Democrats push rule to spur oil drilling

[Chris_]

Democrats push rule to spur oil drilling

WASHINGTON (AP) - Seeking to blunt GOP efforts to permit oil exploration off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, House Democrats are pushing legislation they say would spur drilling on already available lands in Alaska, the West and the western Gulf of Mexico.
Republicans scoffed that the so-called Drill Act—imposing a tougher "use it or lose it" rule on leases already held by oil companies—would do little to boost oil exploration, saying current policies are aimed at the same goal. A vote was set for Thursday.

On the eve of the vote, the Interior Department issued a major new lease in Alaska's National Petroleum Reserve, known as NPR-A. The Democratic bill would require a more active Interior Department leasing program on the reserve, which is located to the west of the off-limits Arctic National Wildlife Reserve, the subject of a long-standing battle between environmentalists and the oil lobby.

"Democrats brought forth their 'Use It or Lose It' bill without knowing it was already the law of the land," said GOP Whip Roy Blunt, R-Mo. "Today we're reminded that the majority's efforts to 'unlock' NPR-A are about as necessary as passing a bill ordering the sun to rise."

The oil lease proposal is an effort by Democrats to counter a push by congressional Republicans to lift a long-standing drilling ban on most offshore U.S. waters.

   That's gonna leave a mark.

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[DixieBelle]

Could they be any more transparent and useless???

I guess when your approval rating is below ten, you don't stop digging. They do realize that the lower the number, the worse it is right?

[Chris_]

Could they be any more transparent and useless???

I guess when your approval rating is below ten, you don't stop digging. They do realize that the lower the number, the worse it is right?

I think they think it's golf or something.

[Chris_]

Could they be any more transparent and useless???

I guess when your approval rating is below ten, you don't stop digging. They do realize that the lower the number, the worse it is right?

I think they think it's golf or something.

Yeah, but it can't be anything that requires b*lls.   

[Chris_]

Could they be any more transparent and useless???

I guess when your approval rating is below ten, you don't stop digging. They do realize that the lower the number, the worse it is right?

I think they think it's golf or something.

Yeah, but it can't be anything that requires b*lls.   

How about a nice game of (bleeding) Hearts, then?

[Chris_]

Could they be any more transparent and useless???

I guess when your approval rating is below ten, you don't stop digging. They do realize that the lower the number, the worse it is right?

I think they think it's golf or something.

Yeah, but it can't be anything that requires b*lls.   

How about a nice game of (bleeding) Hearts, then?

Yeah, that's it....Bella Pelosi has a poker face.  Looks like somebody hit her with a red hot poker 20-30 times.   

[Wretched Excess]

I have always thought that the dems LIKED staggeringly high gas prices, because it enables them to
push their anti-corporate, anti-oil, anti-capitalist, anti-individual liberty, pro-environment-at-any-cost
legislative agenda without actually getting their finger prints on the murder weapon.

they LOVE high gas prices.  it's just another form of forcing down demand for fossil fuels, and creating
and argument in favor of wind power, or corn power, or dirt power, or flatulence power, or whatever
crackhead scheme they are pushing on any given week.

[Chris_]

Just in case you EVER  have any doubts as to who is causing the $4.00+ gas prices, here's your cure to that moment's insanity.

...The Democrats are saying, "Well, these oil companies are failing to drill on their own federally leased lands. They've got thousands of acres." You've heard this, right? This is the Harry Reid attack.

Okay. Let me give you a story. 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?

There are over 140 actual leased tracks right now that these oil companies have that they cannot drill in. They have the leases. They can drill in some of them but they can't produce. In others they can look but they can't drill. So when people come out and say, these oil companies already have these giant tracts of land, ask yourself and ask them, do they have the right to drill and produce on those lands. By the way, what did Chevron do? It took the refund from the government, it took the $115 million. Instead of the 2.6 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, enough, for 30 years of natural gas, they took the $115 million refund and they invested it in a project in Angola where they're currently producing liquefied natural gas that has to be shipped from Angola to us.

Glenn Beck LINK

[DixieBelle]

I like Glenn Beck. Thanks for posting.

[Chris_]

I have always thought that the dems LIKED staggeringly high gas prices, because it enables them to
push their anti-corporate, anti-oil, anti-capitalist, anti-individual liberty, pro-environment-at-any-cost
legislative agenda without actually getting their finger prints on the murder weapon.

they LOVE high gas prices.  it's just another form of forcing down demand for fossil fuels, and creating
and argument in favor of wind power, or corn power, or dirt power, or flatulence power, or whatever
crackhead scheme they are pushing on any given week.

I agree that they love these high prices, but for them it is all about CONTROL.....this environment gives them the opportunity to......

.....Tell us what kinds of vehicles we can drive
.....Tell the vehicle manufacturers what they can or cannot build
.....Tell us what kind, and how large our homes should be
.....Tell us how we should spend what little we have left after they finish with their "global warming" taxes

Democrats perceive this as an opportunity to expand their power base, and ultimately reduce individual freedom, they are nothing without power to dictate how we conduct our everyday lives.  Which is why they must ultimately be defeated....at any cost.....

doc