The Observation Deck

sharon kinsella wrote:During the Bush administration there was systematic downsizing of budgets, personnel, salaries and enforcement capabilities of all enforcement agencies.

Look at the coal mine disasters and the lack of safety enforcements.

When you strip budgets of these agencies and take away their ability to enforce or propose good regulatory practices, you wind up with what we now have. A disaster of epic proportions.

Those of you who rant about making government smaller, pay close attention to what has and has not gone on with these agencies. Do you really want smaller and even less efficient government. Shall we let corporate American police itself.

Take a little trip down to New Orleans, see what it really means.

sharon kinsella wrote:When you strip budgets of these agencies and take away their ability to enforce or propose good regulatory practices, you wind up with what we now have. A disaster of epic proportions.

Those of you who rant about making government smaller, pay close attention to what has and has not gone on with these agencies. Do you really want smaller and even less efficient government. Shall we let corporate American police itself.

sharon kinsella wrote:My mirror says one tank 3 months. You?

I pity the next generation, the grandkid's growing up knowing that they weren't treasured by those who came before.

Jim DeVito wrote:Also Roy, Are you sure the super risky deep water drilling was not due to the face that we are running out of oil on land and in shallow water?

The U.S. is sitting on the world's largest, untapped oil reserves -- reservoirs which energy experts know exist, but which have not yet been tapped and may not be attainable with current technology. In fact, such untapped reserves are estimated at about 2.3 trillion barrels, nearly three times more than the reserves held by Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) nations and sufficient to meet 300 years of demand -- at today's levels -- for auto, truck, aircraft, heating and industrial fuel, without importing a single barrel of oil.

Oil shales: Oil extracted from shale fields represents the mother lode of untapped reserves, at about 1.5 trillion barrels -- or 200 years worth of supply at current usage levels. Roughly two-thirds of the U.S.'s oil shale fields in Colorado, Wyoming and Utah are in federally-protected areas and closed to development. In addition, getting the oil out of the rock is a challenge, requiring cooking or chemical treatment of rock located as much as half a mile under the earth's surface.
To make oil shale production economically worthwhile, crude oil prices must remain above $50 a barrel for a protracted period. Given the outlook for continued high prices, oil companies such as ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell Inc., EGL Resources, Brazil's Petrobras and others are gearing up pilot projects on nonfederal lands. The potential is to produce 1 million barrels of oil a day within a decade from lands currently open -- and several times that amount if the lawmakers give the green light to development of lands now off-limits.

Tar sands: Around 75 billion barrels of oil could come from tar sands, similar to Canadian fields, which now churn out a million barrels a day. The sands are located predominantly in Utah, Alaska, Texas and California, as well as in Alabama and Kentucky on federal and state lands that, by laws and administrative orders, are closed to mineral and petroleum development.

The outer continental shelf (OCS): Something in the neighborhood of 90 billion barrels of oil sit beneath the ocean bed 50 to 100 miles off the Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf coasts. Presidential bans and congressional prohibitions have put the tracts off-limits to oil company exploration at least until 2012, although there's a chance that Congress may lift the moratorium before then. In recent months, several key policymakers, including GOP presidential candidate John McCain and Florida Governor Charles Crist Jr. (R), have reversed their positions on drilling in the OCS. Crist's change of mind may signal a new trend. Concern about potential damage to his state's beaches and Florida's critical tourism industry had dictated his opposition to drilling off the state's coasts. But the state's growing budget woes -- and the prospect of capturing some cash from off-shore leasing -- is proving alluring.

The Bakken Play: With up to 100 billion barrels of oil, the reserves locked under rocks buried a mile or more beneath Montana and Saskatchewan, Canada, are more than twice the size of Alaskan's entire oil cache. New drilling and oil recovery technologies are overcoming production obstacles and petroleum companies are rushing to stake their claims. Marathon Oil recently acquired about 200,000 acres in the area and will drill about 300 oil wells within five years. Brigham Exploration and Crescent Point Energy Trust also want a piece of the action. EOG Resources alone figures it can produce 80 million barrels of oil from its Bakken field. But It will take at least five years before the oil starts flowing in large volumes.

The Alaska National Wildlife Refuge: About 10 billion barrels of oil are locked away here, with little possibility that federal lawmakers will open the door.

Jim DeVito wrote:To the first point. I don't buy it. So that report says that 300 years of energy independence is just sitting there waiting to be taped? Just waiting for Palin to come and drill it all out? The government is so full of scumbags it would have been done already.

Jim DeVito wrote:Anyway, Yes I so support the moratorium. Not because I am a leftist nut. But because it is the logical thing to do.

Jim DeVito wrote:Here is the other thing. Who cares about the environment? Regardless of your stance on warming or birds or dolphins, you should care about doing everything possible to advance domestic innovation into advanced energy. Let face it China and the Europeans are years ahead of us on advanced energy. Under the shadow of global warming and national security they have been able to make grate strides to position themselves as the tech and industrial leaders of the new energy market. We will become net importers of advanced energy tech. And as such we will fail.

sharon kinsella wrote:Renewable resources make economic sense. Once the initial costs are paid the energy we will get will serve generations. Yes I understand upkeep etc. But it is so much cheaper and safer in the long run.

Stephen, you goof, don't you think he needs more time to clean up the mess your boy left for him? He's been a little busy dear, why don't you offer your services?

sharon kinsella wrote:Sweetie he's already done many of the things I wanted him to do.

How'd your boy do? Maybe we could tape Palin, Bachman, Boehner and Cheney together and get a person you'd all love.

"That Putin, what's he thinking?"

Popular Anger at BP may be misdirected at local gas stations
Independent operators see boycott driving them, not the big petroleum company, out of business

Jim DeVito wrote:So I get the joke (good one btw) but how would mccain and palin clean up the spill any better? The good news is that due to our crazy news cycle nobody will care in a couple of weeks.