John McCain has drawn first blood in the political debate following Barack Obamas victory in the primaries. His call yesterday for offshore oil drilling,and Bush's decision to press the issue in Congress, puts the Democrats in the position of advocating the 'wear your sweater' policies that made Jimmy Carter unpopular.

With gas prices nearing $5, all of the previous shibboleths need to be discarded. Where once voters in swing states like Florida opposed offshore drilling, the high gas prices   more...

John McCain has drawn first blood in the political debate following Barack Obamas victory in the primaries. His call yesterday for offshore oil drilling,and Bush's decision to press the issue in Congress, puts the Democrats in the position of advocating the 'wear your sweater' policies that made Jimmy Carter unpopular.

With gas prices nearing $5, all of the previous shibboleths need to be discarded. Where once voters in swing states like Florida opposed offshore drilling, the high gas prices are prompting them to reconsider. McCain's argument that even hurricane Katrina did not cause any oil spills from the offshore rigs in the Gulf of Mexico certainly will go far to allay the fears of the average voter.

For decades, Americans have dragged their feet when it comes to switching their cars, leaving their SUVs at home, and backing alternative energy development and new oil drilling. But the recent shock of a massive surge in oil and gasoline prices has awakened the nation from its complaisance. The soaring prices are the equivalent of Pearl Harbor in jolting us out of our trance when it comes to energy.

Suddenly, everything is on the table. Offshore drilling, Alaska drilling, nuclear power, wind, solar, flex-fuel cars, plug-in cars are all increasingly attractive options and John McCain seems alive to the need to go there while Obama is strangely passive. During the Democratic primary, he opposed a gas tax holiday and continues to be against offshore and Alaska drilling and squishy on nuclear power.

That leaves turning down your thermostat and walking to work as the Democratic policies.

McCain has also been ratcheting up his attacks on oil speculators. With the total value of trades in oil futures soaring from $13 billion in 2003 to $260 billion today, it is increasingly clear that it is not the supply and demand for oil which is, alone, driving up the price, but it is the supply and demand for oil futures which is stoking the upward movement.

The Saudis have made a fatal mistake in not forcing down the price of oil.

We could have gone for decades as their hostage, letting their control over our oil supplies choke us while enriching them. But they got greedy and let the price skyrocket. The sudden shock which has sent America reeling is just the stimulus we need for a massive movement away from imported oil and toward new types of cars.

The political will for major change in our energy policy is now here and those, like Obama, who don't get it need to rethink their positions. To quote FDR, 'this great nation calls for action and action now' on the energy issue.

What has been a back-burner problem now has moved onto center stage and McCain has put himself in the forefront.

The Democratic ambivalence stems from liberal concerns about climate change. The party basically doesn't believe in carbon-based energy and, therefore, opposes oil exploration.

That's why Obama pushes the windfall profits tax on oil companies, a step that tells them 'you drill, you find oil, and we'll take away your profits.' But Americans have their priorities in order: more oil, more drilling and alternative energy sources, flex-fuel cars, plug-in vehicles and nuclear power.

With his willingness to respond to the gas price crisis with bold measures, McCain shows himself to be a pragmatist while Obama comes off as an ideologue to puts climate change ahead of making it possible for the average American to get to work.

Of course, the high price of gas makes it inevitable that the U.S. will lead the world in fighting climate change.

With $5 gas, Americans will switch en masse to cars that burn less gasoline. Already we have cut our oil consumption by 500,000 barrels a day in the past year (about a 3 percent cut).

The move away from oil will be exponential from here on out, dooming radical Islam and reversing climate change at the same time. But while we are getting new cars, we need more oil and McCain has flanked Obama on this issue. Big time. less...

You don't read very well do you? I'm curious, did you even read any of the FACTS I posted? Such as:

- The 68 million acres of leased, inactive federal land could produce an additional 4.8 million barrels of oil and 44.7 billion cubic feet of natural gas each day.
- That would nearly double total U.S. oil production, and increase natural gas production by 75%.

Now for the refineries:
"Myth 1: Oil refineries are not being built in the U.S. because environmental regulations, particul  more...

You don't read very well do you? I'm curious, did you even read any of the FACTS I posted? Such as:

- The 68 million acres of leased, inactive federal land could produce an additional 4.8 million barrels of oil and 44.7 billion cubic feet of natural gas each day.
- That would nearly double total U.S. oil production, and increase natural gas production by 75%.

Now for the refineries:
"Myth 1: Oil refineries are not being built in the U.S. because environmental regulations, particularly the Clean Air Act, are so bureaucratic and burdensome that refiners cannot get permits.

Fact: Environmental regulations are not preventing new refineries from being built in the U.S.From 1975 to 2000, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) RECEIVED ONLY ONE PERMIT REQUEST for a new refinery."
... "oil companies are regularly applying for 'and receiving' permits to modify and expand their existing refineries."

"Myth 2: The U.S. oil refinery market is competitive.
Fact: Actually, industry consolidation is limiting competition in oil refining sector. The largest five oil refiners in the United States (ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips, BP, Valero and Royal Dutch Shell) now control over half (56.3%) of domestic oil refinery capacity; the top ten refiners control 83%.

Only ten years ago, these top five oil companies only controlled about one-third (34.5%) of domestic refinery capacity; the top ten controlled 55.6%. This dramatic increase in the control of just the top five companies makes it easier for oil companies to manipulate gasoline supplies by intentionally withholding supplies in order to drive up prices.

Indeed, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) concluded in March 2001 that oil companies had intentionally withheld supplies of gasoline from the market as a tactic to drive up prices all as a 'profit-maximizing strategy.'

A May 2004 U.S. Governmental Accountability Office (GAO) report also found that mergers in the oil industry directly led to higher prices and this report did not even include the large mergers after the year 2000, such as ChevronTexaco and ConocoPhillips. Yet, just one week after Hurricane Katrina, the FTC approved yet another merger of refinery giants Valero Energy and Premcor giving Valero 13% of the national market share.

These actions, while costing consumers billions of dollars in overcharges, have not been challenged by the U.S. government.

Myth 3: The United States has maxed out its oil refining capability.
Fact: Oil companies have exploited their strong market position to intentionally restrict refining capacity by driving smaller, independent refiners out of business.
A congressional investigation uncovered internal memos written by the major oil companies operating in the U.S. discussing their successful strategies to maximize profits by forcing independent refineries out of business, resulting in tighter refinery capacity.
From 1995-2002, 97% of the more than 920,000 barrels of oil per day of capacity that have been shut down were owned and operated by smaller, independent refiners. Were this capacity to be in operation today, refiners could use it to better meet today's reformulated gasoline blend needs. Profit margins for oil refiners have been at record highs.

In 1999, for every gallon of gasoline refined from crude oil, U.S. oil refiners made a profit of 22.8 cents. By 2004, the profits jumped 80% to 40.8 cents per gallon of gasoline refined.

Between 2001 and mid-2005, the combined profits for the biggest five refiners was $228 billion." Source buzzflash<dot>com/articles/analysis/310

One last thing Pelosis is not my hero. She lost any respect I might of had for her when she said impeachment for war criminal and international terrorist Bush was off the table; and watching her roll-over for the telecom immunity bill for illegal wiretaps and data mining just proves what a corporate whore she really is. I imagine that should make you have a new found respect for Pelosi. I have not make an opinion on Obama[ YET]. less...

Quoting: Originally posted by medicinemanrn Obama replied the other day that he had wished the oil price increases had been slower. He doesnt have a problem with the higher prices, only that they increased so quickly. And, yes, it is ver...

Other countries drilling just outside our waters? Oh you must mean Mexico, Canada and the Soviet Union (or what they call themselves now). Yeah, those are only counties drilling outside our waters. I can tell you are listening to druggie-limp-dick r  more...

Quoting: Originally posted by medicinemanrn Obama replied the other day that he had wished the oil price increases had been slower. He doesnt have a problem with the higher prices, only that they increased so quickly. And, yes, it is very obvious we must find alternatives, but it will take years to create and integrate these changes into the market. With 250 million cars in the US, and an average 8 million cars sold here each year, it will take 38 years to replace them. As for our drilling offshore, other countries are drilling just outside our waters. They are going after the oil we should be drilling for, but Im sure they will take all the safety precautions the US companies do. Yeah right. Obama may be all about change, but I dont think I can handle his kind of change.

Other countries drilling just outside our waters? Oh you must mean Mexico, Canada and the Soviet Union (or what they call themselves now). Yeah, those are only counties drilling outside our waters. I can tell you are listening to druggie-limp-dick rush cuz he started that bs. less...

SORRY TO INTERRUPT YOUR BLOG WITH THE TRUTH BUT...

- On the Outer Continental Shelf, 82% of federal natural gas and 79% of federal oil is located in areas that are currently open for leasing.

- Onshore, 62% of oil and 84% of natural gas resources are either fully accessible under standard lease stipulations designed to protect lands and wildlife, or will be accessible pending the completion of land-use planning or environmental reviews.

- Between 1999 and 2007, drilling permits for oi  more...

SORRY TO INTERRUPT YOUR BLOG WITH THE TRUTH BUT...

- On the Outer Continental Shelf, 82% of federal natural gas and 79% of federal oil is located in areas that are currently open for leasing.

- Onshore, 62% of oil and 84% of natural gas resources are either fully accessible under standard lease stipulations designed to protect lands and wildlife, or will be accessible pending the completion of land-use planning or environmental reviews.

- Between 1999 and 2007, drilling permits for oil and gas development on public lands increased more than 361%.

- Since 2004, the Bureau of Land Management has issued 28,776 permits to drill on public land; in that same time, only 18,954 wells were actually drilled.

- Oil and gas companies have stockpiled nearly 10,000 extra permits to drill that they are not using to increase domestic production.

- Onshore, of the 47.5 million acres of federal lands leased by oil and gas companies, only about 13 million acres are actually producing oil and gas.

- Offshore, only 10.5 million of the 44 million leased acres are currently producing oil or gas.

- Combined, oil and gas companies hold leases to nearly 68 million acres of federal land that are not producing oil and gas.

- The 68 million acres of leased, inactive federal land could produce an additional 4.8 million barrels of oil and 44.7 billion cubic feet of natural gas each day.

- That would nearly double total U.S. oil production, and increase natural gas production by 75%.

- 4.8 million barrels of oil equals more than six times the estimated peak production from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

- Development of and production from the 68 million acres currently under lease but not in production would cut US imports of oil by one-third.

MCCAIN CAN SPIN THE BS ANY WAY HE WANTS BUT IT IS STILL BS. less...

Quoting: Originally posted by noskoolbiker Let's just make everyone ride motorcycles, that would solve the problem,lol. See, life is easy

carefull what you ask for, you just might get it..lol

Obama replied the other day that he had wished the oil price increases had been slower. He doesnt have a problem with the higher prices, only that they increased so quickly.

And, yes, it is very obvious we must find alternatives, but it will take years to create and integrate these changes into the market. With 250 million cars in the US, and an average 8 million cars sold here each year, it will take 38 years to replace them.

As for our drilling offshore, other countries are drilling jus  more...

Obama replied the other day that he had wished the oil price increases had been slower. He doesnt have a problem with the higher prices, only that they increased so quickly.

And, yes, it is very obvious we must find alternatives, but it will take years to create and integrate these changes into the market. With 250 million cars in the US, and an average 8 million cars sold here each year, it will take 38 years to replace them.

As for our drilling offshore, other countries are drilling just outside our waters. They are going after the oil we should be drilling for, but Im sure they will take all the safety precautions the US companies do. Yeah right.

Obama may be all about change, but I dont think I can handle his kind of change. less...