Bush to Lift Ban on Oil, Gas Drilling off U.S. Coasts
July 14 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush will lift a presidential moratorium on drilling for oil and natural gas on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf, setting up a showdown with Congress over a separate ban it put in place in the 1980s.
Bush ``has decided to lift the executive ban on oil exploration in America's Outer Continental Shelf,'' White House spokesman Dana Perino told reporters. ``Congress has not moved forward despite calls from constituents and the continued pressure of record high energy prices.''
Pressure to permit drilling off the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean coastlines and in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico has been building as oil and gasoline prices have surged to records.
Congress has barred drilling since 1983 through an annual Interior Department spending bill. That ban could be lifted if Bush refused to sign the department's fiscal 2009 appropriations measure that is now being debated in both the House and Senate.
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4 comments:
It's not really clear to me why offshore drilling should not be favored rather than disparaged by ecologists. First of all, they're always whining about producing things locally -- so why not right in plain site from the beach, rather than being dragged halfway around the world? Also, my theory on oil spills is that it's actually environmentally beneficial as it delivers hydrocarbon nutrients into the ecosystem. Plus, it has to be more controllable to bring oil from a rig to a port five miles away...how much could happen? Overall, offshore drilling in the US seems "Greener" than what we're doing now.
"The overwhelming concern of environmentalists who fear a massive oil spill is all for naught. Drilling technology – built right here at home – has so advanced as to make the possibility of an eco-disaster virtually nil. If other countries across the globe are digging for oil off their respective coastlines without consequence, why aren’t we? ...
The technology at our disposal now is capable of controlling and managing an oil well’s pressure. We have subsea trees – FMC Technologies (FTI) makes them – to regulate the process. We even have 4-D seismic technology to ensure safe drilling.
'This is not a dirty, dangerous endeavor anymore,' Cramer said."
Debunking the Offshore Drilling Myth
DEMOCRATS ON THE HOT SEAT FOR BLOCKING OFFSHORE OIL DRILLING
"The Bush plan is a hoax," responded House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. "It will neither reduce gas prices nor increase energy independence."
Oil prices dropped $10 a barrel this morning.
Some hoax.
Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., denounced the president's decision as "a politcal stunt."
No, the ball is in the Democrat's court. The offshore moratorium comes up for a vote right before the election.
76% of Americans support offshore oil exploration & production.
This translates to Democrats either failing to pick up seats in Congress or possibly even losing power -- and not getting the White House -- in a Fall election that had been, up till now, tailored made for Democratic gains.
Are Democrats listening to the American People?
Possibly.
Senator Harry Reid, D-Nev., the majority leader is feeling the political heat, and faces an increasing uneasiness among his Democratic colleages, who have signaled receptiveness to allowing more drilling.
In the Senate, state-wide political groundswells have more potential to topple sitting Senators, so, no wonder Senate Democrats are more responsive than Democratic House leaders, that stay in power based on narrow special interests, which presumably insulate them from general political groundswells.
High gasoline prices at the pump have created that political grounswell.
And the White House hangs in the political balance.
Republicans need to "push the peddle to the metal" on this issue because it's also a window on a broader philosophical difference between the two parties:
Democrats have a belief in 'collective' governmental action versus Republicans belief in individual choice and letting the market work.
Of course, this is a broad generalization and there are exceptions -- but the broad pattern holds true on issue after issue.
Offshore drilling is just the issue that puts this difference in stark relief.
Americans are not a pack of raving socialists -- unlike the leadership of the Democratic Party.
Offshore oil drilling puts the Democrats' necks in a political noose.
Democrats better wake up or they'll get hoisted to a political light post -- el la Mussolini, “El Duci”.
That's a visual that should scare the shit out of Democrats.
Oil's biggest drop in 17 years.
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