Posted on 08/02/2008 9:52:08 PM PDT by FocusNexus
Democrats vilified Republican presidential candidate John McCain when he came out in support of offshore drilling in June.
And when Gov. Charlie Crist backed away from his long-standing opposition, critics accused him of sacrificing Florida's interests to curry favor with McCain.
A new poll shows most Florida voters think McCain and Crist are right on the issue.
Quinnipiac University reported last week that 60 percent of Florida voters favor drilling offshore in currently protected areas, with 36 percent opposed.
(Excerpt) Read more at sun-sentinel.com ...
And the Republican Party will not take advantage of this opportunity to bash the Dimwit Party on a daily basis.
Contact your Congress critters to let them know that you are tired of high gas prices.
From Glenn Beck: http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/12393/
In 1981 secretary of interior proposed opening almost the entire Outer Continental Shelf to drilling. The environmentalists, surprise, surprise back in 1981 went crazy. California congressional delegation slipped in a provision into a bill the same year that placed a moratorium on drilling off of the California shores. Congress enacted separate moratoriums for Cal Florida, California, New Jersey, North Carolina.
None of these bans covered what is called the Destin Dome. Destin Dome is a formation in the Gulf of Mexico. It's about 25 miles off of Pensacola, Florida. Experts say it has enough natural gas to supply a million homes for 30 years, this one place.
Well, under Reagan, 1981, Chevron leased this dome. It's federal land. They have the lease for the dome, 1981. They drilled three wells to explore, one in 1987, one in '89 and one in '95.
They found an estimated 2.6 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
So story ends. We're pumping the gas, right? No, no.
The lease only gave Chevron the right to drill, not to produce the gas. They could drill. They just can't take it out.
The lease that they had on the Destin Dome, they could find it but they had to go back and get federal approval to actually take it out.
In 1996 Chevron submitted a developed plan to the state and interior department. They proposed drilling 21 different wells. They said as few as 12 but maybe as much as 21. Florida officials took their time dragging their feet deciding whether or not to grant Florida's -- grant Chevron's request. Eventually two years went by and they were denied.
Chevron appealed the decision to the department of congress. Congress sat on the appeal. Eventually in 2000 -- remember this started in 1981. In 2000 the commerce department, doing nothing on the appeal, Chevron said, okay, what are you guys doing to us. They sued the federal government in order to compel it to act.
While the lawsuit was pending, Bush met with his brother Jeb, who was the Florida governor if you remember right. They agreed to have the federal government buy back the leases for $115 million and place a moratorium on the drilling in this dome until 2011.
Now, why did that happen?
Yes, Jorge and Jeb, youse guys have a little splaining to do.
So W lifts the embargo his dad initiated and Klintoon extended. Big F'n Deal!!
Where are the Executive Orders he could be executing mandating drilling wherever?
Why is he (or better yet, has not for almost 8 years) rescinded Klintoons EO designating the largest coal deposit in the world off limits in Utah?
Why is he not calling Congress back in session and making a Federal Case out of our Energy needs and he could do so under a National Emergency or National Security (which it is) agenda.
My "tin foil hat" theory is that he is somehow beholden to his good buds, the Saudis, and is not really serious about our developing our own oil and gas??
No tin foil needed.
“....^This trend contains most of the Jurassic fields in the eastern Gulf coastal plain.^The trend has high potential for significant petroleum accumulations in the eastern Gulf of Mexico.^The Jurassic deep natural gas trend includes the onshore area south of the Wiggins arch and extends into the Mississippi-Alabama shelf.^Traps are faulted salt anticlines with basement highs as potential traps.^Cotton Valley deltaic-strandplain sandstones and Norphlet eolian sandstones are the reservoirs.^Several gas discoveries below 20,000 ft have been made in this trend in Mississippi and offshore Alabama.^The trend has excellent potential for major gas accumulations in coastal Alabama and central Gulf of Mexico....”
http://www.osti.gov/energycitations/product.biblio.jsp?osti_id=5199602
The oil and gas are there. The permission to go after it is all that is needed.
As for the Saudis and the Bush family, one wonders.
Looks like a lot of Floridians have capitulated, and abandoned their previous opposition to drilling based on aesthetic considerations, for more practical considerations (they have to drive everywhere, and are feeling the effects of higher gas prices).
Yup, DRILL, DRILL, DRILL and then DRILL some more.
It is called an exit strategy when you know you have a losing hand.
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