Should we drill offshore to satisfy our addiction to oil?

Dr Jello
#1. July 12th, 2009, at 5:59 PM.

Your logic is flawed. You are still buying gas for your car, heat and cool your home, have a refrigerator, play on your computer, watch TV, listen to radio, use lights, cook your food, where do you think this energy comes from?

Instead of thinking up flawed and useless ideas, why not create the next source of energy that will replace oil?

See where I’m going with this?

Hopie-wan
#2. July 14th, 2009, at 3:14 AM.

NO! Drilling offshore, in my opinion, is an extremely bad idea. To drill offshore, people would have to make a platform to have the drilling done. There are many bad things that could happen. If one of the pipes burst from too much pressure, then there would be a giant oil spill in the middle of the ocean. I can list many other things, like destroying the coral reefs….
People! WE HAVE SOLAR POWER AND WIND POWER, ETC. WHY DON’T WE USE IT??

Common Sense
#3. July 17th, 2009, at 1:53 PM.

Yes.

Government-dictated preference for corn-based ethanol and other biofuels is causing massive land overuse, soaring food prices, and increased hunger in the poorest places. A single SUV tank of ethanol-based gasoline burns enough food to feed a starving African for a year.

the bison
#4. July 20th, 2009, at 6:28 PM.

no, sorry i dont. would you propose we just keep paying the arab robber barons while they plunder our economy and buy up all our financial and manufacturing institutions? i guess you also dont think that the arabs have declared economic war on the west either. think ahead a little if youre capable. if you use the offshore oil to bridge the gap between arab oil and new energy technologies then its of real benefit. the money is better in americas pocket than opecs. i am sorry i dont see your point here. what would you have america and the world do? walk to work? its too far. even for you. what are you doing personally to decrease americas dependancy on oil? i am thinking you like having opecs hand around your throat. enjoy.

DeeLam
#5. July 21st, 2009, at 10:34 AM.

We are not “addicted to oil” we are stuck in a system where we “need” our plans, trains, and automobiles to get around. The oil is just what is used to produce the energy to power them.

Electric cars exist and are ready to be put on the market. Why are we still using petrol?

Solar and wind energy exist and are available. Why are we stile using natural gas and building dams?

Homosapiens is but a child who has to burn his finger before he belives the fire is hot…

jim z
#6. July 22nd, 2009, at 3:09 PM.

I keep hearing from geniuses that we can’t we can’t drill our way out of this problem. That sort of nonsense comes from the usual uninformed or biased sources that promote global warming. I read a good come back for that. It is like saying you can’t eat your way out of hunger. Paraphrasing but substituting food for oil instead of your flawed analogy . We are addicted to food. Leftist want us to pay more for it and suggest that getting more food will kill us and cause us to heat up. We must look for alternatives foods rather than eat the food we grew up eating and are used to. We must go cold turkey before we all die. No doubt they will tell us which foods are safe and it will probably taste nasty anyway. It will be like paying for fillet mignon and getting a couple of beans instead and it is a dinner that will cost us more than the trillions of dollars we have to pay for it.

Stephen M
#7. July 24th, 2009, at 12:39 AM.

We are addicted to oil because it gives us our lifestyle. Some form of oil (heating oil and natural gas) probable help the enviroment if you assume people will not freeze and use wood to stay warm.

Paeslie
#8. July 27th, 2009, at 5:59 AM.

Are we addicted to oil or are we addicted to comfort?

Yes we should drill offshore and open Alaska! We have so much oil it is ridiculous to think we are going to use it all up in the next 100 years! Plus what many environmentalists will not tell you is that structures in the water are actually helping the ocean life with providing shelter for fry (baby fish) and new reefs are being created on them.

The problem with some of this is that you will never appease the environmentalists- in their 10 commandments (which is actually monumented in the US) the first commandment is to reduce the population yo 500,000 people. That is not reality and they will never be happy- look at California with the wind turbines that they spent millions to build- only to have them shut down because of birds that fly by! That is a huge resource being wasted!

Adieu!

davem
#9. July 30th, 2009, at 7:23 AM.

Let’s drill. We’re not addicted to oil any more than we are addicted to entertainment, leisure or exercise. We require some things in our lives out of necessity, and fossil fuels are here anyway so lets benefit from them. Our system is designed to use oil, and there is still such an abundance that limiting its use without an alternative would really hurt everyone – everywhere.

Rule303
#10. July 30th, 2009, at 10:39 AM.

The world addicted to food.

Junkie addicted to cocain.

Food = cocain.

People eating food that requires land use that destroys mama Earth.

See where this is going?

aj
#11. July 30th, 2009, at 10:17 PM.

We should be drilling off shore. Oil does not equal cocain. Cocain is a terrible, life destroying drug. Oil has allowed us to build this great civilization. It allows you to get to work everyday to make money to support your family. It allows you to go to the store and buy food to feed your family, it allows you to have food at the store when you get there because it was shipped using oil and packaged using oil. Oil is a wonderful resource and has enabled man to exceed large amounts of progress in the last 100 years. So you are an absolute retard if you can’t understand the importance that oil has had on civilization and the great benefits it can provide us in the future.
We should drill off our shores. It will not cause environmental problems like many claim. The oil rigs create an artificial eco system, almost like a reef. This is good for nature. There are also ways to minimalize the impact that it has on any environment.
It also reduces our dependence on hostile foreign countries for our energy needs. This is a national security issue, eliminating hundreds of billions of dollars sent to them every year, ensuring our supply is of upmost importance for economic security. Our country would come to a halt if there was a terrorist attack on oil lines in Saudi Arabia. Our whole infrastructure and society is built on oil. If you disagree try to go one hour without using something that utilizes oil somewhere in its life cycle. You can’t do it.
Also, it’s not just America that is addicted to oil. The world is addicted to oil. It is foreign oil that you should be worried about. The domestic oil here in the U.S. can be retrieved with out environmental problems. If smaller, less wealthy countries like Vietnam can drill for oil without problems, why can’t the most powerful, most wealthy country in the world. Oh yeah, we are being held hostage by the environmental left. It’s a damn shame. It truly is, this radical agenda has hijacked public policy and it is at the expense of our economy, which is at the expense of average Americans like you and I. To be honest, if it comes down to disturbing an extremely small amount of land in ANWR to safely drill for oil without damaging the environment, OR having an economic collapse because of sky rocketing energy prices. I will choose to drill in ANWR, off our coast, or in my own backyard to prevent this from happening.

ibbarkingmad
#12. August 1st, 2009, at 5:58 AM.

The idea is to be independent from Foreign Oil. Off shore drilling is a short term solution. Like Dr. Jello said, the Longer term solution is to move to a cleaner, cheaper and better fuel sources.

crash
#13. August 3rd, 2009, at 10:29 PM.

China is already drilling 80 miles offshore of the U.S. in the Florida straits.(Cuban waters)
would it be better to buy that oil from China or drill our own wells into the exact same formations?

James W. Early
#14. August 5th, 2009, at 5:19 PM.

Well if we do not start pumping again soon in Southern California our beaches could be the best tar sand beaches in the world. Back in the 50s while they were pumping the beaches starting to clean up because the pressure was relived on the off shore oil seeps. Now that pumping has been stopped for almost 20 years the sand is getting as bad as it was in the 50s, you can not walk on the beaches with your feet turning into tar balls that have to be washed off with paint thinner before putting your socks back on.

fuqueyu
#15. August 9th, 2009, at 1:01 AM.

Yes, we should, so you can get onthe computer and ask this question.

Lynda P
#16. August 10th, 2009, at 9:52 PM.

In the first place, we’re already drilling offshore…In the second place, more drilling on land is essential…Alaska!!!