Pilot’s Drilling Cartoon Amended
I had the opportunity yesterday to chat with my Congressman Glenn Nye whose district involves Virginia’s every touch to the Atlantic Ocean. I reiterated all those points I raised in my Daily Press op ed plus (data gaps, studied in a microcosm, DC Court overturning 2007-2012 program, Navy-NASA objections). His response was to talk about how “unfairly” the lines were drawn for VA’s offshore area. Completely irrelevant to my point and I told him such! He is unbelievable, but so typical of the prevailing attitude in Virginia. Drill first, ask questions later.
(Okay, here comes all the comments about me picking on Nye…)
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February 14th, 2010 at 4:10 pm
So, um, what exactly is his position on this Eileen?
February 14th, 2010 at 7:30 pm
The Geophysics reports show a high probability of gas and oil present. I see no rational basis to holding up the test wells that would confirm the presence and allow for more reliable estimates of what may be available off of our Virginia coast.
Are they “safe”? No, but neither is any major endeavor, entirely safe or free of environmental impact.
We should be working together across Party lines to achieve energy independence for the United States before it is too late. We should be developing all sources of energy that show merit, including so-called green power, as well as other traditional sources including nuclear and coal.
I want to leave future Virginians with a more secure energy and economic environment than we have had to endure in recent times. Imagine the progress that could be made if we were free of the bondage of the oil cartels, and we could plan and build without worrying that our fuel prices may, without notice, be doubled, or tripled, by some oil cartel mogul.
February 14th, 2010 at 8:37 pm
Check out this graphic and see that even if we drilled in every corner of the U.S. we would never be “free of the bondage of the oil cartels.” Why are we wasting our time and risking so much pursuing what little is off Virginia’s coasts?
February 15th, 2010 at 6:19 am
If the debate was really about “becoming free from the bondage”, why are we fighting about the revenue? Make no mistake the freedom isn’t the real issue. It is about the oil lobby’s inroads with the politicians.
All of us want cheap oil, but that isn’t going to happen even if Virginia’s coasts were loaded with oil platforms today… It is about supply and demand and Virginia oil or not, the prices are going to rise.
February 15th, 2010 at 10:41 am
Unfortunately, we are victims of our own “bondage”. So long as we as individuals are lavish in the ways of expending energy we are self-imposing “bondage”. We debate over the use of HOV’s but they are under used. Rather than be prudent, we commute countless miles in fuel guzzelers, rather than locate closer to our employment and have sensible transportation. What little mass transit there is, it is under used. We can blame and point fingers at money grubbing cartels, yet government is the most wasteful, corrupt, and money hungry of the lot. Yet we ask for and get more control. Perhaps the fault is in use and we are only reaping what we deserve.
February 21st, 2010 at 1:15 pm
J Tyler,
Boy, I am finding myself in agreement with you again. This is getting scary. Have you thought about running for office? We need someone to run Wagner out of office.
Eileen,
We might not free ourselves from the bondage of foreign oil by increasing domestic production, however the chains we are bound with might not be as heavy.
If you are against domestic oil production stop using toilet paper. I am getting tired of burning up all that foreign crude oil to put that toilet paper in your bathroom. Until you lead by example and show us how we can live without toilet paper I am going to continue delivering it.
February 22nd, 2010 at 8:15 am
Replacing 1.2% of foreign oil with domestic oil won’t help much, particularly if our consumption continues to increase.
Nobody is saying we should give up toilet paper. Toilet paper should be made from recycled paper instead of old growth forests. It should be delivered by fuel efficient vehicles. The waste water should be treated before being released into the river or ocean. That’s not so hard is it?
I have previously posted how I “lead by example” to reduce my carbon footprint.
February 22nd, 2010 at 9:18 am
Paper recycling is increasing but paper can not be recycled forever. Over time, the fibers break down and new fibers must be introduced to achieve an acceptable product.
I will note that western environmentalists who trying to save all the old growth forests out their way seem to only be saving them for mother nature to consume them with forest fires. Some old growth forests should remain pristine, but it is my opinion that their insistence that all remaining old growth should be off limits is unreasonable.
As for fuel efficient vehicles… I had to buy a new truck because my old truck had a cracked frame. My new truck, which came with a 2007 EPA compliant engine, gets greatly reduced mileage compared to my old one. I have only put about 35,000 miles on my new truck thus far and need additional experience under varying circumstances before I can state just how bad it is, but I suspect it might be as bad as 1 MPG less or a decrease of about 15%. Due to all the new anti pollution equipment, it is also heavier so I can not haul as heavy a load legally. While my new truck may emit lower amounts of some pollutants, it emits more CO2 as a result. With all the complexity of the new anti pollution equipment it also is less reliable and more expensive to maintain. I sure wish I had been able to keep my old truck on the road. Before the new engines came out, the engine manufacturers were slowly increasing the fuel mileage over time. The new EPA requirements forced a major step backwards when it comes to fuel efficiency. One thing I will note, the engine manufacturers claim that these new engines actually help clean the air when they are used in areas with high levels of air pollution. They claim the air going in the intake is dirtier then what comes out the exhaust.