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Offshore Drilling Ban
Guest Column | By Paul M. Weyrich | October 2, 2008
An important event occurred this week, though it went largely unnoticed because of the economic turmoil on Wall Street. On September 30 Congress allowed the 27-year-old ban on offshore oil drilling to expire. This is very good news for Americans and for our energy independence. Conversely, it should be bad news for the world’s tyrants who profit enormously from our dependence upon their vast oil resources. One can hope that the expiration of this ban permanently ends the unnecessary and impractical Congressional regulation of our natural resources under the disingenuous guise of environmental protection.
I should note here that we will not see an immediate benefit from the expiration of the ban. It will take many years to develop our oil and natural gas reserves off the continental U.S. According to FORBES, “the Interior Department, which oversees the leasing of areas for oil and gas development, is not expected to begin selling leases in areas where drilling is currently restricted until 2010.” Oil companies then will have to analyze current data to determine in which places they may be interested in investing. FORBES noted that government energy officials say it would take five to ten years before any oil supplies produced from opening restricted offshore areas would be available in the market.
It is estimated that Federal lands off the U.S. coasts could produce 18 billion barrels of oil and 76 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, though some believe that these are conservative estimates because new technologies will allow us to find and extract much more. Once these resources reach American consumers, the price of oil and energy likely will drop significantly, as will our dependence on foreign tyrants who spew hatred against us.
Of course, it is plausible that the next Congress will try to re-impose the ban, which is one reason oil companies may wait until next year to begin planning the development of these reserves. It is also possible that environmental groups will sue in an attempt to use the courts to stop drilling for oil or natural gas. Should either of these happen, however, I foresee a tremendous popular backlash against Congress or the courts, as Americans are tired of paying high prices for oil and energy when we have so many undeveloped resources of our own.
The good news is that the ban on offshore oil drilling has expired. But the American people must remain vigilant to ensure that Congress does not try to enact a similar ban in the future.
Paul Weyrich is Chairman and CEO of the Free Congress Foundation.
© This column is the property of the Free Congress Foundation and may not be reproduced without their permission. For comments and inquiries, contact Phyllis E. Hughes at . Visit our website at http://www.FreeCongress.org.
Guest columns do not necessarily reflect the views of Accuracy in Media or its staff.
21 Comments | Post a Comment
MY OPINONS ONLY
So, it might take til 2010-2020 to build the refineries and get production going. I figure
(from what I’ve previously read) that the big
boys know where the oil is on the north slope/
ANWR. AT LEAST THERE IS A LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL.
We’ll continue paying $700 Billion, likely much
more, yearly for oil from those who hate us UNTIL AND OR UNLESS WE CAN PRODUCE OUR OWN OIL, and THAT, the sooner the better.
So what’s wrong with the Democrats offering jobs to AMERICANS to WORK drilling off-shore, and
in ANWR/north slope of Alaska? Think of all the
welfare checks that will become EARNED INCOME
instead? Worked for FDR.
In truth? I HATE TO BELIEVE IT, BUT I DO; AMERICA WILL BE A SOCIALIST GOVERNMENT BY THEN. It seems, in many ways, it is already a “closet Socialist’ government now. Look Below:
$50 Billion TO THE TRUSTWORTHY UN for AIDS.
$640 ” <> $448 For DOD
OUR Defense Budget. You guess
where the rest of it went.
$700 ” (or more) for this PREVENTABLE and
‘padded’ BAILOUT. Thanks, Dems.
We’ll pay for foreign investors
loss (investing IS gambling!)
$75 ” for the upcoming JUBILEE ACT, TO GO
TO THE UN to help bail out 3rd world
countries debts. Yeah, IT’S COMING!
$845 ” 7% GNP: upcoming for Obama’s sponsored
S-2433 TO GO TO THE TRUSTWORTHY UN. It
can go to the Senate floor ANY DAY NOW.
Do you see a Replubic or a Democracy there?
ONLY IF WE ARE ENERGY DEPENDENT OF OTHER NATIONS.
MAYBE, just MAYBE we can be a non-Socialist
nation.
If you think that the lift on the ban is a good thing, you’re an idiot. You think we’ll have more resources, but are you thinking about the long-term multiplication/ amplification of environmental degradation? I bet not. Smart people support the ban. Stop thinking short term and do your research morons.
p.s. Jack, you’re an even bigger idiot. Those environmental radicals are going to save this earth and all you can think about (probably) are your gas prices. Do Americans around you a favor and do your research. I regret to inform you that you’re part of the primitive group called “last morons on earth and killing it”. Get with the times and stop sounding like you’re voting for McCain.
Dear Anonymous - You Idiot-American - have the balls to say who you are you worthless sack of s**t. The time is going to come because you criminals cost Americans so much money screwing with us and protecting against nothing that you wackos will be exposed for the sniveling morons that you are - say hi to TK, dave, and Brian for me - scumbags.
Jack, I really beg to differ. You are the epitome of an idiot-American. Who am I? A collegiate academic who cares about the present and future of the one earth we have to inhabit until future notice from NASA. Environmentalists are far from criminals. People like you are the real culprits. How dumb can you be? How blind can you be? America spends $10 billion monthly to support the ongoing war in Iraq, which is not only costly but harmful and ineffective. Yet, we refuse to spend money on trying to protect future generations (by being more energy efficient and less consuming). The fatcs are real. Global warming is a man-made catastrophe and a direct result of overwhelming Greenhouse gas emissions. People like you, who don’t give a damn, are contributorily negligent and others around the world (and here in the U.S.) suffer greatly because you don’t want to open your eyes and ears and recognize real problems that may have real solutions. Are you educated at all? If you were, you would have been exposed to this information. Maybe you don’t have the proper knowledge that a true American should have, because then you’d be more informed about these very important issues. Maybe you are lonely and have no family. Therefore, there is no future generation for you to care about. However, regardless, those environmentalists who you call radicals are working hard to protect sorry people like you (families included). They remain selfless while you remain selfish. You should really be ashamed of yourself for disrespecting the earth you live in and those who are trying to preserve what’s left of it. Civilizations in the past have crumbled due to severe environmental degradation. Read your history. It’s a pattern that is noticeable, beginning with the ancient Mayans.
I hate that it’s because of people like you that good people need to work harder in order to do even a little bit of good.
How are you doing Brian? Why use anonymous as your handle? The body of your comment and its content tell me it is you. You say nasty things about the commenter and puff about yourself, you arrogant brat.
I’m not sure of who Brian is,Jack, but the fact that more than one person (myself)thinks you’re misinformed is not surprising at all. Maybe the reason as to why the content of my text is so similar to someone else’s without me knowing him is because it’s all true: the facts about global warming and the part about you being uneducated.
Who the person is shouldn’t matter to you.
The facts are what should matter to you.
Get a clue.
By the way, arrogance is increasingly becoming the product of intelligence, especially when dealing with idiots such as yourself, Jack.
Money frees you from doing things you dislike. Since I dislike doing nearly everything, money is handy.
In all recorded history there has not been one economist who has had to worry about where the next meal would come from.
We learn and grow and are transformed not so much by what we do but by why and how we do it.
I am careful not to confuse excellence with perfection. Excellence, I can reach for; perfection is God’s business.
Our own physical body possesses a wisdom which we who inhabit the body lack.
October 2 at 1:56 pm | #1 | Link
The drilling ban may be lifted but the radical environmental movement is alive and well, and they are the ones that gave us the ban in the first place. But during that time they have grown overwhelmingly in power, and the lawsuits they will bring, with corrupt and cooperative federal judges in cahoots and in lockstep, will effectively keep the ban in place even though it is not their.
I see this as a step only, we got rid of the ban, but now we have to tear down the radical environmental movement to actually get to the point of drill baby drill.