Bush to lift offshore drilling ban

[CompuDude]

Originally Posted by ReefHound

Point doesn't stand. The Valdez didn't spill it's oil while pumping or loading. And you in fact do have pumping and loading even in the absence of drilling platforms. When supertankers come over here from overseas they don't come into port. They are far too big. Nearly every barrel of crude we import gets transferred to smaller lightering vessels or pipelines offshore. One might even argue that transferring from fixed structure (rig) to boat is safer than boat to boat.

There have been hundreds of rigs in the gulf off Texas for over 30 years. Mexico gets most of it's oil from the gulf in Campeche Bay. Tell me how many bad spills you can remember. Tell me why the coasts of California or Florida are going to be any different than Texas.

Easy. We vote to protect the environment, nearly every time. And we have never had a governor with the last name of "Bush".

[SlvrDragon50]

Booo

Crist supports off shore drilling.. I think its just because he wants to be VP though. Almost all of FL hates him.

I still think Congress will hold their ban..

[Largo]

Brazil is now independent of foreign energy.

The reason?

Off-shore drilling.

Parabens para Lula.

[FishFood]

Did I miss something? I still see no good reasons stated to keep the ban on off shore drilling.

[ReefHound]

Originally Posted by CompuDude

Easy. We vote to protect the environment, nearly every time. And we have never had a governor with the last name of "Bush".

You either misinterpreted the question or ducked it. I meant if the oil companies can drill off the coast of Texas for 30 years and not ruin the coast with big oil spills, then what is different with Florida and California that makes you think they won't have the same spill-free results? Do you have anything to support your position other than paranoia?

BTW, we don't elect movie stars as governors or have rolling blackouts.

[CompuDude]

Originally Posted by ReefHound

You either misinterpreted the question or ducked it. I meant if the oil companies can drill off the coast of Texas for 30 years and not ruin the coast with big oil spills, then what is different with Florida and California that makes you think they won't have the same spill-free results? Do you have anything to support your position other than paranoia?

BTW, we don't elect movie stars as governors or have rolling blackouts.

Dumb luck? There ARE safety protocols. Odds are odds for a reason. That doesn't mean accidents can't happen. Oh, that is, unless the rigs aren't there in the first place. Do you actually have a way to counter that simple fact?

Supertankers carrying vast amounts of oil will be cruising the same waters either way... those odds don't change. Again, there's really no disputing this simple fact, either.

As for movie stars... well, I didn't vote for any of them. And Deregulation is responsible for the rolling blackouts... completely unrelated to the topic at hand though that may be.

I'm done with this though. I don't come to the ST site for political discussion.

[captain]

Originally Posted by CompuDude

So... what is it you do with the oil after the drilling? You load it onto ships.

Point stands. No drilling platforms, no oil pumping, no ship loading ... no spills.

Drilling platforme do not load on to ships. In the Gulf of Mexico all oil is moved to shore by pipeline and the same would be done anywhere along the coast.

[ReefHound]

Originally Posted by CompuDude

Dumb luck? There ARE safety protocols. Odds are odds for a reason. That doesn't mean accidents can't happen. Oh, that is, unless the rigs aren't there in the first place. Do you actually have a way to counter that simple fact?

Supertankers carrying vast amounts of oil will be cruising the same waters either way... those odds don't change. Again, there's really no disputing this simple fact, either.

As for movie stars... well, I didn't vote for any of them. And Deregulation is responsible for the rolling blackouts... completely unrelated to the topic at hand though that may be.

I'm done with this though. I don't come to the ST site for political discussion.

Dumb luck? In other words, you have no data to support your position so must rely upon fear mongering? That would be like a LDS suggesting online gear is unsafe and explaining the absence of accidents caused by online gear as dumb luck.

The simple way to counter that "simple fact" is to point out that most accidents do not involve rigs therefore the absence of rigs do not mean accidents can't happen.

The odds involving supertankers do change, since oil from offshore rigs is not transported on supertankers and if we get more oil from rigs and less from overseas that means fewer supertankers navigating our waters. Consider that "simple fact" refuted. In fact, it may well be that offshore rigs decreases our risk of catastrophic oil spills.

If it's completely unrelated to the topic at hand then why did you even bring up the subject of governors in post #71?

[SlvrDragon50]

Governors have a pretty big part in deciding it.

If a governor does not want off shore drilling, there probably wont be any. Luckily for all you people, Crist is a suck up and will support anything McCain supports.

[OH-JJ]

Originally Posted by CompuDude

The offshore marine life LOVE the oil rigs. So much life there, it's one of my favorite places to dive.

The issue, to me, isn't the drilling or the pumping. It's the risk of a spill. The small amount of good an offshore artificial reef does to the local marine populations pales in comparison to the massive amount of damage that can be caused by a spill.

If they could guarantee no spills, I'd cheerfully wave a flag for them while they headed out to begin working. But the fact is, they can't. Anyone who has actually witnessed a spill first hand knows this.

Last time I checked the off shore rigs, have near 100% safety rating on spills. Please name any oil company that want to see there profits spill into the sea. I know people who have owned wells. one spill would cost them several years of profit, not including any fines imposed. You throw in fines, and you will bankrupt any of the smaller companies.