is investing in alternative energy because at some point in time oil will not be the cheapest bang for the buck. At that point, they want to be bringing in their bucks from the new systems.

Isn't ironic that one of our most despised enemies and an oil exporter, Iran, is moving away from oil as an energy source. Even they get it!

In short, as good as it may feel to blame Big Oil, Bush, Obama, or anyone else, the culprit is looking at you from your very own mirror. Now we, as a nation need to quit letting the Fox news, Rush limbaugh, Glen Beck, Al Sharton, and Jesse Jacksons of the world divide us and get to work proving that we deserve the things our forefathers passed on down to us.

Jeff Jefferson...Anything I can do to put even a teeny crack in the boastful braggart Big Oil Industry in the US is fine by me.

ewent...that should be easy. Stop driving. Don't ride in any vehicle that uses diesel or gasoline, including buses, trucks, trains or jets. Never buy anything in plastic or made of plastic, like you're computer. Never buy carpet. Never buy clothing made from oil, like polyster, dacron, etc., and don't buy clothes made of products that were produced using oil, like cotton. Don't buy glue made from petroleum. Never buy anything that was transported by anything using oil, diesel or gasoline, like food for instance. Oh yes, your doctor will have to ditch many of the medicines and medical products now available to you.

Good luck!

Don't forget to stop using electricity as well. that way you won't support the use of dirty coal and oil for power generation.

"Any mess we can create, science and technology will save us"

Oh NOW you want to kiss up to science to make everything better. Screw you. You take the gravity, the evolution AND new technology or you take NOTHING from us!

hs321...How about you stop Big Oil from forcing us to use those things? You don't seriously think that the sudden trend to fatass SUVs was anything but Big Oil insisting on Detroit building gas guzzlers do you?

Nice try refocusing by telling us to stop using what Big Oil refuses to allow. I'm guessing you're a Big Oil employee or someone who works for Enron?

hs321: there are ALTERNATIVES! Why are some people so adamant on progressing to cleaner alternatives? If it is BETTER on all aspects why not change?

ewent...big oil doesn't force anyone to buy anything. How about the federal government, who makes more money in taxes on every gallon of gasoline sold than the oil companies make in profits? The SUV craze was brought on by demand by Americans.

Excellent guess... I do work in oil, but for a small independent. I guess it's OK with you if we all lose our jobs? Why is that when real estate, mortgage and title insurance companies were raking in windfall profits not one politician or any citizens said a word? Why the double standard. And look at the mess that got us all in....heck, the entire world almost.

When we drill a dry hole in deep-water that we lose $50 million on, we don't get to write that off to research like big Pharma does.

Remember back in the 80's when oil prices plunged and the oil companies were laying people of by the tens of thousands? No one worried about our jobs. No one cared. Let one auto plant close and you'd think the whole solar system was going to collapse on itself.

There is a blatant double-standard when it comes to big oil.

I don't really care if you hate oil companies. Just try hating all the other business that turn a profit as well. Otherwise you're applying a double-standard, which is necessarily illogical.

Just some of the amazing things that get their start from oil and natural gas:

Aircraft Antihistamines Antiseptics Aspirin Balloons Bandages

Blenders Cameras Candles Carpet CDs Cellphones Clothing Computers Containers Crayons Dentures

Deodorant Diapers Digital Clocks

Dinnerware DVDs Dyes Eyeglass Frames Fertilizers Food Preservatives Food Storage Bags Footballs FoulWeather Gear Furniture

Garbage Bags Glue Golf Balls Hair Dryers Hang Gliders Heart Valve Replacements House Paint Infant Seats Ink Insecticides Life Jackets

Lipstick Luggage Medical Equipment Nylon Rope Pacemakers Pantyhose Patio Screens Perfumes Photographic Film Photographs

Piano Keys Roller Blades Roofing Safety Glass Shampoo Shaving Cream Shower Curtains Slippers Soft Contact Lenses Strollers

Sunglasses Surfboards Surgical Equipment Syringes Telephones Tents Toothpaste Toys Umbrellas VitaminCapsules...and a whole lot more

icstars-1, no Darwin? Where have all the Luddites gone?

HS321....Big Oil Doesn't force us? You are full of it. You just try installing anything that doesn't require oil in certain areas where Texas First Energy supplies heat or electricity. No...The SUV craze only benefit big gut Big Oil in Texas. That's what Bush spent 8 years doing and isn't that why now Texas is practically the only state that isn't suffering the consequences of a recession brought on by the stupidity of their former governor?

Don't try and tell me that Americans all loved those gas guzzlers. IF you had the money and IF you could afford one of those gas guzzlers, you made Big Oil richer.

You like to make certain that you mention things that you believe cannot be made from other materials other than oil. BS. Growing up in a small rural town taught me what we didn't need and oil was one of them. Big Oil got itself ingratiated with like minded greedheads in land development, manufacturing and other industries so that it could get it syrupy mitts on 9/10ths of this country economic resources. But, nice try on that "We can't live without oil BS." Shows how utterly incapable of survival you really are.

ewent....you're so polarized left there is no use in trying to reason with you.

Your mirror image is those polarized on the right.

And that is the biggest problem for the rest of us.....

hs321..Sometimes, truth is very polarizing. Get over it. I'm not an ideologue. I am always in search of truth. You can't reason with truth, so why try? Truth is what it is and you don't get to possess it.

OK...I get it ewent....all Repubs/Conservatives are evil doing the devils work and all Dems/Libs are angels sitting next to god.

Are you happy yet? (That was a rhetorical question....please don't answer.)

hs321 i agree the middle ground would be the best way but our dependence on oil needs to be cut down there are alternatives that would be sustainable like pot' i saw a film where they were making fenders for cars out of pot fibers and resin (an oil product). i don't believe ".all Repubs/Conservatives are evil doing the devils work" they believe that if you give a rich man more money he will share it. duh not in the world i live in

hs321,

Methinks you protest too much. There are many major companies who make a profit (or they go under). Making ultra, ultra, ultra, ultra profits while raping the planet is a whole different story though. Any multinational corporation that flaunts every tax law, buys federal judges, congressmen, senators, generals and presidents and who owns their own special forces units needs to be broken up and shut down. It's time for those multinationals who think that they above the law (hell, who think they ARE the law) to find out differently. It will take all of us to stand in their way.

Hey tea baggers, it's not the government you should be afraid of. It's the invisible government that are pulling the strings behind the scenes that scare the hell out of me. They haven't been elected and can't be voted out, yet they control this country as well as the rest of the world. Their only thought is for power, profit and control. The people of this country, or any other, mean nothing to them. Those, in government, who are bought and paid for by the multinationals (most of the supreme court included) should go away and let this planet have a breath of fresh air. How is it that the supremes have decided to let the multinationals BUY American elections? I want my country back!

cjcold: "it's not the government you should be afraid of. It's the invisible government that are pulling the strings behind the scenes"

You could not be more correct. And it is in all levels of government. Even small city governments are highly influenced by local businessmen and especially developers. Voting in you local elections is just as important as the state and national elections.

My personal opinion is to vote out all incumbents of both parties and if the next guy doesn't look out for the American people first, vote them out too, until the politicians get it through their thick, greasy heads they are there to represent WE THE PEOPLE.

hs321..Sometimes, truth is very polarizing. Get over it. I'm not an ideologue. I am always in search of truth. You can't reason with truth, so why try? Truth is what it is and you don't get to possess it.

hs321,

You're failing to realize that the "truth" is only what ewent says it is. There is no discussing involved.

Instead of cleaner, 'greener' energy alternatives, we need dirtier, deadlier ones, like burning thermite and arsenic, that would be a great energy supply, but whew, the poor downwinders! Didn't they burn thermite at the WTC? Or was that just regular controlled demolition, ha,ha,ha. And if the media won't even publicize scientific investigation, what makes you think there's any truth whatsoever to the wild claims of Global Carbon Caliphate and their al-Gore'ian terroristas? And if our Government and Big Oil is supporting with your taxes and last life savings the wild and unsubstantiated claims of al-Gore'ia, what makes you think you still live in a democracy?

hs321 - "stop using gasoline and its byproducts - including many medical devices, made from oil."

why does the answer have to be absolute? why can't we proceed with caution and incorporate caring about the environment. why, in our haste to get, have, accumulate, use up, waste, destroy, etc., (the human condition) can't we cut back and be more circumspect and treat the earth's resources as finite (which they are). in other words, our approach doesn't have to be all or nothing at all. it merely needs to be modified and handled with care and consideration. everything we do. everything we invent or develop. for one thing, we could stop sending all of our industry overseas so that everything we need doesn't have to be shipped back to us. that would save one hell of a lot of fuel right there. we need to get over this global thing and get back to being local. if we stayed local, Indonesia wouldn't be destroying half its country in order to plant and manufacture palm oil. the world we have created is currently a nightmare -- because no one has stopped to consider the consequences of how we use and waste things. better planning. less greed. smaller populations. etc. sheeple won't wake up to their own stupidity until it is too late and they have destroyed every other living thing on the planet. no wonder they are so anxious for space travel -- they already see the need to discard earth once it has been depleted and go somewhere else.

coloradoan...If you are trying to impress us that those on this thread who work for Big Oil won't be able to get next year's big bonus, you've missed your mark.

Supporters of Big Oil? Take a good look at Houston Proper...where Big Daddy is Big Oil and Big Mama lives off the ratables her state gets twice what every other state doesn't.

You bet your oil rig Texas has a big time problem if Big Oil tanks. They'd lose the only real tax ratable they have out there. In addition, they'd lose all those chubby little electoral votes they lord over the rest of the states. All I can say to that is Hey...Find another job. That is what smartass oil riggers tell everyone else, isn't it?

Most liberals have a college education

conservatives not so much!

My MA disagrees

ewent

"Jeff Jefferson...Anything I can do to put even a teeny crack in the boastful braggart Big Oil Industry in the US is fine by me."

You can start by using no more plastic products, walking everywhere, never use any electrical device again. Ahh, but that is more than you want to do.

hsc321:

No one cares because no one really cares for the snobby way Big Oil has concucted itself over the History of the Oil Business. Greed, illegalities, bribery, lobbying, theft, lying, enviromental rape, pollution, tax breaks and loopholes, absurd profits (ridiculous amounts!), sleeping with politicians, buying votes, back-room sweetheart deals, etc., it goes on and on and on.

Perhaps THAT is why no one cares about Big Oil and the sleazy mess that THEY created.

For more of the truth read Daniel Yergens book The Prize: A History of Big Oil

Learn about the truth before you post your "feelings."

I am just wondering whether you have ever considered how many 10's of 1000's of square miles would have to be decimated to replace oil and mining with wind power. And how come when these alternative methods are proposed that the greenies find reasons to block them too? For example look at how much opposition is being mounted against tidal turbines or turbines placed on riverbeds that rely on tidal waves or river currents.

In addition, nobody ever comes up with the solution on what to use for the backup source of energy for peak power periods or wind-free or nighttime if using solar etc. Electricity plants will still need to run their generators at 65% power (lowest safely allowed with current technology). Sure a 35% reduction is a lot, but when combined with the impact of windfarms destroying the countryside, where's the real savings?

Of course it will take many different types of power to satisfy the demands of a rapidly growing population. I am not so naive as to think that coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear and other "bad in so many ways" power sources will not play a part. The power grid must be maintained 24/7/365. Many new forms of storage, though, are now becoming realities. We should be designing for the future rather than falling back on the bad old past. As a species who needs to become more in tune with the realities and necessity of biological diversity for our own survival, we just don't have that much time (eg. How are we going to pollinate our crops after we kill off all the bees?).

Voter-in-LA:

I don't really think it's fair to compare the environmental impact of windfarms with that of oil drilling and coal mining. Everything humans do has some sort of impact, but wind energy has a far smaller impact on the environment than most other forms of energy production (i.e. I don't think that "decimated" is very accurate). The amount of birds killed or other wildlife impacted by windmills (or wind turbines, whatever you want to call them) is negligible and they are surely not as invasive as airports, four-lane freeways, dams, etc.

As far as the appearance of the windmills goes, I personally don't find them that ugly. If you ever have the chance to drive through some of the windfarms in Europe, you might agree. That is, of course, just my personal opinion. Honestly, solar panels placed on rooftops are about the only form of energy production that could be considered esthetically neutral. Coal, oil, nuclear, wind, tidal and other power plants are all relatively conspicuous constructions, right?

As far as the appearance of the windmills goes, I personally don't find them that ugly. If you ever have the chance to drive through some of the windfarms in Europe, you might agree. That is, of course, just my personal opinion. Honestly, solar panels placed on rooftops are about the only form of energy production that could be considered esthetically neutral. Coal, oil, nuclear, wind, tidal and other power plants are all relatively conspicuous constructions, right?

Think about the impact of the new printable photovoltaic technology on the aesthetics of solar. Your siding on your house could literally be a photovoltaic collector with little change, if any, from its current appearance. Small vertical axis and tread wheel wind turbines have appearances similar to commercial lawn ornaments sold today. The advantage of both of these technologies is that electricity generation is located at the site of demand. Typical transmission distances are the same as your commute. It is only the supplemental needs that need to travel further.

Tim S, even the most sophisticated solar cells on the market have absolutely no utility, and no life-cycle payback value, without taxpayer supported 'green' energy credits, in more than 60% of US, and certainly not along the north-eastern tier where energy use is the greatest.

So these 'new printable PV tech' gew-gaws will have absolutely no utility whatsoever, no matter how cheaply they can be printed, their efficiency is so low they could barely power a lawn ornament. For an hour. They're just there to scoop up those 'green' energy grants. It's all a grotesque scam, like the scam 'turning garbage into oil', turning turkey offal for Tyson into oil, well it turns out, it's just a 'green' tax credit scam and a way to illegally incinerate! They used trace chemistry to test the 'turkey oil' and found it was just plain petroleum diesel someone smuggled into the plant at night, to fake out the sleepy 'green' tax credit auditors.

Same with the bogus Nissan Leaf $7,500 'green' tax credit coming out of your and my taxes, except the payback on the leaf is more than ten years, and the battery is only warranteed for two years, so those Leaf's will NEVER pay back without massive taxpayer subsidies, and of course, totally off-book taxpayer expenses for hazardous battery recycling and disposal!

L-O-O-T-I-N-G!!!!! L-O-O-T-I-N-G!!!!! Eli, boy ... drained dry, I'm so sorry.

Voter in LA...If ever you leave LA and visit Alberta and other western Canadian provinces, you'd see that those wind farms are no more a problem than the windmills most farmers have used for centuries. I was curious about them when I visited there in 2000. Not a sound out of them anyone could find offensive. They lie along most of the prairie areas or in large agricultural areas with extensive open fields.

As a matter of fact, there are already several Texas farmers who are leasing their properties to the federal government for wind farms. Apparently, this is one energy form they don't mind making money from.

expatMatt, I would respectfully disagree. To develop sufficient area to replace the power generated from coal/oil/gas with windfarms would require huge areas. Look for example at the size of the windfarm planned in Cape Cod. And that will barely provide sufficient estimated power for 50% of the population there. Expand that for a mid-sized city of say 500,000 and the footprint required is gigantic and would require deforestation. Similar deforestation would ensue if everyone adapted their homes to solar power. Just to give you a real life estimate, when I considered solar power 2 years ago, the estimates I was given were that my electricity utilization would INCREASE by 28% because of the need to cut down all the shade trees around my home.

Understand I am not anti alternative power at all, yet it always seems people prefer to see the negatives in the current power system, and then when a new alternative is proposed, the very same group(s) oppose the new development citing impact on the environment. Again I would cite as the most recent example the windfarm in Cape Cod that has already succeeded in getting environmentalists in an uproar. Similar arguments also ensured after a group desired to utilize low RPM directional turbines on the riverbed of the Mississippi river and bi-directional in the tidal areas. Coming up with alternative energy ideas always seems to be opposed by the very same groups that are also so vocally anti mining and oil&gas.

PS I have seen the windfarms in Denmark firsthand.

PPS ewent, I leave Louisiana every 28 days. The areas you cite are very low density as far as population is concerned. Do some math and get back to me how many square miles would be needed to install sufficient windmills to power just Bergen and Passaic counties. Who do you propose gives up that land for NJ?

VoterinLA...I live in THE most densely populated state in the union per square mile...NJ. We could very easily have wind farms in the southern part of our state that would reduce the need for higher oil demand. Not what you want to hear, is it?

Texas, to its credit, has already turned several farms into wind farms with absolutely no repercussions. The size of the turbines that generate power hold the key to how many can be located in any area and how much of that power will reduce dependency on oil.

If you are trying to convince me that every square inch of land is occupied, do give it up already. Turbine technology has been used in forced draft and induced draft industrial exhaust fans and many industrial processes for decades. Industries do this to avoid costly electricity useage that cut into their profits.

VoterinLa...In Alberta, the wind farms are located on operating dairy or produce farms. The soil remains pristine, the air remains pristine, the water isn't polluted and your argument is like Marley's Ghost.

If it wasn't for the legions of environmentalists, the number of Love Canals and energy companies carelessly dumping into unlined ponds would end up killing the same nut jobs who curse environmentalists.

NJ has 5 Superfund sites because of careless business owners who polluted artisan water wells people get their drinking water from. They've polluted numerous streams and acres of soil with garden variety carcinogens. Did you want to argue how good that is for your wife and kids to be exposed to?

There a thousands of people in NJ who worked for Johns Mansville who ended up with asbestos poisoning. That okay for you too?

The biggest joke is that the very people who want to continue to destroy this planet, refuse to accept that the planet is rebelling from all of the drilling. Those earthquakes? They may seem on the surface a natural disaster. But, ask any geologist what happens when you go around pockmarking 35,000 foot deep holes in a seabed. Did you think the seabed isn't connecting in the general geological scheme of things to the soil you walk on? Yeesh..How do people who are so educated miss the key basics of nature?

Years ago a hairdresser in the south realized that human hair would absorb oil. So he gathered all the hair cut in a week took it home and the test began. He filled his daughters wading pool with water then added several quarts of oil, dropped in a pantyhose full of human hair, and it absorbed all the oil in the pool. He later wrung the oil back out of the pantyhose. Sooooo, why is this not being used? With all the hair cut in this country we have a consent supply. By the way the hairdresser got a patent on this.

MM-584706, there are constantly new technologies being looked into for clean-up. Some of them night even surprise you, like the use of enzymes that "eat" the oil. After all crude oil IS a natural product that is created by bacteria (and btw methods of new oil production are also being looked at by using improved bacteria to speed-up natures process that takes years to create oil).

Voter,

Algae oil seems to be the most promising of these new power sources. If bacteria can travel in one direction, they can travel in the other (like most chemical processes). Algae even thrives on a CO2 rich atmosphere. What more could we ask for.

Yes cjcold, algae is a great prospect along with quite a few other methods. However....... one of the topics that is most widely being discussed now is when we reach a point that these new methods are viable, exactly WHERE are we going to "harvest" the newly created oil? One segment believes existing/dry wells are the ideal candidate. Others want to create new areas. It won't be an easy transition and most likely the discussions around locale will delay it for decades.

Mmmm, algae oil ... arghlll!

"If they can't get the stuff out with minimum impact, then it should be left there." Could not say it better myself - blog from BBC World News online:

43. At 2:42pm on 29 Apr 2010, Chris B - Slough wrote: I am deeply saddened by this. The loss of life will be horrendous. No amount of money or fines can repair that. If they can't shut the oil off then someone should bomb it to seal it all up. These sort of 'accidents' are completely unacceptable. Environmental damage on this scale is insanity and all for a few dollars more. If they can't get the stuff out with minimum impact, then it should be left there. The continued rape of mother earth will in the end come back and bite us, but by that time those responsible will already be dead and gone. Leaving behind a legacy of an even more burnt-out planet to the next generation.

They should give the fishermen some equipment and let them use their boats to protect the fishing spots.

And how was Sarah's statement so different from that uttered by the President on March 31st?

You know that "change" of heart statement becoming a proponent of drilling off the Atlantic seaboard, in more areas in the Gulf of Mexico etc.

So I'd be guessing the last word of your post was really aimed at the resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave?

If the President continues on with more off-shore drilling, he stands to lose his base support. President Obama only "said it" in order to make a deal. Grow a pair Mr. President! I know it takes making deals to get things done in Washington, but don't alienate those of us who voted for you because we wanted change from the planet raping ways of the previous 8 years.

So how is that drill baby, drill thing working out for you republicans?

Morons....

hey Voter-in-LA, if you vote, you should know the issues and position of the candidates. Obama isn't a "change of heart" on the topic of drilling. He clearly from the onset discussed greener technologies such as wind, solar bio fuels etc... and a mix of drilling. Albeit far less than moron Palin with her drill baby drill mantra to fire up the idiotic base and give Fox news the sound bites it needs to "educate" its viewers..

so- oil sucks. Drilling is horrible for the environment. Obama may open some areas up to it.. but if palin had her way - the sunset coastlines would be littered with oil rigs, and the beaches covered in dead marine life and thick oil slicks.

Patrick, Obama didn't have a change of heart? Explain that one to me. During the campaign he ridiculed McCain/Palin. Then when the pressure comes to bear he agrees to open up new areas. How on earth is that not a change of heart?

And realistically, if you think that in the short time that Obama has been President, that had McCain/Palin won that the horizon would be full of oilrigs you are so out of touch with cost and reality that it's not even funny. Do you have ANY concept how long it takes to drill? Do you have any concept how much it costs to drill? Do you think that oil companies simply go out and drill without taking into account supply & demand?

I hate to tell you, but it's all about MONEY. Not for the oil companies, but lease dollars for the Federal Government and the States abutting the leases. And just because a company buys a lease, does NOT mean they are going to drill there tomorrow. That simply isn't feasable from any standpoint, logistically or financially.

voter, Explain that one to me. During the campaign he ridiculed McCain/Palin.

He ridiculed McCain/Palin's simplistic approach of drill baby drill solution to an energy issue that is going to be with us long after every drop of oil is gone. He was ridiculing their position that if we opened up more drilling during the 2008 campaign that the results would be obtainable before 2020, plain moronic. That is what was ridiculed, the lack of understanding of the scope of the problem and the complexity of the solution.

Precisely, yet people believe now he's for drilling that it will come to fruition any sooner? His responses during his March 31st speech are just as ill-informed as Palin's. It is simply not going to happen at a pace faster than what's needed. It doesn't matter whether it is to obtain independence from foreign oil, or to be ecologically friendlier where we drill. The one and only real reason he's expanding areas: $$$ for the coffers. Truthfully about the only good idea he had about drill leases was to revisit those locations that haven't been explored/drilled yet. A method of swapping leases in high-risk areas for those in lower-risk areas might be something that should be considered.

VoterinLa..Not to worry, this spill is likely going to be the worst in history from the looks of it. Not only will it involve the US but if 5,000 miles of sea bed is destroyed, that means the slimeball oil spill will end up in Central and South America with the currents. Or, are the geniuses of Big Oil already figuring a way to hold back the currents?

"...there is no way they are going to be able to contain this disaster..."

That's being unpatriotic, considering that Der Leader has called for national offshore oil drilling. Darth Officers from DHS have identified your eID, and will escort you to a nearby FEMA camp.

"...Till at last the child's mind is these suggestions, and the sum of the suggestions is the child's mind. And not the child's mind only. The adult's mind too-all his life long. The mind that judges and desires and decides -- made up of these suggestions. But all these suggestions are our suggestions... suggestions from the State!"

This is actually a "good" thing. It is getting close to the time when "White" Americans slather on oil and head to the beach to see who can get the "blackest", well, now you can kill two stones with one bird, just go swimming.....

Craig...There goes my trip to Nawleans. Great. I wait until my kids are grown to see the one city in the US I've always wanted to visit and now, I'd be wading in wads of oil.

it's heart breaking..We love Nawlins...and they just had a great Mardis Gras..., and one of it's biggest attractions is the wonderful seafood...I can't even imagine what this is going to do and quite honestly I do not see how they are going to even come close to containing the damage this is going to cost not only to the beautiful wild life but the fishieries that are so important to the economy. New Orleans itself, will survive, it has faced just about every kind of natural and manmade disaster you can think of and it just keeps coming back...smaller,more expensive but still very spicy.

Believe Anything..Ever since I was a child, I wanted to see Nawlins. I think the people there are such an embedded part of the real Americana. More than any other city in the US, Nawlins is the most unique and closest to the American heart and soul. My Mom took my son there on their way to see NASA. My son never stopped talking about it.

There's goes my shrimp and crawfish broil

dunno where you get your crawfish from, but mine sure as heck don't come out of the Gulf. They're also called mudbugs for a reason.

FWIW the area that the oil slick is currently heading through is pretty much devoid of wildlife being one giant deadzone thanks to pollution from the Mississippi. The biggest issue will come if/when the oil slick hits the beaches. At that point birds will find their feathers matted with tar, will accidentally eat dead items etc. I've seen it all before: Torrey Canyon, Amoco Cadiz, etc. Yet, nature is amazingly versatile. Impacted areas always recover.

Voter,

Always recover? It's been over 20 years and Prince Williams Sound is yet to recover. No polluted areas will ever be what they once were. I'm sure, however, that you are speaking of geologic time. Superfund sites will probably still be polluted and destroying health when our grandchildren have grandchildren. But since we won't be around to see it who cares? Right? Let's get ours while the getting is good an screw all generations to come. The idiocy of mankind never fails to disgust me!

cjcold, when precisely was the last time you visited Alaska? I can tell you that 3 weeks ago when I was there at the exact site of the Exxon Valdez spillage, it wasn't exactly still a total wreckage at the site.

BTW as for pollution, I really wonder whether you realize how much pollution in the Gulf actually emanates from the central farming states of the USA. Do you realize how many tons of fertilizer actually end up in the Gulf? Do you have any concept of the amount of damage that does on a daily basis by causing an expanding deadzone? But I guess that pollution is OK?

Actually I mentioned that in a previous post. I mentioned that there was more than one form of pollution to be seen in the satellite picture of the oil slick. eutrophication from over fertilization has become a major problem. I have a degree in environmental science and it is stunning how many ways that man is fouling his own nest.

And a big part of the fertilizer pollution is related to the oil industry, too. This pollution is a result of the decades of use of oil based fertilizers. They are water soluble and instant release. This means that they are easy to leach out of the soil and into the waterways. This is a shortsighted mistake made by humans. That is unavoidable. What is unconscionable is continuing with this practice in the face of the evidence of its harm.

We need to develop new fertilizers that are slow release and that build up the soil in stead of depleting it like the current ones do. Yet you don't see that from our free market, capitalist system. Why? Because depleting the soil guarantees this industry a captive market. That is the reason. This is where society has not only the right but the obligation to step in and say "No, find a better way.". That can be done by taxing the pollution cause by a practice and paid for by the society in general like the downstream death zones. Or outlawing the practice. The former uses the market to develop better practices and is a permanent incentive for improvements. The other is specific to a practice and hinders the markets ability to adapt.

Unfortunately I suspect the real reason for fertilizer as opposed to letting land lay fallow for a year to regenerate is simply because as our global population grows exponentially, we can no longer afford the luxury of not fertilizing. Maybe we should simply hang a shingle up saying "Global Capacity has been reached" and adopt China's concept of limiting family size.

Taxing the pollution is a neat concept (yawn), except taxation will always be passed on to the end-user (i.e. Joe Public the consumer) and rarely does the revenue from taxation for a cause get expended solely on remedying the problem created.

Deepwater Horizon is America's Chernobyl.

Voter in LA - you are 100% correct. GLOBAL CAPACITY HAS BEEN REACHED. stop reproducing your (stupid) selves sheeple. humans have the reached the point of no return if they don't clean up their act now. too many people, too much waste. too much destruction of natural resources. too much pollution of every kind. since when did everyone think they could reproduce themselves in unlimited numbers and not face any consequences. possibly we could thank the Catholic church and the anti-birth control freaks for encouraging everyone to think it is their given right to keep on birthing without facing the consequences of how they are going to feed everyone or how much of the earth has to ultimately be destroyed in order to accommodate over population by humans.

"If they can't get the stuff out with minimum impact, then it should be left there."

This is now beginning to look like the FUBAR that was the "aid" after Katrina. There isn't any. People are standing around with their thumbs up their noses. You would think by now that there would be a disaster plan in place for this sort of thing. If there isn't a disaster plan, then it should not be allowed to construct in the first place (i.e. this drill site is 2 miles under the sea and obviously required specialized methods for constructing but they conveniently forgot to put a plan in place in the case of a disaster). Interesting that we are desparate enough to take these kinds of risks to feed our oil dependency but not desparate enough to ensure we know how to stop resultant disasters from occurring.

cjcold, when precisely was the last time you visited Alaska? I can tell you that 3 weeks ago when I was there at the exact site of the Exxon Valdez spillage, it wasn't exactly still a total wreckage at the site.

Voter - Are you trying to tell us that there is no oil from the spill on the beaches in Cordova or surrounding beaches?

As far as pollution from industrial farming I don't think anyone here is saying that it doesn't happen. I don't think anyone supports it (except possibly you) but I don't think it has anything to do with the subject. Perhaps the attention deficit disorder is kicking in on you pal.

Craig your correct that we need to cap this leak ASAP, however, your comment shows that you have never had any welding experience. A magnetic field makes welding nearly impossible. Generally magnetic fields are removed from parent material via either heating or stress relieving by repetitive impacts before ever striking an arc.

Petroleum is used in many ways...not just in the production of gasoline & motor oil. People of the world have major choices to make.

nothingnew here...The reality is that the strongarming by Big Oil isn't going to end any day soon. Everything Big Oil is associated with from automakers to the Main Street car owner has to depend on oil ...or, so Big Oil wants us to think.

How exactly is Big Oil different from a drug dealer? They know that no matter what their addicts have to have their daily dose. The problem is Americans don't need oil for every little thing.

How do you make Big Oil addicts go cold turkey?

How do you make Big Oil addicts go cold turkey?

dunno..... but how about YOU lead the way with turning off your computer built with items that used oil products.

Actually Voter, ewent had a good question. How does one get rid of an addiction? I always figured that 12 step programs were for the weak of mind and didn't work that well anyway. It can't be black or white. There have to be varying shades of gray in this withdrawal process. Only logic, innovation and intelligence will see us through. Doctrine and denial will never be a solution.

cjcold, see the problem is not getting rid of the addiction of needing a fuel but finding new methods to create that fuel. However unlike ewent who constantly trolls and complains about "Big Oil", I see their work on a daily basis pursuing new alternative fuel methods. The ads you see on tv are not some publicity stunt, they are factual representations that "Big Oil" is looking at environmentally friendly alternative methods. The addiction isn't Big Oil's problem, the problem is people like ewent who constantly compain about "Big Oil" yet ignore that THEY are the ones who have created the need. The people who believe it is all a major conspiracy. The funny thing is, in 50 years time, ewent's descendants will be complaining on here about "Big Algae" or "Big Windfarm" or "Big Solar". And all because it's easier to complain about something than be a part of a solution.

I am sorry, I didn't create the need. I was born into a world dominated by oil consumption. I was born into a world with the internal combustion engine that runs on oil and an infrastructure developed to supply ONLY these products. I have advocated and tried in every way as an individual to adjust that dependence on a single product and to encourage diversification. For my entire life established energy companies have fought my position every step of the way and are continuing that fight today. Their work today on alternatives are still focused on replacing one addiction with ONE other addiction. They are focused on keeping their monopoly on energy supply. That is reality. It is to be expected from any vested interest group. It is in their self-interest to operate in this way and I don't blame them for doing it. Their objective is to maintain their profits, not to do what is in the best interest of humanity and the earth as a whole. I accept this and don't fault them for it.

I don't submit to it being the only approach the rest of us should take either. What is in their best interest is not necessarily in the best interest of the rest of us. To rely solely on their efforts is stupidity in the extreme, IMHO. It is lazy, unimaginative, and detrimental. And this is where society as a whole has the obligation to fund alternatives to this monopoly. It is societies obligation to support alternatives to this concentration of economic power so that the free market can work. See without competition there is no free market and the cost of competing is too steep for an individual alone. it is like trying to grab 11 people off the street to play in the super bowl against a pro team.

What I don't understand is the general attitude of wanting to remain indebted to big corporations when alternatives do exist and could be implemented with roughly the same capital investment as big wind and big solar.

I have no answer for you Tim other than to suggest you invent time-travel to head back in time to what you perceive as better days. Make sure you take the formula with you as I suspect when you arrive at whatever stage of global evolution you chose, that you'll find that something will not be to your liking. It may be the existence of slavery, it may be the lack of freedom, the lack of the ability to buy a house or even own land, the lack of ability to travel, the lack of ability to read the news and be allowed to be informed as to what is going on, the non-existence of medicine, the inability to vote, you name it. Of course these days you can write and complain about whatever you perceive as being wrong. I sure hope the days you travel back to are equally lenient. The world is far from perfect these days, but it still a far better place than your parents and grandparents grew up in regardless of how much people always like to fondly remember the old days.

The US uses 40% of the energy on the planet!

Fact. 99.3 quadrillion Btus, compared to both

China and India together? 74 quadrillion Btus!

http://www.eia.doe.gov/aer/txt/ptb0103.html

http://www.teamorissa.org/China-India%20Energy%20Usage%20Comparison.pdf

http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/ieo/highlights.html

Order up!

VoterinLa...There are already at least a dozen possibilities that have come to fruition in terms of alternative energy. Solar is spreading like wildfire in the East. Wind power has been in effect in the northwestern states for almost a decade.

You have your head in the sand. You just cannot admit that it's Big Oil that's keeping any of the other 9 forms of energy from reducing Americans dependency on oil. When Exxon can make billions in profit in a single year when the US's worst recession is occurring, don't tell me that isn't because they spent billions on lobbying to keep any other energy forms from cutting into those obscene profits. If you are afraid of losing your oil job, do what conservative smartasses tell everyone else to do...find another means of income.

ewent, do you actually believe the tripe you write? When was the last time you looked at a balance sheet for an Oil company? Did you see the huge drop in revenue and profits or did you just chose to ignore it? I am sure though you saw the huge drop in the billions in income tax derived from them.

I personally am delighted that windpower is coming soon to a state by YOU. That way maybe other areas like Alaska and like the Gulf won't have to support your urban areas any longer.

As for being afraid of losing my job, hmmmmm nope not a concern. First I am sufficiently well off from having retired from a previous career choice prior to entering the oil&gas field that I am simply passing time at this point in my life. Second, there is plenty of development in other areas that will take me well past retirement age. Third, I could always become a freelance bitter tripe writer like yourself.

BTW as an aside, seeing as you seem to think that contribution dollars are directly proportionate to problems caused by that industry or the allocation of funds to that industry, does that finally mean that you agree the Democrats as recipients of approx 60% from the Securities and Finance industry, of approx 58% from the Commercial Banking industry, of approx 68% from the real estate industry, of approx 65% from the insurance industry, of approx 61% from the pharmaceutical industry, etc are to blame for the various issues within those industries? I guess I shouldn't even address the 68% of the total contributions from the defense contractors to the Democrats, huh?

VoterinLa...Do you believe the BP Oil employee's tripe you post? Sure you have to rah rah BP. Right now, your job is likely on the line. This isn't BP's first mess up as I recall.

As for alternative energy, any day you want to step in my state and see rooftops with solar panels on them, businesses selling solar panels like hotcakes and people with new jobs that weren't there before, be my guest.

Till then, pieholes like yours spew out more tripe than that BP oil rig.

Because all the gulf oil is sold to China.

Yup, give it a while & every little gewgaw made in Beijing and shipped to the voracious American consumer will go up a few pennies.

Penny...because that oil has never been in the market. This well was the discovery well for the potential new field.

During the Bush administration, civil unrest and instability in 3rd world countries that produce oil caused the price to go up based on speculation of the reliability of the oil supply.

It had nothing to do with the Bush administration any more than oil prices going up now have anything to do with Obama.

hs321...And based upon your post then, there was no reason for that secret energy meeting in 2001 Cheney felt was so imperative? Or, why he had all of the meeting notes shredded?

You omit to say that the civil unrest was caused by Bush invading a sovereign nation like Iraq, building an embassy larger than three football stadiums and hovering over the Iraqi oilfields, the largest in the mideast, like the hawk he is and always will be.

ewent...see my post below to fieldguy....you should like that one....

Wrong he321. We all know who it was (or at least we all should) Futures traders control the price of everything on the planet (not counting the odd war or two). Wall street and their ilk make money no matter who loses. The money games they play make all middle class consumers pawns in their games. It's about time that the SEC grew a pair and finally did their job. The fantastically rich who have no skills other than screwing people over for their own profit should live on the street in cardboard boxes and see what it feels like. Like many lawyers, these scumbags should all be dead yesterday. It's time for all of the greedy Wall Street users and abusers who make money off of people's suffering to FOAD!

Sorry, FllyinV, but it'll never happen...never.

FlyinV...When Americans show some initiative and stop relying on the good old, good old. Big Oil had its day in the sun for more than a century. It's time for Americans to realize that unless they try something new, they can't know for certain if it works.

OF course they appreciate it. They get what they want (money and power) and they get to blame the democratic party for all the problems. Is there any Republican sin that Obama has not consciously decided to be the scapegoat for? Hmm, let me see: Wall Street? War? Oil? Economy? Environment? Jobs? Nope, he's now fully in charge of pushing the Republican agenda full speed ahead. The rest of the Pubs in Congress can take well deserved long vacations this summer. Obama will push their masters agenda forward all by himself.

Of course, there is one problem. How could they possibly find a better Republican to go against Obama in 2012? THere isn't one. Guess they'll have to pay for his reelection and continue four more years of blaming democrats for making republicans rich. I guess they can live with that.

rrobeson, while I share much of your frustration, candidate Obama always said he would consider expanding oil exploration IF it was part of a larger package to create clean, sustainable energy. His war policy was also spelled out completely (surge in Afghanistan) while he was campaigning. So he hasn't just suddenly changed these things.

still waiting for that 'larger' package.

As for Afghanistan, agreed, though I disagree with him on it and every fact he's shown so far is that he should be disagreeing with himself by now. In business school, it's called fast-failure. (i.e. cut your losses when you realize you're toast).

Agreed trolleater, I was just hoping that they were just more pollititon campaign fudges. Not sure why, but I expected him to do the right thing (as I see it). But then again I am not POTUS. I'm glad that I don't have his problems. As far as I'm concerned he has done a fantastic balancing job. Keep on keeping on Mr. President! We can't always get our own way, but we can keep fighting the good fight.

cjcold...I agree. There is no one political candidate with can agree with 100% of the time. That would make is automatons who agree to everything and anything.

There are still many good decent Republicans out there. They just are not allowed center stage because those good ole boys love the sight of their own faces so much, the others become white noise in the background.

When you've got men like Lindsay Graham, whose state by the way is one of the most polluted, Boehner who is in bed with Big Pharma and the Big HMOs and McWhat's his face from KY who are the only big mouths you hear, you don't hear the views of other Republicans who are not dyed in the wool ideologues or bullies.

mad2002mad...I notice that too. I live in NJ. Every year, PSE&G predictably increases natural gas prices when useage is high, like in winter when people need to heat homes. But, guess what? Natural gas prices for all other companies went down. So, what was PSE&G's excuse for increase? Not enough use.

A lot of New Jerseyans are fed up enough to dump natural gas and electric and are going to solar instead. In my own little housing development, our old late 1950's homes are one by one installing solar panels on the roof and walls of their homes and solar water heating as well. In some cases, there are now NJ solar energy companies who'll pay for the solar panels and you pay a monthly fee that less than half of the cost of the old electric bill. This stuff works if people are open-minded enough to bother to save themselves money.

Then, don't forget those SRECs. Install $30,000 solar panels and get environmental credits that bring that cost down to half.

Too bad most of us can't afford a $15,000 investment.

Are you Awake yet...I know what you mean. $15,000 right now isn't a good investment. But, remember in 1980 when a computer cost more than $3,000? When a fax machine was over a $1,000? When a cell phone was so expensive only rich people had them?

I heavily rely on that wonderful old adage: What Goes Up, Must Come Down. Otherwise, it goes flying off into the Black Hole In Space never to be seen or heard from again. Either way, it's the realities that count.

The reality is that if solar companies want people to buy, it has to be affordable.

ewent, what is providing you with the power when your solar panel isn't generating sufficient for your needs?

I asked the question of someone else touting this not that long ago, if solar is such a great idea, then why aren't utilities investing in them?

BTW I question your figures of $30K for a solar conversion. The estimates I received 2 years ago were $78K plus an additional $6K for hotwater conversion. Net after tax credits and estimated usage credits for power put back into the grid still left me with a bill for $23K (btw they are tax CREDITS meaning you have to be actually paying sufficient to generate the credits which is no doubt a problem for many considering it and for those who can afford it they are limited in how much they can get back - thank you politicians). Add in the issue that roof replacement would increase in cost, shingle life would shorten, homeowners insurance wouldn't cover damage to the panels and the fact nobody could give a clear estimate on the expected lifespan of the panels (somewhere from 15-40 years depending on who you believe), and it is NOT an economically feasable item for the vast majority of people even if one can afford it. Not to mention the fact I would have to cut down every single one of the liveoak trees surrounding my property which provide summertime shade.

You talk a good game ewent, but reality is far removed from your oil-hating opinions.

The technology is improving and the costs are coming down for both wind and solar home setups. Eventually, single home situations will be able to provide for themselves. Individual storage facilities are improving to the point that many will be able to go off-line completely. Some already do. It will only get better and cheaper as time goes by. The future is self sufficiency.

This process could be accelerated tremendously by supplying loans to home owners and commercial building owners. The payments could be set up based on the reduction of grid energy usage. For instance, the loan payment is equal to half the savings in the electric grid usage times the current rate per kWh. This is easy to determine based on the output of the installed equipment. This would exclude the money from selling excess electricity back to the grid.

OK, but who would lend the money? Many people can barely qualify for the mortgages they hold. We've all seen what happens when people overextend themselves.

I am also not quite sure I comprehend your loan structure idea. Under the current system those going "green" receive far more than 50% of the current kwh rate. In fact, public utilities are arguing that the cost of paying credits to those generating solar and wind power is unfair to them because the power is being put back into the grid at non-peak times (i.e. when the power actually doesn't end up being used).

Geothermal heat pumps with ground pipes trenched through your yard is the only truly viable and life-cycle cost return 'high tech' that I have seen. Solar is a scam anywhere in the north, it depends entirely on taxpayer 'green' credits coming out of your and my life savings, so some RWF with $30,000 laying around in cash can be the first on his block with daytime backfeed. $1000 for a 20,000 BTU heat pump, plus the trenching you can hire illegal landscape workers.

Why is there a major oil spill right after the president announces approval to explore off the east coast? I look forward to the results of the investigation. BP and other oil companies should have disaster preparedness plans to deal with just these issues, yet it sounds like they had inadequate protections built into the design, and inadequate response capability to deal with a major leak. They need to pay up, but money isn't going to fix all of the damage this could do.

And yes, he has been quite clear that it's to make us less dependent on foreign oil while our alternative energy technologies ramp up. The bigger picture. Like the funding in place for electric and hybrid technologies, wind power, bio fuels, and natural gas. Cap and trade to drive industry to new energy sources. Clean coal technologies. Stuff like that.

fieldguy...sorry, but it's Bush's fault. He is also responsible for the black death that killed millions a few centuries ago, and the comet/asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs.

GJ,

"I remind you most politely that our President just approved more off shore drilling."

Yeah, I question that. I know it said that in all the news stories I read but when I look at the comments from the administration all I ever hear is "exploration" has been approved. Wonder how easy it will be to put up a rig after they explore and actually find oil?

oh he definitely is or was pushing off shore drilling from north Fla to the Chesapeake Bay...but I hope he is smart enough to back off that dog...it just isn't going to hunt anymore...

Yeah I know a lot will disagree with me...but our need of oil is going to be our downfall...some are trying...but it is just not enough, quick enough.

Well obviously the only place we should completely ravage for oil and natural resources would be Alaska. Their population will cheer and cheer and cheer. ANyone that can breed the likes of Sarah and family, would appreciate global armeggedon especially when it occurs in their backyard first. Of course, Sarah's done the honorable Republican thing, she cashed out on top of her game and is living high off the stupidity off all the little people pushing tons of money down her blouse.

Most haven't traveled around the northern aspects of Alaska. It is a harsh and beautiful country for extremely hardy individuals. I would prefer that it was open only to such as the Innuit, Richard Proenneke wannabes and those who live with their dog teams. The vast pollution we are seeing now due to the oil craze is disgusting. Unfortunately the economy allows for nothing less than oil jobs. The dichotomy of the situation is disturbing. Palin is not what we needed. Thank God she retired.

As someone who works a 4 week rotation on/off in Deadhorse, AK (yes working for a contractor for the dreaded Big Oil on what will be the longest extended reach drill of 8 miles+), I can tell you there isn't much else up here. There is no huge pollution here. And the Alaskans I meet are thrilled to get their royalty check/dividend each year (approx $8K).