Mccain and oil drilling

John McCain just switched his view on offshore oil drilling. He now wants the government to lift restrictions on offshore drilling, and start drilling. Obama says that offshore drilling in the US will not affect gas prices for half a decade, with Gore by...

his side. How do you feel about offshore drilling? Do you think McCain is right to change his mind and support it now?

I disagree with it. Main reason: offshore drilling creates toxic pollution dumped in the water by the rig's daily operations. The animals and plants and entire ecosystem in the area will likely be poisoned and destroyed. I'd rather pay for high gas now, and leave the environment alone...then pay for high gas now and hurt the environment.

Opinions?

Given the fact that oil is traded on a global market, any oil tapped from the ocean (or ANWR, for that matter) would have little if any influence on the price of oil. Even if it had a nominal effect it would be at least five years before US consumers saw it. It's not like US oil companies would find new oil reserves and only sell it to Americans for a discount. They sell it to the highest bidder, which may be China or India. And then there's the problem of refineries. Here are two problems to consider...
Money - Offshore development ventures require heavy investment. Deep-water enterprises require favorable geology and extensive exploration before oil companies will place a bet on them.

Environmental Damage - Studies show that waste discharged from offshore rigs, including drilling muds, drill cuttings, and produced formation water, can have significant impacts on marine environments.

But that's a more complicated message than telling the American people that crazy environmentalists are keeping gas prices high by blocking exploration on our own shores. So much for straight talk.

Not only has McCain jumped on the Bush bandwagon, he is now in the driver's seat.

To believe that offshore drilling will greatly lower the price of gas at the pumps is ridiculous...

Instead of environmentally ruining our coastlines, why not go after the oil companies that are enjoying the highest profit margin ever?

I think domestic drilling is the wave of the future. the reason our gas costs so much is because we buy our oil from other countries, and the dollar is worthless. add to that the fact that the government just printed up a bunch more worthless money and gave it to everybody in the form of a stimulus check. thanks guys, for continuing to ruin our economy. drilling for our own oil will drop oil prices, and will help our economy because we won't be spending all of our worthless money overseas. even if it takes a few years to drop prices, I still think it's worth it. as for destroying the environment, it really doesn't hurt it that much, and there certainly isn't anything TOXIC happening. there might be a little oil that leaks out, but if you recall, oil used to seep out of the ground naturally. if it makes you feel better, you could say that by spilling some oil on the ground you're actually making up for the oil that would have naturally seeped out had we not been drilling for the last hundred years already. and even if it did ruin the environment, why would it be okay to buy oil from somewhere else? it would be ruining it WHEREVER you drilled it from. the concept of it being wrong only because it's being done on our doorstep is stupid. I was rooting for obama, but if mcCain is willing to drill here...

A Rasmussen Report today:

67% Support Offshore Drilling, 64% Expect it Will Lower Prices — Most voters favor the resumption of offshore drilling in the United States and expect it to lower prices at the pump, even as John McCain has announced his support for states that want to explore for oil and gas off their coasts.
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I don't think they would be allowing drilling anywhere in the U.S. if the oil companies were intentionally putting toxins into the environment. Sure there may be an occasional oil leak or spill, but that's just part of living. Life isn't free of all risk. But I think the oil companies do a pretty good job.

Um have you seen gas..like 4 50 a gallon where I live..DRILL!

67% Support Offshore Drilling, 64% Expect it Will Lower Prices

That doesn't mean it's right It means people are greedy and would rather pay less for gas, even if it means the natural habitat of many animals is being destroyed. I'd rather pay the $4.50 a gallon and know that the Everglades and Alaska is spared. But I think I'm the minority lol.

 
editor, you have been mislead by the environmentalists.

There has been no damage to the natural habitat in Alaska to speak of because of drilling. And there wouldn't be if ANWR is opened to drilling.

More damage to habitat and the environment has been caused by clear-cutting forests, mining excavating and even building homes where people can live than has been caused by oil development.

I believe we should drill here.
but knowing that it may possibly harm something should allow us to design drilling rigs which are as environmentally safe as possible.
I love the state of alaska, as well as the everglades- but we need to be less reliant on overseas oil period.

so as stated above- DRILL.

There has been no damage to the natural habitat in Alaska to speak of because of drilling.

There has been substantial damage to the environment around Prudhoe Bay from oil drilling.

Besides, drilling for oil is not going to lower the price of crude any time in the near or semi-near future as amoeba said. Nor is it even worth considering. We don't have an oil supply problem, we have an oil selling problem. With all the speculation on oil stocks on the market right now, it's become far more profitable to store oil than to sell it, which is exactly what's happening worldwide.

ethmer,

There has been no damage to the natural habitat in Alaska to speak of because of drilling.

Any sources?

My source, RAN, says:

A steady stream of pollution from offshore rigs causes a wide range of health and reproductive problems for fish and other marine life.
Offshore drilling exposes wildlife to the threat of oil spills that would devastate their populations.
Offshore drilling activities destroy kelp beds, reefs and coastal wetlands.

Over its lifetime, a single oil rig can:
Dump more than 90,000 metric tons of drilling fluid and metal cuttings into the ocean;
Drill between 50-100 wells, each dumping 25,000 pounds of toxic metals, such as lead, chromium and mercury, and potent carcinogens like toluene, benzene, and xylene into the ocean, and
Pollute the air as much as 7,000 cars driving 50 miles a day.

History of accidents and violations

In May 1992, Chevron USA pleaded guilty to 65 violations of the Clean Water Act and paid $8 million in fines for illegal discharges from the company's production platform of the California coast.
In March 1997, Chevron was fined 1.2 million for operating a well off the coast of Ventura with a broken ant-blowout valve, a key environmental protection on an offshore oil well.
In 1998, a rupture in Torch Oil's pipeline spilled 21,000 gallons of oil, damaging a rich ocean fishing ground and killing wildlife in the delicate coastal ecosystem at the mouth of the Santa Ynez River.
State and local authorities repeatedly cited the Venoco Corporation for releases of deadly hydrogen sulfide gas at its Goleta platform in 1998-99.
An ARCO pipeline ruptured in the 1994 Northridge earthquake, spilling 193,000 gallons of oil into the Santa Clara River.

Global oil extraction history

There is an ecological limit to the use of oil: scientists warn of serious global warming as we continue to burn more and more oil.
Since 1988, the oil industry has drilled more than 100,000 exploratory wells, threatening frontier forests in 22 countries, coral reefs in 38 countries, mangrove swamps in 46 countries, indigenous people on six continents, and global climate stability worldwide.

Is that not threatening to you?

The only one who will benefit from off shore drilling will be oil companies. The effect on gas prices would be negligible, if any at all, and as has been already said, will night be seen for many years.

McCain is showing his true corporate colors. Just like bush, he will side with them over the american people everytime.

He might lose his lead in Florida over this if he is not careful.

im not sure how I feel about it.. im sick of paying nearly 5 dollars a gallon, but I dont want to hurt the environment more.
I hate politics.

He might lose his lead in Florida over this if he is not careful.

Too late, the latest poll already shows him behind in FL...

I love it, because all the bleeding heart tree huggers out there have a price. for some, it's 5 bucks a gallon. for others, 6. for others 10. but they'll all fold eventually, and want to trash mother nature for oil. I think the number is a lot lower than most would think, too.

I love it, because all the bleeding heart tree huggers out there have a price. for some, it's 5 bucks a gallon. for others, 6. for others 10. but they'll all fold eventually, and want to 'trash mother nature' for oil. I think the number is a lot lower than most would think, too.

Try me.

I think they should forget about this debate and put all the effort towards finding other energy sources.

xox
Sika

'I love it, because all the bleeding heart tree huggers out there have a price. for some, it's 5 bucks a gallon. for others, 6. for others 10. but they'll all fold eventually, and want to 'trash mother nature' for oil. I think the number is a lot lower than most would think, too.'

I love it... They vote to put two oilmen in the white house, and then blame liberals for the high price of gas.

We cannot drill our way out of this problem. The US currently represents 25% of the world's oil consumption. We produce only 2% of the supply. Even if we were somehow able to double our production (which is not possible) we would still be at the mercy of foreign oil, and it will barely have any impact on price. And any impact will not even be seen for 15 to 20 years!!

It is nothing but a smoke screen...