OK McCain, it's time to cut the happy crap about offshore drilling having an immediate effect on the nation's oil supply. I live here in Texas and I know lots of folks in the oil biz. Offshore drilling is not something that happens in a matter of months. It is not something that happens in a year or two. It takes many years for those offshore rigs to produce.
According to one estimate, an offshore oil platform takes from 3 to 5 years just to build the platform. Add to that the time it takes to actually drill down to the oil, after all it's not right below the surface, and you have a lead time of 6 to 10 years for production. At that rate John McCain will be in a retirement home, even if he won (God forbid) the election and got reelected!
So Mr. McCain, when you start lying about how offshore drilling is going to be the solution to our oil problems, take a moment, a deep breath and tell the truth. There is no quick fix to our problems. We have wasted our natural resources by burning the petroleum we had and have made no serious attempt at finding alternative fuels.
I am fully aware that wind power and solar power are not the quick fix either, but renewable energy sources offer a much better long term solution than just sucking more oil from the already declining supply. Renewable energy is available now, and it has much less of a carbon footprint than oil. If we put as much money into it as we do in oil exploration we would already be off our addiction to foreign oil and in a much better position to face the future.
And that nuclear power you are touting? Well nuclear plants take even longer to build than oil platforms and they produce lots of toxic waste that must be dealt with. Unless you want your state to end up with a backyard full of nuclear waste drums, the problems of disposal of the waste is almost insurmountable.
So Mr. McCain, reconsider inflating your tires to full pressure and take measures to conserve energy, because your plan will have no effect in the next four years.
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2 comments:
Jaxon,
Interesting, but consider the source, the Heritage Foundation Funded the "research". (Right-Wing Think Tank) If wind turbines were so deadly to birds there would be heaps of the dead animals around the, There are not.
They make almost no noise and personally I find them graceful and attractive, compared to the smokestacks of "clean coal", and oxymoron if there ever was one.
The Department of Energy estimates that 20% of our energy could come from wind by 2030, but other sources out that at 25 - 30%.
I already get 100% of my electricity from wind and hydro through Green Mountain Energy.
Natural oil seeps are typically deep below the surface and widely dispersed. The sea life around them has had eons for evolutionary adaptation.
When a tanker or pipeline spills oil, like what happened in Valdez, AK, the damage is on the surface near birds, fish, and human habitats. Our biology and our economy is not as forgiving of the natural but dangerous substances in crude oil.
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