Question of the week.... offshore drilling?

Drilling for our own oil may not make the prices go down, but it will lessen our dependence on foreign supplies.

I posted the Citizens Against Government Waste web site address for signing the petition to ask Congress to do so last week, it got mixed comments and while some were pretty good (yea and any) the gist is that many people see no problem continuing with foreign oil until alternative energy sources suddenly appear.

I see no short term alternative to fossil fuels in real measurable amounts. I do know that not drilling where we can, is short sided and costly to the American consumer.

Offshore drilling will have no significant impact on the price of oil and will not reduce dependence on foreign oil. Bush's reversal of his fathers Executive Order is just a gimmick to try to lessen the stench of his presidency.

The oil companies already control millions of acres they have not explored on, giving them more is unconscionable. It is time to end the handouts and tax breaks to the companies that are making record profits while the rest of the economy goes down the tubes.

No way, no how!!!

I guess I don't understand why people are so opposed to offshore drilling. I obviously need to learn more, but I know I'd rather see some American workers employed, even if it doesn't bring the cost of gas down, than to just keep shipping all of our money and jobs overseas. I know some people are worried about the environmental impact, but that holds true no matter where they may drill. And China will be drilling off the coast of Cuba, so don't tell me that their drilling would be more environmentally sound than we would be.

The oil companies already have leases for off-shore drilling, giving them the right to drill in protected areas would take jobs away from other Americans. It would close down fishing areas and tourist areas. Bush is giving them what they already have and taking it away from other Americans who depend on it for their economy.

I support offshore drilling for the same reason Rob does. I also think we need to come up with affordable alternatives.

dont matter to me they are going to do what they want anyway

The issue of off-shore drilling needs to be considered as part of an over-all energy policy. The new energy policy needs to be developed by a much larger, more diverse group than that which wrote the Bush/Cheney policy. It cannot be just energy companies and lobbyists.

The new energy policy needs to include energy conservation and alternative sources. It must also consider the environmental impact of all energy sources.

Opening the Strategic Petroleum Reserve would have much more of an impact on energy prices in the short term. Off-shore drilling would not put any additional oil into the supply system before 2030.

It was only recently that Bush stopped adding oil to the Strategic Reserve. Buying large quantities of oil at inflated prices is one reason the price of oil has continued to rise. If oil companies know the government will buy all the oil they can produce at any price they have no incentive to lower prices. Even if the rest of us suckers cannot buy it the Bush/Cheney Oil Gang will.

I do not want to make a firm declaration on off-shore drilling until I understand the subject better. I am retired from the marketing headquarters of a major oil company, so I have some awareness of the subject.

Have the oil companies themselves expressed a great interest in the off shore resources? For years ANWR was constantly in the news, and the odd thing was a lack of interest by the major oil companies in that area. The issue was mostly political, and the oil companies themselves did not see that as a best next step to their upstream portfolios.

The major capital initiatives currently among most major companies is in massive and localized LNG processing facilities.

In short, is the further drilling and recovery of crude oil even in line with the major oil companies' current energy development plans?

I always find it funny that the majority of people that say yes to off shore drilling usually live no where near the coasts that it will effect. I live on the coast of Ca and don't really want more here.

I think the answer needs to be more from conserving or just not using so darn much, rather than drilling for more anywhere.

I reside in a coastal region of the Golden State. No serious nation would deliberately constrain itself [by executive order, congressional ban, legislation, or the NIMBY syndrome] in harnessing its own energy resources (petroleum, natural gas, nuclear, solar, etc)

Yes, should be able to drill any where. They need to uncap some of the well they have capped.

No offshore drilling is necessary. We don't have a supply problem, we have a refinery, speculator and Republican shill problem.

The strategic oil reserves could be tapped and give us an immediate 2 million barrels a day more of supply. We could do that for almost a year, if it would help. The fact is that we don't have enough refinery capacity to process the oil that we have available.

Speculators have driven the prices up, and the Bush gang has refused to help close the Enron loophole. Republicans have BLOCKED legislation urging companies to drill on existing leases and sell oil only to US suppliers.

What we need is a sound energy policy. Drilling to be drilling is not a sound policy, it's giving our energy future to a bunch of multi-nationals who don't even have to sell the product to us.