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Offshore Drilling scam
It doesn't really surprise me that 60 percent of Americans believe that allowing offshore drilling is going to have some kind of immediate downward effect on gas prices, rather than a decade-and-a-half from now. Desperate people grasp at straws, because they WANT to believe so badly.
It's also no surprise that the politicians pushing offshore drilling the hardest are the ones from states farthest from any coastline. I can just imagine the folks jawbonin' about it down at the tire and supply store now: "Shux...who cares about Florida? I been to Disney World. They ain't even got a coastline there, so what are them folks bellyachin' about? And that there ANWR. Just a buncha caribou. Not like they're cattle or nuthin'. I got me a mighty thirsty VEE-hickle outside to fill, and if this lops a coupla cents off a gallon, I say bring on the slick! Leastways, we won't be buyin' it from the A-rabs."
It's almost too easy for the oil companies.
"
CHAN LOWE
Comments
I saw this cartoon in the print newspaper today and nearly fell over in my chair. It's so frustrating that voters refuse to recognize facts. I had to run to the computer to thank you for visually venting on my behalf. Although I will say I think your comments that people "want to believe" when they are desperate are too kind, and that your more merciless image is more appropriate. If people had faced facts sooner, they wouldn't be desperate now. To find some brains, you may have to keep drilling, Lowe, all the way to China or India or...
Posted by: Newsie | August 5, 2008 1:26 PM
The idea that a legimate intent to increase drilling will have immediate effect on oil prices (and therefore at the pump) is not a stupid one. Anything serious we do now, whether it's lower consumption or increase supply (or most effectively both), portends a greater supply of oil in the future and will cause the market to react to lower the price of oil.
Conversely, the longer we bicker about what do (while doing nothing) further convinces the market that oil will be more scarce with continued increased demand, and the narket will therefore will bet the price up.
The most effective policy would couple increasing oil production by any reasonable means with tying a percentage of the resultant decrease in oil prices towards alternate energy source development.
Posted by: soccerman | August 5, 2008 3:49 PM
The proper terminalology is "them A-rabs" thank you.
Posted by: Grammar nazi | August 6, 2008 3:26 PM
Soccerman:
I couldn't disagree with you more. The reasonable thing to do is not to allow more off-shore drilling. The reasonable thing to do is to have the oil companies drill on the area they already have access to. Why should we give them more acreage if they are not using the acerage they already have?
We do NOT need to have oil platforms off the coast. We need oil companies that actively search for oil within their currently provided areas. Imagine the effect on gas prices an announcement by Exxon that they had found billions of barrels within the area already designated to them!
Posted by: alex | August 7, 2008 4:24 AM