Try looking beyond the next 5 years!!!! There is so much more we should be doing before drilling in Alaska, but its about corporate priorities, not enviromental. It is well known that GW is tied tightly to the Gas/Oil industry. Why would he be in a true hurry to help gas prices?

Originally posted by 99blacksesport:

What I am saying is that with oil demmand rising, we need to start looking for ways to get oil that we can't get to right now. If we keep looking for it in easy places and the demmand keeps rising, we will be worse off than looking for oil in the harder places, and having to offset the additional cost of getting this harder to get oil.



Why are we looking for more oil when we know it is a finite resource?? How about searching for other more efficient energy sources? How about creating stricter emissions and MPG ratings? There are so many more answers than drilling for oil!

Originally posted by 99blacksesport:
Another solution to the U.S.'s oil woes (after all, it is the U.S.'s problems that we do care the most about right? )would be to allow drilling in formally protected areas, such as Alaska. I am not for clear cutting the forests to search for oil, but there are ways of getting the oil out of the ground that minimize harm to the land. To put an oil pump and accessories in the ground doesnt require all that much land to be cleared of trees. Also, the proposal on the table most recently would be to open up a whopping 10% of the protected land to oil drilling.



Have you even considered the enviromental impacts here? Also, it is well estimated that it will take in EXCESS of 10 years to get any oil from up there down to the Continential US. This is not an immediate solution, and it is ignorant to think of it as such.

Originally posted by 99blacksesport:
If the Alaska pipeline is really leaking like you say it is, then that should be fixed. Also any new pipelines should be more secure and built better than the ones in place now. We certainly have the technology to pipe oil out of these new rigs safely. If it is going to bring oil prices under control, and allow us to begin to get away from OPEC, then we should do anything.



I'll say it again, 10 YEARS!!!

There is no immediate relief up there.

Additionally, ofcourse we have the technology to create leakproof lines, but that costs money, money that the oil companies have no interest in spending. Its not like the Corporate Friendly government is going to enforce any regulations on these pipelines. Its not like oil companies are willing to shut down the pipeline to repair corroding lines. That costs money.

Here is an interesting article. http://www.mindfully.org/Energy/Alaska-Pipeline-Leak.htm

A gunshot hole in the pipeline allowed oil to spill at a rate of 140 gallons a minute! And that's just a gunshot hole!!! It resulted in 285,600 gallons over 3 days.

In addition, 3/4ths of all releases from oil pipelines can be prevented by pipeline operators and their regulators.

Okay, if we need the money that another tax on gas will provide, say for fixing our roads, thats fine. But before President Bush's tax breaks when was the last time you have seen a tax go away after it has been implimented? You haven't, they don't go away, and when you get used to them being there, another one is slapped on.

Originally posted by 99blacksesport:
[Quote]People will eventually be forced out of driving their automobiles.



But, in most of the US, there is no alternative. And, when gas prices finally break $5/gallon, no one is going to want to wait 20 years (the average for a light-rail construction plan) for their government to build a mass-transit system. By that time gas will be even more absurd.



It sounds like you don't have a problem with being forced out of driving your car that you worked hard to purchase, and you just say "oh well"?

Name one person that truly is being "forced out" of driving their cars. Hey, guess what, gas prices ARE NEVER coming down. These are the gas prices. This is where America's feeling of entitlement pisses me off! So maybe you won't be able to go joy riding anymore. Guess what, that's life! It might be time to step up and be a little more aware of your surroundings and the enviromental situation. Oil is finite, and we NEED it for many applications besides automobiles.

Quote:

Increasing the tax on gasoline, and sending it to where it needs to go, will provide areas with the money necessary to improve their rapidly decaying transportation infrastructure and finally be able to seriously look at mass-transit solutions before it becomes too late.



Good God, as fast as gas prices are going up, you can still sit there and say we need to raise taxes on it???

ABSOLUTELY!!! It is time to become less dependent on oil in this country. Clearly people and the government are not going to do this on their own, but I guarantee that raising gas prices will have the necessary global impact we need! Also, lets start regulating ALL recreational and All Terrain vehicles too!!! (Snowmobiles, ATVs) All of these unregulated vehicles are polluting the enviroment at exponential rates, but that's another topic altogether (don't get me started).

Originally posted by 99blacksesport:
Or why dont we take some of that money and help pay for exploration for oil, so we can begin the process of being self dependant?



How is drilling/exploring oil going to make us self dependent? This is not the answer. OIL IS GOING TO DRY UP! FIND ANOTHER MEANS!!!

Originally posted by 99blacksesport:
Or for all you environmentalists, why don't we as consumers start demmanding more fuel efficiant cars and trucks, and buying them when they are produced? Becomming completely unreliant on oil is unrealistic for the forseeable future, so why waste time on that when we can fix the gas prices right now?



This is the problem with people like you! It is not unrealistic, and it is certainly NOT A WASTE OF TIME! My god, how can searching for other means be a waste of time? Maybe we should wait 30-40 years when the ENTIRE oil supply is dry, and then start looking. Yeah, that's it. Lets wait until it is a CRITICAL situation, and then try and find a solution. Enough with these bandaid solutions, time to take some action. Again, I reiterate, gas prices in this country are the LOWEST IN THE WORLD BY A SIGNIFICANT MARGIN. Its amazing that the rest of the world seems to function with these higher gas prices. Its time we suck it up, tax the hell out of oil/gas, and become a little more conscience of the true problem, not the higher prices.


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