Offshore drilling should be tied to a mandatory min gas mileage.

[OneFootInTheGrave]

Originally posted by PLATO
Drill here. Drill now.

There has never been a major oil spill from an offshore platform. It is ridiculous to send our wealth to a foriegn country for a resource we have here.

While we are drilling, I am all for researching alternative fuels and conservation methods.

research like you (we) did last 20 years... we already have the capability to wean ourselves off...

nuclear for electricity and diesel/hybrids for transport... + we all have capability for true "public transport" ala Japan which could be fully electric... so that there is an alternative to cars in day to day living...

but are we (especially US and UK) doing it? we could have been there 10x already if there was any political will...

[Arrian]

I like your idea, Lancer. We're gonna drill at some point. Now or later, eventually we will drill. Given that I'd like to see higher gas mileage standards anyway, I like the idea of tying it to the DRILL NOW!11!!! proposal.

It'll be more effective, too...

-Arrian

[Verto]

Originally posted by Verto
Offshore drilling would have no effect on gas prices for over 20 years, and even then it will be a relatively insignificant one.

I'd also like to add:

Look closely. As of 2003, oil companies had available for leasing and development 40.92 billion barrels of offshore oil in the Gulf of Mexico. I asked the EIA analyst how much of that (estimated) available oil had been discovered in the last five years. She went to her computer and said “about 7 billion barrels have been found.” That leaves about 34 billion still to find and develop.

http://climateprogress.org/2008/07/10/the-cruel-offshore-drilling-hoax-part-1/

[Lancer]

Originally posted by Arrian
I like your idea, Lancer. We're gonna drill at some point. Now or later, eventually we will drill. Given that I'd like to see higher gas mileage standards anyway, I like the idea of tying it to the DRILL NOW!11!!! proposal.

It'll be more effective, too...

-Arrian

There's a mentality out there that if we only had more oil, all would be well. They forget that burning it turns the planet into a hothouse. Or they don't care.

As long as they can drive their Hummers and other gas guzzling ego machines, they think all is well.

[Lancer]

Originally posted by OneFootInTheGrave


research like you (we) did last 20 years... we already have the capability to wean ourselves off...

nuclear for electricity and diesel/hybrids for transport... + we all have capability for true "public transport" ala Japan which could be fully electric... so that there is an alternative to cars in day to day living...

but are we (especially US and UK) doing it? we could have been there 10x already if there was any political will...

[SlowwHand]

Why would you give workers cars? Why not passes on public transportation?
Also, when you cut the trucking industry, where are you going to put the truckers and other people tied to the industry?

[Lancer]

This country produces enough or more than enough of most everything needed to live. Lots of people will be put out of work in order to save the climate, but we can still provide everything those people need while they find other work. Providing cars that polute at a fraction of todays cars will take a huge work force when you consider that all those cars would be made in the US.

Consider the socially advanced ants. They all work for the betterment of the colony. We humans screw each other over for a dime, steal, kill our own, all sorts of nasty stuff. Ants don't need bonuses or overtime or golden parachutes. We aren't ants but I'm sure we can provide for our nation while its in transition. The economists will tell us its not possible, but they are the first ones looking for new work. Well...right after the ambulance chasers anyway.

Imagine we are on a spaceship (we are) and life support is breaking down (it is). By offshore drilling we are just destroying life support more, so we can get around the ship easier. Well there's new ways to get around the ship, and we better get everyone working on life support or we're dead as a colony.

Yeah. That almost makes sense.

[Aeson]

Originally posted by Lancer
I'd hold at 50. The Prius does better than that now.

I said American cars

[Lancer]

Americans can make such cars too. Even better in fact. Americans are taking Prius and making them plug in rechargeable giving mpg ratings of 200, if you don't consider the electric.

[The Mad Monk]

Vehemently disagree. Even if the oil companies ran the auto companies.

Which they don't.

...

It's not just about fuel, people!

Lubricants, plastics, synthetic rubbers, pharmaceuticals, coatings, the list of products is endless.

Society depends on them, and we have very few alternatives.

We damn well better think about twenty years in the future.

[Lancer]

How much will sea level rise be in 20 years? Will our breadbasket be a dust bowl?

Could we not get those other things if cars were getting 50 mpg?

[Whoha]

Depends on if we can save the world with global cooling, and the Old Farmers Almanac says that we can.

Depends on why the dust bowl happened the first time,I think there will be another one.

[chequita guevara]

Quit *****ing about the price of gas. Drive less and driver smarter. I get 30 mpg/city in my ten year old, 130K Nissan Sentra. Drive 55, keep your tires inflated, use the bike when you don't need to use the car.

[Lancer]

Is someone *****ing about the price of gas? In the wrong thread Che?

[Arrian]

Originally posted by The Mad Monk

It's not just about fuel, people!

Lubricants, plastics, synthetic rubbers, pharmaceuticals, coatings, the list of products is endless.

Society depends on them, and we have very few alternatives.

We damn well better think about twenty years in the future.

Absolutely. Which is why we need to figure out ways of using less oil as fuel for cars/trucks/etc. We're still going to need it for all those other products, and global demand ain't going down anytime soon...

-Arrian