GAS what the....

[Chiguy65]

$4.00 a gallon, are you insane. When are we going to DRILL BABY DRILL here in the good ole USA? We need to tell the enviormental wackos to pay for our gas! This is nuts, 'we, the people' have oil and everything right here in our counrty, tell the Middle East to kiss off. Then we could call all of our troops home and close our boarders and live at our pace not the oil companies, but I don't think it is the oil companies, I think this gas thing is controled by our own goverment. How much more can we spend before we revolt on Washington D C and tell those out of touch, overpaided, not in tune screwballs its time to go.

[TheBigB]

$4.00 a gallon, are you insane. When are we going to DRILL BABY DRILL here in the good ole USA? We need to tell the enviormental wackos to pay for our gas! This is nuts, 'we, the people' have oil and everything right here in our counrty, tell the Middle East to kiss off. Then we could call all of our troops home and close our boarders and live at our pace not the oil companies, but I don't think it is the oil companies, I think this gas thing is controled by our own goverment. How much more can we spend before we revolt on Washington D C and tell those out of touch, overpaided, not in tune screwballs its time to go.

Do you honestly think "drill, baby drill" will lower the gasoline prices in the US? It may reduce our dependency on foreign oil and perhaps stabilize the price, but it won't be stabilized at a lower amount - the estimates I've seen place it around $4 a gallon.

[Mrs.Slotz]

I heard it was going to be close to $5.00/gallon by Labor Day Weekend.

[Mr Douglas]

I heard it was going to be close to $5.00/gallon by Labor Day Weekend.

You mean Memorial Day, like in six weeks or so.

[Chiguy65]

Do you honestly think "drill, baby drill" will lower the gasoline prices in the US? It may reduce our dependency on foreign oil and perhaps stabilize the price, but it won't be stabilized at a lower amount - the estimates I've seen place it around $4 a gallon.

Yes I do! I have a family member that is in the wholesale oil business and he has estimates of $1.75 to 2.25 per gallon with only domestic oil. Of course we have to let the oil companies to build more refineries, and most of them want too, but the environmentallist keep stoping them from doing that. Are you one of those? If so, come pay for my gas!!!!

[Todd Ianuzzi]

$4.00 a gallon, are you insane. When are we going to DRILL BABY DRILL here in the good ole USA? We need to tell the enviormental wackos to pay for our gas! This is nuts, 'we, the people' have oil and everything right here in our counrty, tell the Middle East to kiss off. Then we could call all of our troops home and close our boarders and live at our pace not the oil companies, but I don't think it is the oil companies, I think this gas thing is controled by our own goverment. How much more can we spend before we revolt on Washington D C and tell those out of touch, overpaided, not in tune screwballs its time to go.

This country has nothing close to its own supply its domestic oil needs. This country became an net oil importer in 1971 and has never looked back.

[evilkumquat]

And to think it hasn't even been a year since Deepwater Horizon.

Or does remembering that make me a dirty hippie environmentalist?

SPILL, BABY, SPILL!

[Chiguy65]

And to think it hasn't even been a year since Deepwater Horizon.

Or does remembering that make me a dirty hippie environmentalist?

SPILL, BABY, SPILL!

Well if we could drill on land instead of drilling two miles down in the water, it wouldn't take that long to contain it...
Just like they said about the Alaska Pipeline would hurt the caribou, yet it has helped the caribou, there are more there now then before the pipeline...

[bigkneedgal]

Chi: All the low hanging fruit has been picked. That’s why we’re drilling in the gulf at dangerous depths and why oil companies are beginning to drill in other dangerous and risky regions in the world. The environmentalists are the least of our problems. Most, if not all environmentalist I know have been calling for a sane energy policy for decades. In less than 5 years, China will have more miles of “interstate” highways than the US. Last year China sold more autos than the US and only 3% of their population drive. India has a ways to go to catch up, but they are keeping a close eye on China and are beginning to emulate their economic model. In the end, more and more of the countries we have historically relied upon for commodities are beginning to realize they are selling their future on the cheap and are going to need those commodities for their own emerging economies. None of this bodes well for the US and the worst part is, we have no “Plan A” let alone a “Plan B”.
Had we started the process of an energy policy 30-35 years ago when we got the first wake-up call, we may have been in better position today. Perhaps we wouldn’t have had to go to war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Perhaps we would have spent untold billions less on our military. Perhaps energy costs for manufacturing would have been reduced to the point that we wouldn’t have had to ship all those many jobs overseas. Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps. Everything is extremely clear in hindsight, isn’t it? It seems it is always the same. It takes a disaster or severe crisis to get the powers that be to take action on something that is obviously inevitable. And then it is too late to be effective.

[HomeyG]

Will the drilling of five new deep water oil wells in the Gulf of Mexico by 2013 affect our environment?

[evilkumquat]

Will the drilling of five new deep water oil wells in the Gulf of Mexico by 2013 affect our environment?

It just takes one Chernobyl or Deepwater Horizon to undo decades of "savings" through nuclear or oil energy.

I have never heard of a solar panel leaking deadly radiation making a twenty square mile area uninhabitable.

[HomeyG]

It just takes one Chernobyl or Deepwater Horizon to undo decades of "savings" through nuclear or oil energy.

I have never heard of a solar panel leaking deadly radiation making a twenty square mile area uninhabitable.

How many square miles of solar panels will be needed to replace one oil well or one nuclear reactor and would that area of solar panels be uninhabitable?

[Mrs.Slotz]

You mean Memorial Day, like in six weeks or so.

I really did hear Labor Day Weekend. I certainly hope both of us are wrong. I won't be able to drive anywhere except to and from work. Food prices going up as well. I might have to take a second job.

[evilkumquat]

How many square miles of solar panels will be needed to replace one oil well or one nuclear reactor and would that area of solar panels be uninhabitable?

Beats me. I'm no scientist.

I'm just a ****** dirty liberal.

[bigkneedgal]

How many square miles of solar panels will be needed to replace one oil well or one nuclear reactor and would that area of solar panels be uninhabitable?

Estimates are all over the place. The latest is a solar farm suggested for the desert southwest 32 miles by 32 miles would be enough to power all the electrical needs of US. I'm skeptical. Having all our energy needs resting in one basket is bad policy.

[TheBigB]

Yes I do! I have a family member that is in the wholesale oil business and he has estimates of $1.75 to 2.25 per gallon with only domestic oil. Of course we have to let the oil companies to build more refineries, and most of them want too, but the environmentallist keep stoping them from doing that. Are you one of those? If so, come pay for my gas!!!!

The oil companies want you to believe that environmentalists are what prevents them from building more refineries, but they have a vested interest in keeping prices (and profitability) high by choking the supply.

As others have said, the "low hanging" fruit in terms of oil in the US has pretty much been picked, and what is left will cost a lot more to get than your relative's estimate. But if having a convenient boogeyman makes it easier for you to deal with day to day life, then by all means don't let me stop you.

[Rubycat1]

My understanding is that a major challenge facing both wind and solar energy advancement is the inability to store the energy as it is generated. If it can't be stored, and can't be generated on either cloudy or wind free days, we must maintain traditional energy sources as back up or complimentary systems.

[ferratus]

There are several different options that can be thought or gone through to help reduce the cost of gas. More domestic drilling , land based or ocean based .. you name it. No one wants to risk another spill and while I am on the side of safety if you have 5 dollars a gallon gas it will be pointless. It will only create more problems PERIOD. No one can afford that based on incomes at this level. I say drill more and while doing that someone had better come up with some better ideas all BS set aside. Otherwise at some point we will be back up to where we are now.

I do not find myself siding with Chiguy often but for once in his life.. he is right. If you want to choke off the economy, and its population then by all means argue all you want about what is right and what you believe is right but in the mean time start freaking drilling here already.

[Todd Ianuzzi]

Chi: All the low hanging fruit has been picked. That’s why we’re drilling in the gulf at dangerous depths and why oil companies are beginning to drill in other dangerous and risky regions in the world. The environmentalists are the least of our problems. Most, if not all environmentalist I know have been calling for a sane energy policy for decades. In less than 5 years, China will have more miles of “interstate” highways than the US. Last year China sold more autos than the US and only 3% of their population drive. India has a ways to go to catch up, but they are keeping a close eye on China and are beginning to emulate their economic model. In the end, more and more of the countries we have historically relied upon for commodities are beginning to realize they are selling their future on the cheap and are going to need those commodities for their own emerging economies. None of this bodes well for the US and the worst part is, we have no “Plan A” let alone a “Plan B”.
Had we started the process of an energy policy 30-35 years ago when we got the first wake-up call, we may have been in better position today. Perhaps we wouldn’t have had to go to war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Perhaps we would have spent untold billions less on our military. Perhaps energy costs for manufacturing would have been reduced to the point that we wouldn’t have had to ship all those many jobs overseas. Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps. Everything is extremely clear in hindsight, isn’t it? It seems it is always the same. It takes a disaster or severe crisis to get the powers that be to take action on something that is obviously inevitable. And then it is too late to be effective.

These are some very good points. Americans seem to believe there is an unwritten Article or Amendment in the Consitution that says there is a "right to cheap gasonline." At many points in the last 40 years major steps could have been taken to address the inevitable rise in energy costs, but only minor steps were taken.

Oil is a commodity. Demand is rising in the developing nations and supply is finite. The idea that there is a bonanza in offshore recoverable oil in American waters is not correct. A 2006 report from the US Energy Information Agency stated that there are 41 billion recoverable barrels available in areas open to leasing and drilling and 18.2 billion in areas off-limits. And about half of the oil in off limit areas are is in California waters and California is not likely to open up these areas. http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/aeo/otheranalysis/ongr.html

[TheBigB]

I do not find myself siding with Chiguy often but for once in his life.. he is right. If you want to choke off the economy, and its population then by all means argue all you want about what is right and what you believe is right but in the mean time start freaking drilling here already.

Though some people may have been debating whether or not to drill, I was not. I was simply pointing out that doing so will not reduce the price of gasoline.