US to open 3.9m acres in Alaska for drilling

Not as rich in oil as the areas in ANWR, but definitely progress. Articles state that actual production of oil from this area can begin in 2010.

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This is a great start.

The libs talking point of "we can't drill our way out of an oil shortage" is about as dumb as saying "we can't farm our way out of a food shortage".

 

Another thought on this. Do any of you know if our oil refineries are prodicing at or near peak capacity? The reason i ask is becuase it's been something like 30+ yeras since there has been a new refinery opened in the US. By opening new areas for drilling, can our existing refineries actually handle the production?

 

I don't think any major refinery in the US is operating at full capacity. Plus, even though there haven't been any new refineries built in 30 years, refining capacity has greatly increased during that time period. All refineries are looking for ways to expand and increase production because that means more money. In college a few years ago, I interned at a small refinery and they were beginning the process of doubling their capacity. Refining capacity is not an issue to worry about. If they drill more oil, somebody will refine it.

 

No argument from me on this front Red. If we had to find a positive in the whole high gas price mess, it is that finally we are beginning to change our habits. My wife began working from home, and I now telecommute once a week. This alone put our total gas expenditure below what it was a year ago. Many others are doing the same.

It just seems crazy that we import as much as we do from countries that want to kill us. I've seen this number as high as 70%. This number bothers me more than $4.00 per gallon for gas.

I read a story in Sunday's paper (http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/business/stories/2008/07/09/wind_turbine_georgia_coast.html) about the possibiity of adding wind farms off the coast of Georgia. I think this is a great idea. But, we can't "blow our way out of this" either. It will take a combination of every tool in our toolbox, and drilling domestically is the one that we can implement the fastest.

It's the learjet liberals that hide behind caribou to promote their agendas that irks most Americans. All of us want a cleaner environment and want the oil companies to behave in an environmentally safe manner. None of this will matter if we continue to spend the billions that we current pour into terrorists nations for their oil, which they in turn will use arm themselves (possibly with nuclear weapons) and attack us.

 

I agree. I truly believe this is the kick in the ass we need to start the ball rolling to get off of foreign energy. I'm not an environmentalist or anything but the less oil we use, the less of a grip OPEC has on us. It's time to start getting off the oil kick and start using other things that can't be control half a world away.

 

I'll agree with half of this Red. I'll agree that dems and repubs, libs and conservatives need to work together through this, as we share the same goal.

I disagree about the first part of your statement. I would argue that the mess was caused by conservatives that forgot how to be conservatives and kept spending like drunken Kennedys over the past 8 years, hence the weak dollar.