Asked at Speedway Shell, 1733 Mass. on May 14, 2010

“Regardless of the oil spill, i don’t think that we should explore further (drilling) options because we need to plan for the future a little bit better, and that should start now.”

— Juliana Schafer, architecture graduate, St. Louis

“The alternative to stop drilling might be worse than taking the risk in continuing to grill. We need to find safer and better ways of doing it.”

— Dennis Stine, house painter, Lawrence

“I believe yes, they should. I think we need to be, as a country, more capable of taking care of ourselves than relying on other nations, and we need to figure out a way, if this happens again, that we’re more capable of fixing it a lot faster.”

— Don Stratton, general manager, Topeka

“Yeah, but further offshore drilling because less animals will be harmed in the process in the event there is a spill.”

— Dominicke McCawley, unemployed, Lawrence

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Drill baby drill!! The Carrier Independence uses 150,000 BARRELS of fuel per day, one Abrams tank burns 8 gallons of diesel fuel per mile and my SUV gets 9 miles per gallon! What's a few shrimp or sea turtles compared to my need to run to town for a 20 pak of Bud Light and a 500 round brick of .22 hollowpoints? Alternative fuels? Ha! You ever try to run a light destroyer on methane? There aren't enough bean eatin' sailors in the navy to run one of them for 30 minutes! Jeez, look at all them prairie dogs out there! Hey Earl-Bob, hand me my M-16 and hold my beer, you won't believe this sh---!!!

RoeDapple 3 years ago

Disclaimer; ^^Roe not responsible for his thought process from 2 AM to 6AM. Deprived of breast milk from birth and fed directly from cuzin Elroy's still thereafter, he tends to behave poorly at this hour. It's not his fault, he's a victim of his environment.

RoeDapple 3 years ago

And that Juliana is just as cute as she can be but Dennis has that Mick Jagger look goin' for him. Don looks like he just bit into one of those cellophane wrapped turkey sandwiches and Dominicke - - well I ain't saying nothing 'bout her. Looks like she's ready to start kickin' butt and takin' names and I don't want mine at the top of her list! Question: Did these people get asked this OTS before or after they filled their tanks with $3 gas at Shell?

RoeDapple 3 years ago

Well, I see it's time to take my first round of medications. Ya' all come back now, ya' hear?

RoeDapple 3 years ago

Ummmm, can you feel the luv?

A20271 3 years ago

I thought Dennis looked like Thomas Haden Church (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002006/) The guy from Sideways... except not as cute.

faceit 3 years ago

This comment was removed by the site staff for violation of the usage agreement.

RoeDapple 3 years ago

Face it,faceit, it got your troll butt to take a look! Always enjoy dragging the lifeless up for a breath of fresh air though, gets them out of the basement long enough to see the seasons still change. No need to thank me, I consider it a public service.

grammaddy 3 years ago

Roe you are too funny! XD

tbaker 3 years ago

Whether or not we explore for oil, in the ocean or otherwise, has nothing to do with this recent blow-out tragedy. This moronic proposition is a classic example of the cause and effect fallacy.

If a Kansas tornado blows away my house, shouldn't I live in a cave from now on?

In the lifetime of everyone reading this, we will have no choice. We simply cannot live without crude oil, and transportation is but one consideration. The clothes on your back, all your posessions, the food in your stomach, the keys on the keyboard someone will use to respond to this post - all come from crude oil.

I'm all for alternatives to crude oil, most especially for transportation fuel, but the leaps in technology we need to make those happen will not occur because of some grand presidential / government proclamation to work together towards some common goal, etc. The fact the oil spill is from a well in 5000' of water came from deep-water drilling technology the oil companies invested heavily in because there was the promise of profit if they somehow found away to extract more oil to sell frmo that environment. The same promise of profit will drive the human ingenuity that will create the technologies to replace crude oil.

Unfortunately, when profits depend on government involvement, the human ingenuity you'll see is the sort focused on discovering new ways to secure federal favors and subsidies, not technological progress.

parrothead8 3 years ago

Comparing a tornado blowing away your house to the oil well explosion makes no sense. The oil disaster is manmade and could have been prevented from happening. The tornado is an "act of God" and could not.

The problem is not that we "need" crude oil...the problem is how much we need it. We've given ourselves over to the philosophy that it is our "right" to have cheap gas. We sit on our fat butts in our cars for any trip longer than 50 yards, and we build our country to accommodate that mindset. If we had different transportation options and built our neighborhoods to support those options, then we could, at the very least, use far less oil in the foreseeable future.

And then it wouldn't be so "imperative" for us to "drill baby drill" in areas where an accident causes a catastrophic environmental event.

rando1965 3 years ago

an act of god, so you do believe in god ? so therefore everything happens for a reason. a tornado or an oil spill everything happens for a reason. yes they are both the same( an act of god.) so yes indeed drill baby drill.

tbaker 3 years ago

Parrot - It makes sense because the context demonstrates the fallacy I spoke of. You are mistaken: We NEED crude oil. We have no choice. How much we need it is simply a function of there being no substitute for it. Speaking of "ifs" - if we shut off the crude oil supply to the United States, the human suffering that would result would be epic. If we want a more enviromentally friendly alternative that will reduce our demand for crude oil AND is totally within our capability now, we should all support the Pickens Plan. Personal transportation should be fueled by Compressed Natural Gas in the United States.

overplayedhistory 3 years ago

Well American lack of knowledge is on display.

Drilling offshore will not solve all our problems. Drilling was not the problem. Nuclear power in the 80's was not the problem. Stupidity and greed are the problems. This current oil leak, nuclear events at US & USSR reactors all were preventable. If greed was not the problem then it was arrogance that breed stupidity. Science and education, attention to detail with knowledge of ramifications, and strict enforced oversight is what is needed. Anti big government rhetoric, and religious zealotry will not work solving our problems. I am sorry to say to you anti big government naive children out there, that nonprofit government regulation with actual teeth is the only way to proceed.

If you want to get off the oil ASAP for national security and ecological reasons then you have to except nuclear power. We will have to except electric cars we have to charge. We need new electrical grids too. The solar and wind are good but will take more time to implement.

For beyond immediate solutions maybe we could quit treating science like devils black magic. Get back to having entities who have other purposes than just profit. Money spent on research and development that goes toward the benefit of our species, rather than just developing erection pills and better ways to fleece the last middle class dollar left. How about math for engineering instead of derivatives.

Where are the passion filled dreamers who create more than just ways to get as rich as Bill Gates.

Where are the Trekies? At costume convention I suppose.

overplayedhistory 3 years ago

Individuals who take bribes that work fort the government is not the same as having stock holders who expect returns. What is your solution more tax breaks?

georgiahawk 3 years ago

L1 has no solutions other than to watch and trust that the same people (corporations) that screwed us the last time won't do it again because, because, huh because!

overplayedhistory 3 years ago

I still maintain that it is naive to think that a population of 300 million can be a strong nation with a little government. If you are pro military you are pro big government. There is no way around it.
The focus should be on how we make it work for those who are not part of the wealthiest 1%. Pleases tell me how we have a strong economically competitive nation without a strong middle class. How do we keep the 1% from rigging the system?

There was also a Gi bill after WW2 that help create the largest middle classes in history. How much of that 2/3rds cut was because we no longer had to finance the war? So where do we make these cuts now? If we are going to cut the budget by two thirds maybe we can reinstate some 90% tax brackets we had back then too. I would settle for 90% sales tax on luxury items like Yachts.

overplayedhistory 3 years ago

You want capitalism, but you don't want any of the social compromises that made it work. You are the typical person who can afford your ideology because you are middle class. If you are not middle class and you hold such opinions them you are kool- aid drinking chump. Mark my words, if the middle class dies then so to will your naive ideology. Small government with no to little regulation and no social programs, basically means that that talent in the less affluent segments of the society often goes undeveloped.

Before I answer any of your questions and I really want to, answer some of mine. Like how cutting spending by 2/3rds In 1946 could work the same when the rich pay far less taxes now? I wont even hound you on how you can be small government with large military?

I like capitalism, I want capitalism. I do not want pure capitalism with no government. Capitalism at its purest form, with no controls, becomes feudalism. Maybe your richest man in the world example had principals other than pure profit, many of that time did. Very few now are motivated by anything other than profit, it is the only organisational purpose.

How do we get our mathematicians to engineer the solutions of tomorrow instead of engineering a derivative who's sole purpose is to bilk the middle class? Less taxes for the rich? or more regulation of derivatives?

You think it is naive to trust government, but do you trust corporations more? I don't trust either, one is in the pocket of the other and we can all agree on that. If I have to chose the one who is going to look out for the the interest of all who are not part of the richest 1%, I chose the one who's organisational purpose is not profit. There is nothing wrong with people like me, we are just as American as you.

overplayedhistory 3 years ago

Why would I want a large military? We could make the largest budget cuts on wasteful military spending. We don't need 100s of bases all around the world protecting other people's countries. If you want a large empire then you pay for it. I don't want to pay money so that our soldiers can die fighting for some BS. Waste your own money on that crap, not mine.

I completely agree. I have a lot to respond to and I have to get some responsibilities to attend to. I will spend the time later.

I do know about Alexander Hamilton. If Thomas Jefferson were alive today he would not be allowed in the republican party and not because he was diddilling his slaves.

overplayedhistory 3 years ago

Are you republican, democrat or independent? I am confused. Republicans invoke Jefferson because he was the original states right over large federal government guy. I don't know where you are coming from.

This started because you automatically assumed that I thought Government was great. I chose the lesser of two evils and try to fix it with civic participation. I have no other options unless I want to advocate violence. That is all we can do.

Even without a large military how do you keep capitalism fair? what on earth does revoking corporate do? Don't you need government to do it? When you say revoke corporate charters do you mean everyone has to be a sole proprietorship? How does the richest man in the world get rich and improve everyones lives if he can't incorporate? I am asking serious questions and am not trying to one up you. How does a nation this large keep it self running and competing without some size to its government? The size of government grows with the population. The population is always growing.

You say if it were up to people like me we would not have any of our creature comforts. How far would we have come with no government and no corporations? How far would we have come without railroads, who were as corrupt as the insurance companies and banks are now?

I have to go sorry.

snap_pop_no_crackle 3 years ago

"If you want to get off the oil ASAP for national security and ecological reasons then you have to except nuclear power. We will have to except electric cars we have to charge." Psst, dude, look in your dictionary for the word "accept". I think you will find it useful.

overplayedhistory 3 years ago

Thanks for that. How embarrassing I will have to be more careful in the future. For the record I do know the difference without referring to the dictionary.

grammaddy 3 years ago

Heck naw! It's time to develope solar and wind and stuff that doesn't poison the planet.You don't end an addiction by finding a new dealer. End this addiction to oil.

jayhawklawrence 3 years ago

Something good can come out of something bad.

We cannot let the oil industry go on with business as usual. They should have foreseen something like this happening and they probably did but didn't care enough to spend the money to prepare for it.

They would rather spend that money on politicians.

RoeDapple 3 years ago

took me a bit to cyfer that one word there multi but i got it figured out i think. sumpthin bout my backside but no it weren't me it was the dog what let fly

RETICENT_IRREVERENT 3 years ago

Dig it! Clean coal.

grammaddy 3 years ago

No such thing.

snap_pop_no_crackle 3 years ago

Oh, do let us increase our dependence on foreign oil! The gasoline shortage in the 70s was such jolly fun!

merrill 3 years ago

Oil drillers know little about drilling 5,280 feet below the sea or 5,280 feet below the earth. That tells us that easy oil is gone gone gone.

It also tells us there is NOT enough oil around the USA to satisfy the USA never ending need to drive gas guzzling vehicles everywhere we go everytime we go.

Peak oil has come. The party is over.

The USA government needs to stop killing thousands upon thousands of people to have control of what oil and natural gas is elsewhere. Killing ton tons and tons and tons of people and killing our economy is dumb economics and this relentless and illegal war pisses people off around the world.

The world DOES NOT support the USA government war for oil control!!!!!!

bad_dog 3 years ago

Merrill, oil exploration companies routinely drill below 5280'-right here in Kansas.

They drill far beyond that in Colorado, Oklahoma, Alaska and Texas. That's just land based rigs-not offshore rigs drilling from multiple derricks simultaneously.

If BP as operator would have properly overseen the operation, all of this mess could have been avoided. This was, however, a multifaceted cluster.... with plenty of responsibility (and liability) to share with Transocean and Halliburton.

merrill 3 years ago

BTW no one knows how to cap this deep water screw up plus toxic oil and toxic chemicals to break up toxic oil oil is killing marine life NOW. At more than 5,000 barrels a day or whatever how much toxic chemicals will be necessary? NO ONE KNOWS!

scott3460 3 years ago

5000 a day is what BP admits. I suspect it is a good deal worse than that.

merrill 3 years ago

Climate 2030: A National Blueprint for a Clean Energy Economy

New UCS Analysis Download: Climate 2030 Blueprint Executive Summary (2009) | Climate 2030 Blueprint Report (2009)

Reducing oil dependence. Strengthening energy security. Creating jobs. Tackling global warming. Addressing air pollution. Improving our health.

The United States has many reasons to make the transition to a clean energy economy. What we need is a comprehensive set of smart policies to jump-start this transition without delay and maximize the benefits to our environment and economy. Climate 2030:

A National Blueprint for a Clean Energy Economy (“the Blueprint”) answers that need. http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/solutions/big_picture_solutions/climate-2030-blueprint.html ======================= Go with local sources of energy:

Hydro

Exploiting the movement of water to generate electricity, known as hydroelectric power, is the largest source of renewable power in the United States and worldwide. If done correctly, hydropower can be a sustainable and nonpolluting power source that can help decrease our dependence on fossil fuels and reduce the threat of global warming. View the faces working in and supporting the hydroelectric industry or learn more about how hydroelectric energy works. http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/technology_and_impacts/energy_technologies/how-hydroelectric-energy.html ================================= Wind

Harnessing the wind is one of the cleanest, most sustainable ways to generate electricity. Wind power is also one of the most abundant and increasingly cost-competitive energy resources, making it a viable alternative to the fossil fuels that harm our health and threaten the environment. View the faces working in and supporting the wind industry or learn more about how wind energy works.

Geothermal Heat from the earth can be used as an energy source in many ways, from large and complex power stations to small and relatively simple pumping systems. This heat energy, known as geothermal energy, can be found almost anywhere, and tapping into it is an affordable and sustainable solution. View the faces working in and supporting the geothermal industry or learn more about how geothermal energy works.

Solar

Solar energy—power from the sun—is free, inexhaustible, and can be used to directly generate heat, lighting, and electricity. All the energy stored in Earth's reserves of coal, oil, and natural gas is matched by the energy from just 20 days of sunshine. Solar photovoltaic technology is one of the fastest growing energy sources worldwide. View the faces working in and supporting the solar industry or learn more about how solar energy works.

Faces of Clean Energy http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/faces/faces.html

merrill 3 years ago

As Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Spreads, BP, Halliburton and Transocean Executives Deflect Blame for Spill at Senate Hearings

As thousands of gallons of oil continue to spew daily from a damaged well in the Gulf of Mexico, representatives from BP, Transocean and Halliburton were grilled by lawmakers in back-to-back hearings on Capitol Hill Tuesday. Industry executives from all three corporations began with prepared testimony that involved blaming each other for the explosion and deflecting responsibility for the unfolding environmental and economic disaster.

We air excerpts and speak with marine biologist Rick Steiner. For the past week he has been working at the site of the oil spill and on the Louisiana coast, where he collected several samples of the oil washing up ashore.

http://www.democracynow.org/2010/5/12/as_gulf_of_mexico_oil_spill

RETICENT_IRREVERENT 3 years ago

Is it really a violation of trademark to call Miley Cyrus a Pop-Tart?

RoeDapple 3 years ago

I tried to read merrill once. Fell asleep on the second cut and paste. Haven't tried since. Far as I can tell that's about all anybody else does.

BigAl 3 years ago

Do you mean like how Dick (5 deferment) Cheney said that Iraq Oil would pay for the Iraq war?

CWGOKU 3 years ago

Keep drilling and meanwhile develop alternate fuel sources. I don't want to ride a horse to Lawrence and back home for games.

xbusguy 3 years ago

Anyone heard from merrill today??

scott3460 3 years ago

That wouldn't be very smart when Shell & Exxon & Citgo, etc. can all sell at a cheaper price. I say fine the criminals.

RETICENT_IRREVERENT 3 years ago

I wish that bike riding, cuckold, adult breastfeeding, douche using recycler would come up with a new original shtick, but I just scroll past.

snap_pop_no_crackle 3 years ago

Don't be so coy, R_I. Tell us what your really think.

Agnostick 3 years ago

This comment was removed by the site staff for violation of the usage agreement.

RETICENT_IRREVERENT 3 years ago

Ag, Just wondering... On a scale from 1 to David Hasselhoff, just how drunk are you?

Agnostick 3 years ago

"Alex Trebek"

rooster 3 years ago

I agree with Dennis

GRILL BABY GRILL

RoeDapple 3 years ago

Good catch, rooster!

consumer1 3 years ago

Harness gravity!!!

RoeDapple 3 years ago

Another petroleum product, vaseline, was invented by Robert Chesebrough (1837-1933), who was said to have believed in its healing ability so much that he ate one teaspoonful every day.He would often have his "nurse" cover him from head to toe for "healing" purposes.He lived to be 96.

Fortunately our government keeps huge volumes of vaseline on hand for use with dealing with US citizens. Stored in IRS facilities nationwide. Don't be afraid to ask for it.

RoeDapple 3 years ago

On that note I will now go out to the shop, fire up my 30 hp zero turn mower and mow my over size lawn/pasture. Followed by push mowing around trees, garden, house and outbuildings, then weed eater to make everything look just so. An hour of tilling the garden to knock back the few weeds that are showing, and loosen the soil.Then off to the Speedway Shell to fill the 34 gallon tank on the 11 mpg F-250 plus the 5 - 5 gallon cans of mower gas. Maybe I'll get to meet Juliana! Or I could just have merrill do it.

Later, tater . . .

scopi_guy 3 years ago

I knew a woman who, when she was a kid and was sick, had to eat a teaspoon of Vicks Vap O Rub. Her dad swore it would cure all.

Did you hear about the newlywed couple that didn't know the difference between Vaseline and putty?

All their windows fell out.

RoeDapple 3 years ago

I bet that woman's dad's real motive was keepin' her regular while sick! Not to mention the cool minty smell wafting up from the thunder mug!

As for the newlyweds, ah . .um, . .no. Don't wanna know how the putty worked out.

Agnostick 3 years ago

"Scientific investigations in the Gulf of Mexico have documented a large area of the Louisiana continental shelf with seasonally-depleted oxygen levels (< 2mg/l). Most aquatic species cannot survive at such low oxygen levels. The oxygen depletion, referred to as hypoxia, begins in late spring, reaches a maximum in midsummer, and disappears in the fall. After the Mississippi River flood of 1993, the spatial extent of this zone more than doubled in size, to over 18,000 km2, and has remained about that size each year through midsummer 1997. The hypoxic zone forms in the middle of the most important commercial and recreational fisheries in the coterminous United States and could threaten the economy of this region of the Gulf."

http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/products/pubs_hypox.html#Intro

"Currently the most notorious dead zone is a 22,126 square kilometre (8,543 mi²) region in the Gulf of Mexico, where the Mississippi River dumps high-nutrient runoff from its vast drainage basin, which includes the heart of U.S. agribusiness, the Midwest. The drainage of these nutrients are affecting important shrimp fishing grounds. This is equivalent to a dead zone the size of New Jersey.

"A dead zone off the coast of Texas where the Brazos River empties into the Gulf was also discovered in July 2007"

Dead zone (ecology) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaWikipedia

So, a zillion barrels of raw crude are certainly adding to an ecological disaster--but considering the zillions of tons of tainted Mississippi River water (ag chemicals, golf course fertilizer, 20,000 dirty oil changes from Jethro and Buford, etc.) already suppressing delicate aquaculture... well, this is a far, far cry from dumping a barrel of oil into the azure waters off Barbados or Aruba.

RoeDapple (masquerading as "TrollDapple?") actually makes an interesting point. If the massive machines of our mighty military are so dependent on petroleum, why aren't more pompous, pretentious (pseudo-)patriots like the pack animals above, willing to strap on a pedometer and pound the pavement? Or pedal a bicycle? After all, "freedom isn't 'free' ".... right?

A compromise:

Outlaw all drilling in the Pacific and Atlantic; meanwhile, drill the frack out of every drop of oil in the Gulf of Texaco. Eradicate petroleum entirely from the area. Should take 100 years, tops. After that, let Mother Nature have exclusive reign. Who knows, after a millenia or so, American citizens of the 36th Century might have Caribbean-style waters off the coast of Corpus Christi.

Think.

Agnostick agnostick@excite.com

misterlee 3 years ago

There isn't enough oil off our shores to make a long-term difference, so risking additional accidents seems foolish to me. We need to accept the fact that most of the world's oil is elsewhere and work on alternative energies.

My brother and his company are working as hard as they can to control the Gulf oil slick, and he says there's no way they will be able to prevent further damage to the shores.

Agnostick 3 years ago

http://politicalgraffiti.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/bp_oil.jpg

RETICENT_IRREVERENT 3 years ago

I don't like Total or Citgo.

Damn French, damn Hugo Chavez, and that includes that Sean Penn.

HomeSlice 3 years ago

Just try to take away offshore drilling in the Gulf - want to see the economy in that region really tank? That would do it.

Drill and dig. Drill offshore with current technology and tight regulation. Get off the foreign oil spigot. Develop alternative energy at a light speed pace.

We can't just stop using cheap, abundent energy. So work to get out of the Middle East and also be first in line with viable alternative sources. First one to that prize gets a whole lotta power. In more ways than one.

scott3460 3 years ago

How cheap is it if we destroy our environment to get it?

HomeSlice 3 years ago

I guess we could ditch all the advances we have made since the dawn of time and let everything go back to seed. And crush the world economy in the process.

No thanks. Drill and dig, leverage the cheap energy and let good ol' American ingenuity work its magic.

snap_pop_no_crackle 3 years ago

Drive 90 and freeze a Yankee.

riverdrifter 3 years ago

Deepwater Horizon was the same rig that drilled a well to 35,500 ft. below the ocean floor in the gulf last Sept. This is the deepest well ever and is to a huge discovery. Learn from the mistakes and keep drilling. BTW, for those who would summarily end offshore drilling in the gulf: on any day there are 13-14,000 people working on rigs. That is a lot of high paying jobs.

make_a_difference 3 years ago

We shouldn"t have been drilling there in the first place.

So...NO.

Dejacrew423 3 years ago

I think we need to make more things vegetable oil powered! For being such an obese country, I'm sure we have plenty of used veggie oil to spare!

overplayedhistory 3 years ago

If you want to fix health care and troop shortages then send obese people to Iraq and Afghanistan. If you want to fix energy, bio-fuels will not cut it. Even if everyone went vegetarian it would not cut it. The only one that might work would be oil from algae then make bio-diesel. Only problem is no one has figured out how to effectively extract the plant oil.

RoeDapple 3 years ago

Whew! Just finished mowing the estate! Well, couldn't get to the back 10, still a little muddy, as was the garden so no tilling. Mowed the neighbors yard too, they're outa town and the grass will be a foot high by the time they get back. Only took a little under 5 gallons this time so I didn't have to load up the cans and run to Larry for resupply. Sure stirred sumpthin' up though, my sinuses feel like they been hammered by the ball-peen.

Guess I won't be meetin' that Juliana after all! Mrs Roe probably wouldn't approve anyhow.

CWGOKU 3 years ago

Ditto to Homeslice

Tried drilling in the backyard, but the neighbors kept watching

RoeDapple 3 years ago

Last time I tried drillin' in the yard the neighbors was kinda suspicious like I was trying to bury sompthin'. Tried explainin' to them I don't do that no more but they called the law anyway. Ya know, one backhoe can really wreak havoc with the sod! Glad they didn't look under the concrete driveway! oops . . .

Dispersant 3 years ago

Q: Why are we still hooked on oil? A: Because Exxon Mobile made $35 Billion in TAX FREE profits last year.
I don't buy the whole "dependency on foreign oil" theory. We're selling a lot of our oil overseas. Why not sell it all here? I'm sure there are reasons for the companies ($$$), but it doesn't say much for American oil independence.

Plus, how many foreign corporations are drilling in our territory? Where does that oil go? These oil guys care about making money, they don't care about "homeland security".

independant1 3 years ago

yes!

and exploit natural gas as alternate fuel for internal combustion machines.

snap_pop_no_crackle 3 years ago

In other news: "President Obama, in a no-questions allowed press conference, fumed about the reactions of the heads of the three companies involved with the Deepwater Horizon oil rig.

From cbsnews.com:

"I did not appreciate what I considered to be a ridiculous spectacle during the congressional hearings into this matter," he intoned. "You had executives of BP and Transocean and Halliburton falling over each other to point the finger of blame at somebody else."

Of course, he gave no specifics as to what was said or who engaged in what "finger-pointing."

As is usual with these "hearings," the entire "spectacle" was no more than a stage for arrogant Congressional members to grandstand for the public. Never mind that the oil is still gushing and no one has any proof as to what actually led to this accident.

In the same breath, he blamed other administrations for failing to set and maintain strict standards (Obama has been in office now for almost a year and a half. His Democratic party has held Congress since 2006.):

"For too long, for a decade or more, there has been a cozy relationship between the oil companies and the federal agency that permits them to drill. It seems as if permits were too often issued based on little more than assurances of safety from the oil companies. That cannot and will not happen anymore."

In other words: It's Bush's fault!

Apparently, Obama has selective amnesia, as he has been the largest recipient of BP campaign contributions in the last 20 years! Pretty "cozy," no Barack?..."

More at http://wizbangblog.com/

phoggyjay 3 years ago

No.

tbaker 3 years ago

So what do you suggest Merrill?

Do you believe the USA should stop using crude oil? About 46% of the crude oil that goes to an oil refinery is made into gasoline. Where do you think the remaining 54% goes? What are those keys you're typing on made out of? You cannot touch anything that doesn't owe at least a part of it's being there for you to touch, without crude oil. All that is required to get us off of crude oil is alternative energy forms that are profitable. In the last 15 years, oil companies have managed to triple the depth of water they can drill off-shore in. Where did that inovation and incredible leap in technology come from? Some government program? Some presidential proclimation?

It came from profit, or at least the potential for it.

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