No offshore drilling

[Bobby J]

I can't do much better than these guys in explaining the economics of the issue (and I picked a paper conservatives love to hate just to be fair). And do I think it will decrease our dependency and make us less susceptible to blackmail and worse from unfriendly countries - absolutely.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/15/opinion/15hahn.html?em

Seems like a bunch of promises and smoke screen by oil and the government. I think the reason environmentalist can not get their arms around drilling is the BS the government feeds us. It all sounds good and may be good in theory but we all know none of it ever happens so why risk an area that is already suffering? This is very simple. We will not see or feel the benefits from drilling in the gulf. Several people will feel the benefits but we surely will not. Nor, will drilling decrease our dependency. I bet you a Prius. Remember? I am sure the "drill baby drill" crowd will get the votes they need so you will have every opportunity to prove me wrong. I pray you are right.

 

[Smiling JOe]

Let me know when you are willing to swear off the items on this list in the name of sacrifice. Send over a pigeon because you won't have a computer.

http://gasprices-usa.com/petroleum_based_products.htm

I can live without a bra - in fact, I wish everyone lived without a bra....

The difference between a computer and gasoline is that I don't know anyone who burns through a computer a day, but I know many who burn through a tank of gas in a day. Also, a computer can help to save a tank of gas by conducting business from your home without needing to start the engine on your automobile.

Amen for the living without a bra idea.

 

[ASH]

What about all that gulf area currently dedicated for the air force. I don't know all the facts behind how much space they are using or require for future needs, but can we switch the discussion and address that for just a bit?

And I gotta also ask, why is Florida the target when we speak of drilling. Haven't we all seen the maps about how much US coastline contains drillable oilfields? It is nearly every state. Aren't there fields closer to shore (easier to pipeline) and less exposed to storms than the Gulf?

 

[Jdarg]

What about all that gulf area currently dedicated for the air force. I don't know all the facts behind how much space they are using or require for future needs, but can we switch the discussion and address that for just a bit?

And I gotta also ask, why is Florida the target when we speak of drilling. Haven't we all seen the maps about how much US coastline contains drillable oilfields? It is nearly every state. Aren't there fields closer to shore (easier to pipeline) and less exposed to storms than the Gulf?

Great questions- I would love to hear some serious, factual answers.

 

[Smiling JOe]

The Eglin range, managed by the 46th Test Wing, is the largest Air Force base in the free world. Located east of Pensacola, its 724 square miles of land range occupies much of the Northwest Florida panhandle. Its 101,000 square miles of air space extends over the eastern third of the Gulf of Mexico, an area extending from the panhandle to the Florida Keys. Seventeen miles of shoreline allow T&E in both a littoral environment and over a land-water interface.

The Eglin AFB overwater range provides 86,500 square miles of overwater airspace that is jointly used for a variety of test and evaluation activities and training exercises. The overwater range contains a number of test areas that are used for long-range, all altitude, air-to-air activities including drone target engagements, electronic combat, and long-range (or anti-ship) air-to-surface and surface-to-surface evaluations.

more

To put it into perspective, the state of Texas is listed as having a land area of 261,797 sq. miles.

 

[full time]

The Eglin range, managed by the 46th Test Wing, is the largest Air Force base in the free world. Located east of Pensacola, its 724 square miles of land range occupies much of the Northwest Florida panhandle. Its 101,000 square miles of air space extends over the eastern third of the Gulf of Mexico, an area extending from the panhandle to the Florida Keys. Seventeen miles of shoreline allow T&E in both a littoral environment and over a land-water interface.

The Eglin AFB overwater range provides 86,500 square miles of overwater airspace that is jointly used for a variety of test and evaluation activities and training exercises. The overwater range contains a number of test areas that are used for long-range, all altitude, air-to-air activities including drone target engagements, electronic combat, and long-range (or anti-ship) air-to-surface and surface-to-surface evaluations.

more

To put it into perspective, the state of Texas is listed as having a land area of 261,797 sq. miles.

I can't help but wonder what would be more disruptive to Eglin, a single rig with underwater directional drilling pipes spanning hundreds of squares miles of the Eastern Gulf, or tens of thousands of wind turbines anchored on the surface in the eastern Gulf.

 

[ASH]

More to the point. Should push come to shove, could anyone get permission to put up a rig within military test waters? Seems a huge risk to miss a drone plane and take out a crew trying to poke a hole or is it being suggested to change the military footprint available?
Take it a step further. There has to be junk falling into the waters as much as the military might be trying to do otherwise with training exercises. What are the risks with this material getting into either drilling rig equipment or the pipelines bringing fluids to shore?

 

[beachmouse]

There have been a couple articles in the Daily News lately about drilling in the Eglin Test Range, and if you read between the lines, the folks in blue aren't happy about even exploration, much less fixed rigs.

While on the surface they'll be all polite to the Department of the Interior, the Pentagon is perfectly capable of dragging their feet for years as they set up regulations for exploring and drilling in that area in hopes that it would become cost-prohibitive for the oil companies to do so, and they'll just go away and let everyone bomb in peace.

 

[GoodWitch58]

, and they'll just go away and let everyone bomb in peace.

Love it!

 

[Bobby J]

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20080917/article/809170383

It looks like we will be safe here thanks to Eglin but it is still sad how we operate in fear of oil. A 26 year ban!