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MoonDog · 04-24-2005, 04:32 PM

OK, I've read (ie - skimmed) this thread and am ready to weigh in!

As far as drilling in ANWR, I would normally say go for it, but I am not convinced that drilling there does anything to solve the current crisis, which I think many of us would agree is the soaring price of gasoline. And my erstwhile senior Senator from NY, Charles Schumer, offering up the National Strategic Reserve is just foolish. That won't do a thing either.

What I think we need to do is get NEW REFINERIES online ASAP. How we do it...incentives offerend through Bush's energyu bill, free market, government intervention...I don't care, just get it done. More refineries would be able to take any increase in supply, like oil from ANWR, and increase the amount of gasoline available in the US.

Of course, we'd have to trust Big Oil to not ship that gas offshore for sale in other countries. I seem to remember some news stories last year that brought just such practices to light. I may be a republican, but I don't trust Big Oil any farther than I can launch a stream of urine.

Regardless, the real issue is our dependence on oil. Just think of what will happen when oil REALLY become scarce. What will happen to the price of plastics and other products that are petroleum-based? That makes me nervous...

My city is in the middle of of a big brou-ha-ha on whether to build a new coal-generation electric plant, because ours is close to 50 years old. While I support the proposal, I would have much rather seen us float the idea of a pebble-bed nuclear facility. It wouldn't have been enough to replace what our needs were, but as I understand it, they are modular, and new reactors may be added to accommodate need.

If were President, I would whole-heartedly support a big research push into renewable energy sources...say $80 billion? I would also support research into these new nuclear energy reactors, and try to redeuce the red tape to encourage their construction in the US. Hell, doesn't Europe get a lot of their energy from nuke plants?

Of course, once I instituted these programs, you would find me dead in the Rose Garden, the knife in my back covered in fingerprints of Light Sweet Crude.

04-24-2005, 04:32 PM	#109 (permalink)
MoonDog Psycho Location: Buffalo, New York	OK, I've read (ie - skimmed) this thread and am ready to weigh in! As far as drilling in ANWR, I would normally say go for it, but I am not convinced that drilling there does anything to solve the current crisis, which I think many of us would agree is the soaring price of gasoline. And my erstwhile senior Senator from NY, Charles Schumer, offering up the National Strategic Reserve is just foolish. That won't do a thing either. What I think we need to do is get NEW REFINERIES online ASAP. How we do it...incentives offerend through Bush's energyu bill, free market, government intervention...I don't care, just get it done. More refineries would be able to take any increase in supply, like oil from ANWR, and increase the amount of gasoline available in the US. Of course, we'd have to trust Big Oil to not ship that gas offshore for sale in other countries. I seem to remember some news stories last year that brought just such practices to light. I may be a republican, but I don't trust Big Oil any farther than I can launch a stream of urine. Regardless, the real issue is our dependence on oil. Just think of what will happen when oil REALLY become scarce. What will happen to the price of plastics and other products that are petroleum-based? That makes me nervous... My city is in the middle of of a big brou-ha-ha on whether to build a new coal-generation electric plant, because ours is close to 50 years old. While I support the proposal, I would have much rather seen us float the idea of a pebble-bed nuclear facility. It wouldn't have been enough to replace what our needs were, but as I understand it, they are modular, and new reactors may be added to accommodate need. If were President, I would whole-heartedly support a big research push into renewable energy sources...say $80 billion? I would also support research into these new nuclear energy reactors, and try to redeuce the red tape to encourage their construction in the US. Hell, doesn't Europe get a lot of their energy from nuke plants? Of course, once I instituted these programs, you would find me dead in the Rose Garden, the knife in my back covered in fingerprints of Light Sweet Crude.