Credo
"Sign on, young man, and sail with me. The stature of our homeland is no more than the measure of ourselves. Our job is to keep her free. Our will is to keep the torch of freedom burning for all. To this solemn purpose we call on the young, the brave, the strong, and the free. Heed my call, Come to the sea. Come Sail with me." -- John Paul Jones
"Pardon him, Theodotus; he is a barbarian, and thinks that the customs of his tribe and island are the laws of nature" --George Bernard Shaw, "Caesar and Cleopatra"
"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music."--Friedrich Nietzsche
"A kind Providence has placed in our breasts a hatred of the unjust and cruel, in order that we may preserve ourselves from cruelty and injustice. They who bear cruelty, are accomplices in it. The pretended gentleness which excludes that charitable rancour, produces an indifference which is half an approbation. They never will love where they ought to love, who do not hate where they ought to hate."--Edmund Burke
“You say that it is your custom to burn widows. Very well. We also have a custom: when men burn a woman alive, we tie a rope around their necks and we hang them. Build your funeral pyre; beside it, my carpenters will build a gallows. You may follow your custom. And then we will follow ours.”--General Sir Charles Napier
"Μολὼν λαβέ" -- Leonidas
"Blogito Ergo Sum" -- Neptunus Lex
That’s ok. Let em learn the hard way that hurricane alley is a very unforgiving environment for drill rigs, helo ops, and transport. We will see regular reports of helos being lost in the Gulf. Me thinks theirs don’t fly any better than their fixed wings. And Obama? Might actually be on the right track to wean the economy off oil since peak oil is forecast for 2014. Just about the times those 300 million Chinese and 200 million Indians head to the new cities to begin their life of prosperity the oil tank runs dry and costs skyrocket. that will slam their developing economy hard. And cause them to go on a hunt for oil off Vietnam, and the Dutch East Indies, and…. Wait, there’s a familiar ring here. War over oil. where have we heard that before?
I are advocating drilling inside the US; or drilling outside the US?
Drilling less inside the US in the medium term allows to the US to pump more oil/ng in the out years. Is that such a bad idea?
There seems to be a secular rise in real oil prices over time; so shouldn’t we reduce the percentage of our energy consumption that derives from oil? Ditto for all energy consumers in Asia and Europe.
G-man, India, China, Japan, South Korea, and Europe are all large energy importers like the US. We all share almost identical interests regarding oil. In fact, they admit it more directly and freely than we do.
Type above. My question is: “Are you advocating more drilling inside or outside the US?”
Anan
Had the pleasure of 3 Persian Gulf deployments and saw first hand the string of tankers turning left out of the SOH. Bound for JIC (Japan, India, china). Every 12-15 miles was a tanker heading that way. Just unbelievable to see that much oil afloat. I’m a firm believer in wind, solar, and water turbine energy. Drill what we need for critical supplies, and import as much as we can from friendly sources like Canada and mexico. use theirs while the getting is good. But the UK north fields are already experiencing significant declines in output and pressure. Gulf rigs are moving into deeper water where the costs become exorbitant. Oil developers want oil above $78 or so a barrel. Anything below that and it doesn’t pay to drill the deeper wells. Oil shales are not very efficient, and wreck havoc on the environment. And i don’t know of a bio-fuel producer that can make 20 million barrels a day, so pump from others, and develop replacement energies.
G-Man … I think that it’s charming that you are a “confirmed believer in wind, solar and water turbine energy.” But of these three, only water is fairly dependable. [I speak as the wife of a retired energy company executive.] But sometimes “the wind don’t blow.” Even Hawaii’s wind farms have deteriorated and are only marginally successful today. And ” sometimes the sun don’t shine,” And a solar panel field takes up a lot of room, and then there’s that pesky problem of storing and conveying the energy. In fact, the problems of storing and conveying energy [the inevitable drop in amount of energy delivered over along electric lines] means that one of the biggest difficulties the energy industry is facing is developing efficient, long-lasting storage batteries, which one learns if one has bought an electric car or bus and tried to run it more than 100 miles on a charge.
Until these large problems are addressed and solved, we need to be able to produce and use our relatively vast petroleum and natural gas *proven* reserves, without the Busybody Brigade in Congress preventing this. And we need to produce petroleum from our own offshore areas and the Gulf of Mexico instead of letting the pirates of the Soviet Union and South America snaffle off the *proven* deposits for themselves.
If we could just produce what we already have in this country and our offshore areas, we wouldn’t have to trade with, and put up with those crazy folks in the Mid-East. Oops. I’d cross out crazy if I knew how to do it on my computer. But I’m 81 and technologically challenged. However I’d rather be technologically challenged than logically challenged. And I’m not implying that you are. But you may not be in entire command of all the information out there.
Marianne
P.S. I think the storage battery problems and other problems of producing energy from already proven deposits will be solved by our scientists within the next 50 years. But meanwhile, I’ll need gas for my car, and heat and airconditioning for my house, and lights to read by. And so will you.
By the way … did you know that, currently, about 50% of all our electricity is produced by coal-fired plants? And that Mr. Obama promised in his campaign speeches to “bankrupt” the coal companies? Somewhat worrisome, isn’t it?
Busybody Brigade in Congress
Like HomeFront6 the other day…Marianne, can I come live with you? I’m not greedy – I don’t like the heat. Just a month with you, pretty please? I have to believe it would be one helluva ride – the mind reels.
Oh yeah and on topic: Drill Baby, Drill. Drill Here. Drill Now.
Does anyone know if Rosetta Stone offers Russian language courses?
Yep.
Marianne, I would posit that the “Busybody Brigade in Congress” isn’t in command of all of the information out there either. Heck, they’re most likely not in command of the best in technology, to boot!
It’s beyond me how people think we’ll just leap-frog the next 50-100 years into a new world of wind, solar, and water power technology. They can’t grasp that something needs to power the trucks that are supposed to deliver their new office furniture and consummables to the nearest big box store.
It’s beyond the imagination of many as to why we cannot utilize the resources in our own land while we transition to the new world so many imagine. One would wonder if theirs is a different purpose, not that of conservation or being “green”, but one of breaking down our country as it is presently constitued. What would the net effect of no coal-fired power plants be? How about $7/gallon gasoline? What is THEIR real purpose?
One thing for certain… it’s avoidable with resources from within our own borders. Drill Now. Drill Here. Drill, Baby, Drill!
So I guess Russia is getting really greedy, going after both the Arctic and the Gulf of Mexico. Although at least I can see some geographic logic to their actions in the Arctic. Should be fun.
Well, on a positive note, if Russia does a good job of drilling, the world still gets the oil, and prices stay lower than they would otherwise be. Perhaps the Russians are the scabs that will break the enviro-unionists?
Kris dear heart… I would love to have you come and live with me, at least for awhile. Probably before the middle of May would be best, because about that time, we start our “summers of discontent” when the daily temperature averages above 95 degrees, and the humidity is the same or higher. Which is why Houston is one of the most air conditioned cities in America. But the flowers are wonderful, the hunting is excellent, the city of Galveston with its beaches and its boating is only 40 miles away, and we execute all of our murderers instead of letting them sit around in prisons and spoil the atmosphere.
Let me know when you’re coming …
Marianne
America’s way of life depends on energy. Marianne is spot on about the dependability of both wind and solar power. Our society depends on available energy 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Wind power supplies rated power only 15% of the time. Solar can get to rated power (on a good day, no IFR) about 6 hours a day. For every watt of solar or wind power installed, there has to be an equal watt of hot spinning power from oil, gas or coal as a back up. The only rational “green” power system to replace the carbon based systems is nuclear.
Peak oil is a long way off; however, expensive oil is close. America is exporting our oil technology and our oil jobs while at the same time sending billions of dollars to people that do not really like America very much. In the next twenty years energy cost will go up significantly. In those twenty years America can increase internal oil and gas production to fight the increased cost while developing nuclear power to maintain our standard of living.
[...] Drill Baby, Drill « Neptunus Lex [...]
Hello,
Mr. Stan/Tx – I will slightly modify your comment.
America’s way of life depends on CHEAP energy. And it’s no longer cheap when more people are consuming ever increasing amounts of a limited supply.
Me, I’m all for more nuclear plants. I’d have the Navy run them.
Back in the 70′s, one idea was for orbiting solar panels to beam electrical energy to earth. Sun’s always shining if you’re in a high enough orbit. This is one area we could have the next Manhattan Project, using NASA, aerospace, computer firms, etc, and get it going. All we are lacking is the political will.
Nuclear fusion is another area we need to seriously keep after. Dunno if we’ll see it in our lifetimes, though.
I do think it’s time to give more offshore drilling a shot, though.
Interestingly enough, has anyone read about the Falklands and the potential finds just offshore? Better keep the Royal Navy ready. Oh wait…..
Phalanx08
Interesting that the same side of the political spectrum that demands we kick the oil habit also stands like a rock in the way of progress on all large scale alternatives.
Wind farms? Sorry, they kill birds and block our views. Plus those nasty magnetic fields they, and the transmission lines, generate.
Solar farms? Nope, take up too much space, use too much water. Oh, and they are ugly. And the transmission line thing holds.
Tidal generation? Sorry, damages marine habitat. And, once again, those ugly and dangerous transmission lines.
Coal is too dirty and nuke, well, enough said, we simply can’t have those evil nukes.
Seems like until we are huddling in unheated, unlit caves those who drive the left of the aisle won’t be happy.