Will Bush convince Congress to allow offshore drilling?
President Bush plans to make a renewed push Wednesday to get Congress to end a long-standing ban on offshore oil and gas drilling and says Congress shouldn’t waste any more time! McCain made lifting the federal ban on offshore oil and gas development a key part of his energy plan.
So do you think our Democratic controlled Congress will go for this? It’s our only hope!!
Also, what is Obama’s plan for off shore drilling?
Do we still have it all leased to foreign countries so that THEY can drill?
September 9th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
It’s a smart move by Bush. If Congress turns him down , they risk angering the American people, given the present day oil prices.
September 9th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
I think they have stopped it twice before so the chances are not that good.
September 9th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
I think we should drill but not in places where it will harm the environment. something has to be done though because its getting BAD!!
September 9th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
NO.
September 9th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
I think they won’t allow it to go up for a vote so they don’t have to be on record opposing something the majority of Americans support.
September 9th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
no, they won’t… but it’s all good… maybe McThusala will be run down by a speeding hybrid…
people don’t seem to get that the oil in the earth is the lubricant and coolant, pumping it out causes earthquakes and higher surface temperature… global warming is not caused by emissions in the sky it’s caused by people draining the earth’s oilpan and running the engine three quarts low, sorry al…
September 9th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
One can only hope, but the petro-terrorists have Congress in their back pockets.
September 9th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
I doubt Bush can convince them; it would take a very large and clear public demand that they allow it. Unless they think they will be voted out of power if they don’t allow drilling, I doubt they will do so.
September 9th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
Let’s just say that if Congress doesn’t go along with such a proposal, then it will be seen as having thrown up yet another roadblock in an effort to become independent of foreign oil. I seriously doubt if they’d want to risk carrying such a tag in a presidential election year, and also one in which many of them could also lose seats should Americans view them as a group that has gotten in the way of drilling for our own oil…
September 9th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
I certainly hope so! I live in Louisiana and we need more offshore drilling for our economy and to help with the recovery effort after Katrina.
I pray that the Democrat controlled Congress will pass this!
September 9th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
Judging by the fact that our congress has turned down any proposal for domestic drilling of practically any kind, I would have to say "no, he won’t convince them". Besides, President Bush only has about seven more months in office with one of the worst approval ratings in history. He’s in a very poor position to persuade congress to do much of anything.
It’s unfortunate because it most likely means the rest of us will be paying through the nose for fuel from now on. Not only will this hit us at the gas pump, but nearly every aspect of our lives will be affected in some way because our economy is so tightly wound around the use of oil.
We burn it in our cars, planes, trucks, trains, power plants and ships. Those vehicles transport the goods we buy from wherever they’re made to wherever we buy them (the increased transport costs will be passed on to the consumer). We use petroleum in countless manufacturing processes from the making of plastics to fertilizer. It is fair to say that every aspect of our existence will be affected by this.
According to the age old law of supply and demand, there are only two ways to reduce the price of a thing: 1) increase the supply and 2) reduce the demand. The ‘reduce the demand’ part is happening now and will continue to a point as people rearrange their lives and alter their choices (i.e., buying a hybrid instead of a Hummer) around trying to use less oil.
That will only take us so far though. The only other answer is to "increase supply" which could (and should) mean drilling for oil everywhere it makes sense to do so; it also means exploring other energy alternatives like solar, wind, nuclear, fusion, etc. We’ll probably never see the equivalent of $1.00 a gallon gasoline again, but eventually, we’ll come through this with a collection of solutions that get us by.
The sad thing is that it will cost us more than it needs to between now & then because we lack the political leadership in congress to do what’s best for our economy right now.
September 9th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
Hopefully not. Prices will go down about a nickel over the next decade at the best. It’s not going to have huge longterm effects except on the environment. Even if the US drilled all over the country we’d only have 2-3% of the needed national supply. We can’t depend on oil we have to find alternative sources of energy.
September 9th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
Considering that the President’s own brother opposed this proposal when he was Governor of Florida, the odds of it getting through Congress are slim and none.
There is not enough oil offshore to make a difference and the states near these fields are strongly opposed to drilling. Given that Florida and California have over 70 Representatives, these proposals are merely an attempt to make political hay rather than a serious agenda.
September 9th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
Hope for what?
At best, offshore oil drilling will put off the inevitable, eventually staying dependent on Middle Eastern countries.
Our focus needs to be on depending on ourselves. Solar, coal, ethanol and wind power so that the United States does not have to be sucking up to countries in the Middle East that do not have our best interests in mind and are making big bucks on our backs.