Can we drill are..

[coollikeme]

own oil now. We have plenty of oil right here, its time to start drilling. I am not saying to stop looking for alternative energy. Do both, as we get more alternative energy than, we can slowly decrease are dependendence on oil. Why aren't we doing this, it sounds like an easy problem to solve, to me.

[PianoManGidley]

It should be "Can we drill OUR own oil now"....>>

[JimOfferman]

You (the US) could do that, but it would not be very forward looking as a solution. Also, the US oil is probably still in the ground because it would more expensive to dig it up than to buy the stuff elsewhere.

Fortunately, your Department of Energy is at the very least thinking ahead: Solar Energy Technologies Program: Concentrating Solar Power

[Amadeus]

It will take millions upon millions of barrels of oil just to build the infrastructure of other alternatives of energy. As it stands you can't use solar or wind power to build more solar wind power agents. The math doesn't add up. Drill Drill Drill and build refineries.

[ogrekilleat]

But we already know we're going to wait until it's too late to transition easily before we start reducing our dependency on oil.

So if we have more oil through more drilling...we will be able to wait longer until it's too late.

The result will be the same, except I'm guessing you mean we should be drilling in places like ANWR, which will mean that it will be too late AND we'll have destroyed a very nice place.

I vote for just waiting till its too late and NOT having destroyed the nice place.

On an interesting note, did anyone else realize people have been saying we should drill in ANWR since WWII?? I thought it was a more recent controversy.

[Amadeus]

There is not enough oil in Anwar to make it worth our while. They project that there is only about a year and a half worth of oil to supply the US needs. We should be drilling more off the Florida coasts, building more refineries, and building nuclear plants.

Don't worry, about it being too late. The pain has started at the pump, that is all you heard about this holiday weekend. People don't care about the environment if it gets in the way of their lifestyle, and that is happening now. Think of the economy, life, or anything for the matter like the human body. Your body is constantly pumping blood throughout your body. Overtime your body actually develops more pathways to and from the heart for survival. If the arteries are clogged a heart attack will occur. However there usually are warning signs. We are feeling the pain right now slightly which will make us do whatever it takes to survive in the best possible way. We were living on hog heaven the last several decades, now we need to be and will be resourcful.

[Still Growing]

We have started drilling for oil in the US...In Texas.

Oil must be above and stay above $110 per barrell to offset the deeper drilling levels.

My question is,,, why doesn't anybody reading this blog know about the US increasing its drilling of US oil? Because its not on the news... And why is it not on the news? Thats the question we should all be asking.

[Amadeus]

Yea but the oil that they are drilling in Texas are from old reserves that have just started to make it worth our while to drill because of the high cost of oil.

[Brutha]

There is not enough oil in Anwar to make it worth our while. They project that there is only about a year and a half worth of oil to supply the US needs. We should be drilling more off the Florida coasts, building more refineries, and building nuclear plants.

Building nuclear plants is probably a good long term choice.
Focusing on oil on the other hand isn't that good because there isn't that much oil in the ground.

[seeker5]

Originally Posted by coollikeme

own oil now. We have plenty of oil right here, its time to start drilling. I am not saying to stop looking for alternative energy. Do both, as we get more alternative energy than, we can slowly decrease are dependendence on oil. Why aren't we doing this, it sounds like an easy problem to solve, to me.

I currently work for the headquarter of an American oil company that focuses 100% on the U.S. Because of high oil prices, we are able to drill today in places we could not even contemplate drilling several years ago. Some places are quite expensive and hard to drill into and require very expensive technology. However, because oil prices are higher, we're now able to afford to drill into these areas that we couldn't before. So, expect the oil supply to really increase in the coming years. Though, whether the increase in the supply will be greater then the increase in the demand and the decrease in the value of the dollar vs foreign currency is completely another question

[seeker5]

Originally Posted by Brutha

Building nuclear plants is probably a good long term choice.

I myself don't like the idea that with nuclear plants, we're forcing the next 10,000 years of humans to take care of the waste we produce today.

Granted, burning oil with the pollution may not necessarily be a better situation, but at least we don't condemn the next 10,000 years of humans to watch the deadly waste.

Focusing on oil on the other hand isn't that good because there isn't that much oil in the ground.

There is a lot of oil that hasn't being extracted. The oil company I work for is constantly finding new places to drill and new places where oil exists, even in America. It's just a lot more expensive to drill these areas then other areas, however as technology gets better, and as oil prices get higher, we're able to drill these areas.

[Brutha]

Granted, burning oil with the pollution may not necessarily be a better situation, but at least we don't condemn the next 10,000 years of humans to watch the deadly waste.

You don't have to do that much for waste that is buried somewhere 700 meters beyond the ground.

You produce a lot more waste in buring oil or coal than you do by "burning" uranium.
This longnow talk convinced me in the issue.

[seeker5]

Originally Posted by Brutha

You don't have to do that much for waste that is buried somewhere 700 meters beyond the ground.

Don't you have to monitor it on a regular basis to make sure it doesn't leak? We don't exactly have experience in storing material for 10,000 years. If it does leak, you have to fix the leakage, so you have to maintain equipment and the technology to fix the leakage. You have to create an agency that will be around for 10,000 years that monitors the area. That's longer then the known history of mankind. Even if it doesn't require much maintenance, you do have to make sure nobody accidentally digs there, or sets off explosions nearby or does anything in that area. That is, you're using the energy now, and letting future generations take care of your problems.

You produce a lot more waste in buring oil or coal than you do by "burning" uranium.

You're right, that burning oil and coal creates pollution whereas "burning" uranium does not, as long as the waste is stored. It's giving future generations the responsibility of looking at the waste that concerns me. Maybe I'm concerned for nothing, I haven't studied this matter deeply.

[Brutha]

That is, you're using the energy now, and letting future generations take care of your problems.

How is that different than polluting the air with CO2 and let future generations deal with global warming. Even if you don't think that we know for sure that global warming is caused by CO2 there is a danger that CO2 causes global warming.
And CO2 doesn't disappear suddenly either, you have to grow plants that draw it out of the air.

Don't you have to monitor it on a regular basis to make sure it doesn't leak? We don't exactly have experience in storing material for 10,000 years.

Well where do you think the uranium was before we got it out of the ground?

You're right, that burning oil and coal creates pollution whereas "burning" uranium does not, as long as the waste is stored.

If you burn coal you have also left with ashes.

The pollution from coal and oil also kills thousands of people each year.

[seeker5]

Originally Posted by Brutha

Well where do you think the uranium was before we got it out of the ground?

It's much more radioactive afterward, no?

The pollution from coal and oil also kills thousands of people each year.

I hadn't heard of that before.