Posted on 06/17/2008 5:11:01 PM PDT by Sub-Driver
Bush to urge lifting of ban on offshore drilling Tue Jun 17, 2008 7:55pm EDT
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush will make an announcement on Wednesday about energy and call on Congress to pass legislation lifting a ban on offshore oil drilling, the White House said.
"With gasoline now over $4 a gallon, tomorrow he will explicitly call on Congress to also pass legislation lifting the congressional ban on safe, environmentally friendly offshore oil drilling," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said on Tuesday.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
You got that right. Where was George when we really him on this issue?
Bush’s drilling deal shields Glades, gulf
WASHINGTON — Defusing two longstanding environmental disputes, President Bush and Gov. Jeb Bush announced deals Wednesday that could prevent drilling for natural gas off Florida’s gulf coast and block the expansion of oil wells in a federal preserve beside the Everglades.
The federal government will pay Chevron and two other companies $115-million for oil and gas leases in an area of the Gulf of Mexico known as Destin Dome, about 25 miles off the beaches of Pensacola.
Separately, the government plans to pay $120-million in cash or credits to the Collier family, one of South Florida’s largest land developers, to stop drilling for oil in the Big Cypress National Preserve and other areas of South Florida.
The deals won’t end the threat of drilling near Florida’s coast, nor will they stop production in Big Cypress, where pumping could continue for 10 years.
President Bush said the agreements show the federal government is “a strong partner” in protecting the environment. And Gov. Bush, boasting that Florida has some of the world’s best beaches, said: “It just did not seem right that 25 miles off the coast there might be drilling. Today, that possibility doesn’t exist.”
...
ChevronTexaco spokesman Fred Gorell said his company was “very disappointed,” and Conoco spokesman Carlton Adams said, “’When you spend the number of years that we have, and the effort that went into this, and you know there are considerable natural gas reserves there, then there’s a sense of, ‘Gee, I wish we could have.’ “
http://www.sptimes.com/2002/05/30/State/Bush_s_drilling_deal_.shtml
“Oh well. It will give the Dems a good laugh.”
If the Dems laugh at this while persisting with solving every problem by raising taxes, it will be another reason to dump the Democrat majority in the next election.
About fricking time.
Deals to Block Drilling in Everglades, Gulf
Bush Promises $235 Million to Buy Out Mineral Rights in Fla. Areas
President Bush announced two major deals yesterday to protect Florida’s natural treasures from oil and gas drilling, pledging $235 million to buy out mineral rights in the cypress swamps of the Everglades and off the white-sand beaches of the Gulf of Mexico....
The deals to protect some of the last refuges of the endangered Florida panther and Florida’s Gulf Coast could also provide a political boost to his brother, Gov. Jeb Bush (R), who is up for reelection this fall. They may also burnish the president’s environmental credentials in the state that decided the 2000 election.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A30379-2002May29?language=printer
That Saint Pete article was accurate at the time it was written. But, Area 181 South was added to Area 181 in 2006.
This was done because of Florida election 2000 and Jeb Bush's reelection.
Bravo to the Republicans for hearing the ‘drill now’ message and responding in unison. Bush has reiterated what he has been for all along. We’ve gotten folks like Crist to flip, and McCain out there for it too.
What we are starting to see is a Republican united front to deal with high energy prices the right way.
The Republicans leaders have gotten the message and are responding. It’s amazing how many freepers jump all over the GOP *even more* when they step up to the plate and do the right thing!
The everglades and offshore are two different things.
Unlike the frozen tundra in ANWR and offshore drilling, there is a delicate habitat in the everglades worth protecting. Not that I am for a ban on drilling, but its a different category from the other cases.
thanks for info, I should amend my prior comment that Bush was always for offshore drilling ... as for the press bias: “The deals won’t end the threat of drilling near Florida’s coast”
What threat? Natural gas drilling is no threat. Has anyone ever seen a natural gas spill? Nothing can be more inconsequential for a beach than a natural gas drilling platform 50 miles offshore. We could have 1,000 of them offshore and nobody would have a hint of a difference.
It’s kind of sad that you have to cite leftwing sources on how Bush has been friendly to domestic energy.
“The Bush administration on Thursday directed government land managers to remove environmental and procedural obstacles that are slowing development of oil and gas resources in several areas in the West that have high potential for energy production.
They are telling companies “you don’t have to worry about the harm from the project itself,” said Sharon Buccino, a senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, a Washington-based environmental organization. “That’s creating a sacrifice zone in acres where they want to go in and get the resource.”
“
They have a real axe to grind on it, showing all the things he is doing, meanwhile we’ve got people on FR complaining that ‘nothing has been done’. Cant both be truth!
I think most people have an outdated view of what modern day drilling is like.
It is not the geysers of oil spouting into the sky. Slant drilling allows you get oil from areas outside of environmentally sensitive areas.
Those who seek to ban drilling are not doing it for realistic valid environmental reasons but because they are anti-capitalistic and do not want to see oil companies (some bizarre Freemason, Bildaberger, Tri-lateral Commission conspiracy beliefs) to be profitable.
Obama and the Democrats including McCain want to add windfall profits tax on oil companies for ‘excessive profits’.
How American is that?
Become successful and get penalized.
I finally found a good use for moonbats! President Bush campaigned on opening new sources, and I believe, did his best to deliver and it drove the environmentalists nuts.
In this instance, people here on FR really have no excuse in blaming any of this on the President.
The dynamic couldn't have happened without the high oil prices.
That's the only thing that's going to convince the public; Repubs debating on TV over and over with libs on the environment has not and would never achieve it.
MUST SEE TV! Watch this speech on energy by Michael Williams Republican Texas Railroad Commissioner. He gets it.
http://www.williamsfortexas.com/
WOW he is awesome!!!!
At least he found out that gas was going to hit 4 bucks a gallon.
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