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Bush lifts executive ban on offshore oil drilling
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by Maireid Sullivan | July 14, 2008 at 07:16 pm
310 views | 15 Recommendations | 5 comments
Many years will pass before new oil sources can be marketed..."But it almost certainly would be profitable." ...and be sure to read the terrific 'comment' following these excerpts.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush lifted an executive order banning offshore oil drilling on Monday and urged Congress to follow suit.
Citing the high prices Americans are paying at the pump, Bush said from the White House Rose Garden that allowing offshore oil drilling is "one of the most important steps we can take" to reduce that burden.
However, the move is largely symbolic as there is also a federal law banning offshore drilling.
"This means that the only thing standing between the American people and these vast oil reserves is action from the U.S. Congress," Bush said.
Bush has been pushing Congress to repeal the law passed in 1981.
The issue has gained prominence in the presidential race. Sen. John McCain recently announced he supported offshore oil drilling, reversing his previous stance.
Sen. Barack Obama wants to keep the ban in place.
Experts say offshore oil drilling would not have an immediate impact on oil prices because oil exploration takes years.
"If we were to drill today, realistically speaking, we should not expect a barrel of oil coming out of this new resource for three years, maybe even five years, so let's not kid ourselves," said Fadel Gheit, oil and gas analyst with Oppenheimer & Co. Equity Capital Markets Division.
But it almost certainly would be profitable.
In his statement last month, Bush also renewed his demand that Congress allow drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, clear the way for more refineries and encourage efforts to recover oil from shale in areas such as the Green River Basin of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming.
The White House estimates that there are 18 billion barrels of oil offshore that have not been exploited because of state bans, 10 billion to 12 billion in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and 800 billion barrels of recoverable oil in the Green River Basin.
And, the comment from Gent says it all for me, –following the article on editioncnn.com :
Gent:
You know, at first I thought, "Well, it's only a short while till Bush is gone. So rather than put the country through the pain of another impeachment situation, just let the clock run out.
But now, after this blatantly obvious pandering to his oil company cohorts at the possible expense of the environment and gaining nothing but more profit for the already incredibly rich, he needs to be removed from office now before he can do any more damage.
Impeachment proceedings must begin!!
Ah well, screw it. The rich are always gonna get their way anyhow. So what's the point?
But wouldn't you just love to see the day when God in heaven above makes himself known and points out to the world exactly how Bush, Rove, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Addington, Limbaugh and every other selfish, greedy, holier-than-thou politician/supporter has royally screwed so many people and so much of the earth. And then God, knowing all their deeds, and knowing every instance where they could have done the right thing, but instead took the easy way out, or pandered to their own greed or that of their greedy friends, God then pointed that out to them and to everyone else just how and why they were so filthy and corrupt and unbelievably selfish.
Then, they'd be banished to live together, without their families, in a 1 bedroom house in the squalor of a condemned New Orleans neighborhood, with no way out, with no help, no air-conditioning, eating & drinking nothing but canned beans and Mogan David 20/20 for every meal in a house that reeked from wet carpet, dried mud, and rotting fish.
Yeah, that should take care of it.
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (5)
at 22:10 on July 14th, 2008
Maireid Sullivan, I like this story. It's good stuff.
What do you expect, it was bound to happen!
at 01:03 on July 15th, 2008
Thanks for the flag, Paschen!
I'm not at all surprised, Paschen. ...profit is the name of the game.
But, I still have great hope that humanity at large will 'wake up' to this 'unbalanced' agenda.
Over dinner, Ben and I were discussing this, and he expressed his admiration for people who never give up... "I know I can! I know I can!" :)
at 09:22 on July 15th, 2008
Maireid Sullivan, I like this story. It's good stuff. When you get a chance, check out my photos on drilling should make you giggle. I also wish NP would add a routine that would show folks if the story has been covered. I will add a link of your story to mine.
Al
at 08:37 on July 19th, 2008
Gent talks about problems in New Orleans guess what Gent New Orleans is run by democrats , so I guess I should not point out the corruption and failed policies in that government. Phony "do as I say not as I do" liberals like Al Gore have caused enough damage to this economy. The answer to our energy problems is to drill for oil in the U.S. and build new refineries. I am also for more nuclear power plants liberals like to point to europe for enlightenment France gets 80% of there power from nuclear energy we get about 20% we can do better. Liberals need to get out of the way and the free market will solve this problem.
at 16:07 on July 20th, 2008
I don't understand how you can be an "unverified" member of Now Public.
Can you explain how you achieved that distinction?
Isn't it a bit cliché, if not rude, to resort to casually dismissing the legitimate contrary opinions of others with inappropriate use of the term 'liberal'?
Perhaps you are not aware of the ongoing broad-ranging discussion regarding energy solutions amongst 'verified' members of NP.
Regarding controversial issues surrounding nuclear energy, you refer to France. Are you aware of the recent spillage there?
I've pulled together some of those reports below FYI.
A nuclear generating facility in south eastern France has leaked nearly 436kgms -nearly half a tonne!! of Uranium – 8,000 gallons or 36,369 litres (at 12gms p litre!!) of uranium contaminated solution into the Gaffeire and Lauzon rivers about 25 miles from the city of Avignon.
NOTE: I had friends who lived in Northern France during the Chernobyl disaster. They said the French gov. simply had to deny reports of fallout reaching their territories because their produce sales would be affected.
I never buy N. EU foods. 20 years later, the entire area is flourishing with wild animals and nature re-growth, with open parks and football fields showing spontaneous regrowth of now tall trees –but humans cannot enter the area - for at least another FEW hundreds of thousands of years.
This is a wake-up call regarding the heavily promoted "clean" image of nuclear power.
*BBC News article.
**Nuclear watchdog groups question authenticity of official statements.
* Waste containing unenriched uranium has leaked into two rivers from a nuclear plant in southern France.
Officials banned people in three nearby towns from fishing, using water from wells, swimming in the rivers or using river water on their crops.
The accident happened at the Tricastin nuclear site at Bollene, some 40km (25 miles) from the city of Avignon.
The French nuclear safety agency said the substance was toxic but the risk to human health was slight.
Uranium concentrations in the Gaffiere river were initially about 1,000 times higher than normal levels but were falling rapidly, spokeswoman Evangelia Petit said.
Some 30,000l (7,925 gallons) of solution containing 12g of uranium per litre spilled from an overflowing reservoir at the facility - which handles liquids contaminated by uranium - into the ground and into the Gaffiere and Lauzon rivers.
Anti-nuclear campaign group Abandon Nuclear Power said it thought the authorities were underplaying the danger posed by the nuclear waste leak.
"It is impossible that such a spill, containing uranium, does not have important consequences for the environment and for health," it said.
France is one of the world's most nuclear-dependent countries, with 80% of its electricity coming from nuclear power. **Uranium levels fall after nuclear leak in France
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
PARIS -- Tests show that uranium levels are diminishing but have not vanished from rivers in southern France after a leak from a nuclear site, regional authorities said Wednesday.
Anti-nuclear groups, meanwhile, questioned the handling of the incident at the Tricastin nuclear site near Avignon, noting inconsistent official statements about when it occurred and about how much unenriched uranium was leaked.
France's nuclear safety agency said liquid containing traces of unenriched uranium leaked from a factory at the site, and that uranium concentrations in the Gaffiere river were initially about 1,000 times the normal levels. The agency said the uranium is only slightly radioactive although toxic.
Initially the agency said the accident occurred Tuesday morning, but later said it occurred Monday night. On Wednesday, Tricastin authorities revised downward the amount of liquid that leaked.
Authorities in the Vaucluse region maintained a ban Wednesday on the consumption of well water in three nearby towns and the watering of crops from the Gaffiere and Lauzon rivers. Swimming, water sports and fishing also remain banned.
A series of tests Tuesday showed that "uranium levels (in surface water) remained well above normal but strongly diminished through dilution throughout the day," the regional administration said in a statement. The tests found no uranium in groundwater.
Tricastin authorities changed the amount that had leaked from 7,900 gallons (30,000 liters) to 4,760 gallons (18,000 liters), according to another statement from the Vaucluse regional administration. It said the liquid contained 493 pounds (224 kilograms) of natural unenriched uranium, instead of 794 pounds (360 kilograms) announced earlier.
The factory handles materials and liquids contaminated by uranium, the fuel for nuclear power plants. The liquid spilled from a reservoir that overflowed during the washing of a tank.
The Commission for Independent Radioactivity Research and Information said the leak led to the release of radioactive material 100 times that which the site is allowed to release in a year. Greenpeace said the leaked waste was more than 130 times the permitted level.
Radio Netherlands is saying "tests have shown that there is no danger to public health." LePoint also reports that "the amount of radioactive uranium that leaked out of a French nuclear power plant is significantly smaller than originally was believed." The press release from the company that runs the plant said "only 75 kilograms of uranium reached the environment, instead of the 360 kilograms reported." The accident was given a Level 1 by the Nuclear Safety Authority but Greenpeace is saying the seriousness of the accident is being downplayed, and that the accident merits more of a Level 5 designation.
Billy Meier said, in 1995, and published in "And Yet They Fly!" 2001: "The danger of accidents in nuclear reactors will increase throughout the world. Regarding this subject, France in particular must be extraordinarily careful in every way, for one prophecy warns of a strong probability of an accident near Lyon, which can be prevented as long as the responsible individuals undertake the right steps - a prophecy can be changed."