Democrats' proposal would allow some new offshore drilling

[Wretched Excess]

the devil will be in the details on the dems "energy plan".   the fine print buried in this bill should make it
impossible to swallow.   it's likely just a false piece of legislation thrown out there so the dems can claim
during the election that they offered to open up offshore drilling.

Democrats' proposal would allow some new offshore drilling

WASHINGTON — Oil and gas producers might soon be able to drill in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, as well as along the Atlantic coast from Virginia to Georgia under an energy plan being crafted by House Democrats.

Democratic leaders were still piecing together what House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called a "reasonable compromise," with plans to bring the bill to the floor for a vote by the end of the week.

While details are still being worked out, the plan would raise taxes on the oil companies; force producers that benefited from botched lease agreements with the federal government to pay royalties; require electric utilities to generate 15 percent of their power from renewable energy sources; and provide loan guarantees to auto makers to help produce more fuel efficient cars.

Pelosi insists the plan would "make America energy-independent of foreign oil within a decade."
Even with details still sketchy, House Republicans were quick to blast the proposal. They support an ``all of the above'' policy that would include expanded offshore drilling, exploration in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Reserve, and development of oil shale resources.

"Hurricane Ike isn't the only storm headed toward America's offshore oil platforms," Rep. Joe Barton of Ennis, the ranking Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said in a statement. "Here comes Hurricane Pelosi with an even more destructive threat to our energy supply."

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[DumbAss Tanker]

The 15% renewable thing is total pie in the sky for producers north or east of that Pickens "Corridor."  There isn't sufficient wind, solar or hydro potential in the Ohio valley to meet that in any near-term way, and putting that much ethanol through the turbines will absorb very large amounts the corn crop.

[Wretched Excess]

The 15% renewable thing is total pie in the sky for producers north or east of that Pickens "Corridor."  There isn't sufficient wind, solar or hydro potential in the Ohio valley to meet that in any near-term way, and putting that much ethanol through the turbines will absorb very large amounts the corn crop.

what the ethanol craze has done is to prove once again the law of unintended consequences.  it sounds like a great idea, but it caused the cost of basic food items to jump.  people just don't think things through . . . .

[Sadie]

What is so repugnant to the Dems about offshore drilling. We have plenty of resources right here at home. As for driving the cost of food up, maybe it was planned that way. The farmers who grow corn are sure making out like bandits.

[Wretched Excess]

What is so repugnant to the Dems about offshore drilling. We have plenty of resources right here at home. As for driving the cost of food up, maybe it was planned that way. The farmers who grow corn are sure making out like bandits.

oil powers our free market economy, which makes more money for some people than for others, which in turn creates an economic disparity between those that work very hard to get ahead, and those that don't try at all.  therefore, oil is bad.  they can't create their utopia as long as oil is propping up this nasty capitalism thing.

[Peter3_1]

As T. Bone is NOW saying on his adverts., the REAL fill in between oil and the salad mix of energy necessary to zero out our foreign dependency, is natural gas. As we have access to untold thousands of billions  of cubic feet of natural gas, and it can be converted into CNG, LNG, Diesel, gasoline, oil, plastics etc etc, he's correct.

The anchors of energy will be nuclear and oil for at least another century, tho..