drill, baby, drill!

[//\/\/]

sarah palin's recent battle cry - a little muted of late, for some reason...:rolleyes:

[Sean]

sarah palin's recent battle cry - a little muted of late, for some reason...:rolleyes:Yeah, how's that drilly, oily thing working out for ya'?

I think I'll go to that extreme right wing discussion forum I've been frequenting lately and ask if everyone who's ever chanted "drill baby drill" will be donating their money and time to help clean up the ecological disaster that the policies they support and celebrate have created.

[bas_I_am]

I need a bumper sticker that reads, "Drill Baby. . . whoops!"

[cacophony]

Can't make a petroleum-based omlette without cracking a few eggs. And by eggs I mean fragile coastal ecologies.

[//\/\/]

bang on, cacophony:

from palin's farcebook page, from a piece titled 'why we can still believe in domestic drilling'

How could I still believe in drilling America’s domestic supply of energy after having seen the devastation of the Exxon-Valdez spill? I continue to believe in it because increased domestic oil production will make us a more secure, prosperous, and peaceful nation.

albeit a rather oily one. and not very prosperous where the oil lands. otherwise, a bang-on assessment by the century's great thunker.

read the full insight here (http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/notes/sarah-palin/domestic-drilling-why-we-can-still-believe/384560338434)

[cacophony]

read the full insight here (http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#%21/notes/sarah-palin/domestic-drilling-why-we-can-still-believe/384560338434)
no thanks. i don't gotta stick my head inside a garbage can to know it stinks.

[Sean]

Can't make a petroleum-based omlette without cracking a few eggs. And by eggs I mean fragile coastal ecologies.And more importantly to the "drill baby drill" crowd, how about the local economies that are being devastated, from fishing industries, to fish markets, to tourism, etc.? Doesn't exactly move us towards "prosperity".

[34958hq439-qjw9v5jq298v5j]

drilling is ok. next time don't spill it

[//\/\/]

nope - the remedy is to distrust pesky foreigners:

Gulf: learn from Alaska's lesson w/foreign oil co's: don't naively trust- VERIFY

[Deckard]

In the months before BP's Deepwater Horizon rig sank in a ball of fire in the Gulf of Mexico, the company had four close calls on pipelines and facilities it operates in Alaska, according to a letter from two congressmen obtained by ProPublica.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/05/congressman-bp-safety-oil-spill

[bryantm3]

i think it would be really funny if sarah palin's dog got drenched in oil.

[Jason Roth]

i think it would be really funny if sarah palin got drenched in oil.

ftfy

[jOHN rODRIGUEZ]

Just some friendly nieghborhood boy-john-laura-ingles-walton-type-thing:


Hurricane season commin' round, so, all y'all down south keep in mind the whata all lubbed up and slippery, so check y'all rubbers and be sure y'all not all rydin' round all bald, cause y'all gonna be riden' on slippery, wet and be rear-endin' each other come summah. Ya know, play safe or safety first and all . . .

[bryantm3]

nonono john, you got it all wrong. if you're going to imitate a southerner you ought not to do it in a maine accent.

[holden]

Let me preface this by saying i don't consider a word of Sarah Palin to be genuine or useful. Do not agree with her.

But as for "domestic" exploration:

Ok, so I work for a Large Oil Company. Not BP, mind you, but on that level.
Back in the 1980's, we drilled offshore Alaska. Then things got tough and we sold the leases, but we bought 'em back and for the last several years have been making every effort, i assure you, to be technically and environmentally sound and respectful of the wishes of the locals, native peoples and industries while drilling.I mean everybody. It gets to the point if you drop a tablespoon of oil off the deck, you'll need to report and pay the fine. That's how a responsible company should treat it. Unfortunately, in the arctic waters, you can only drill for a few months per year, else the sea is frozen solid and nary a ship can pass, so if you're going to drill, time is of the essence.

After having all of the legal and environmental docs in place, we were still injuncted by courts and non-gov't parties, despite being previously approved and having most all of the stakeholders in agreement (after all, exploration operations generally mean good things for local employment and economy), so no drilling yet.
We were hoping for this year. But i do believe that the BP catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico will tighten federal regulations against all oil companies, and shut drilling down again.
Maybe that's a good thing in some environmentally sensitive settings. A deep offshore well near a habitated place is much more sensitive that Ma and Pa's oil well in Nowheresville, Texas where there's nobody and almost no living thing around for miles.

Now, yes, there are plenty of valid reasons why people disagree with drilling, especially domestically. it's the old "not in my backyard" argument. But guess what? If you've filled your car up with petrol or natural gas lately, if you've purchased a cosmetic or plastic product, if you've kept the heat on in your house, you've likely supported the industry that employs hundred of thousands, if not millions of people. Is it better if we drill in Oman or Saudi Arabia instead to get our oil? Here's another fun fact - oil from overseas and oil from the US of A gets treated at the same refineries and sold at the same pumps. It's just as positive for their countries or detrimental to their environments, depending on your perspective, so the whole argument against domestic drilling eats it, since all hydrocarbons are domestic to someone.

Yeah, we need alternative, sustainable energies. And we're working on it. But we're not at a stage where it is conducive to mass distribution (e.g. people like a solar powered house, but won't pay for the supplies; no infrastructure exists to harness and deliver solar or wind power), and demand for fossil fuels could not be higher.

It's a horrible disaster what has happened with BP. But there are literally millions of wells that have been drilled, completed, and produced without incident for the last hundred+ years. It's the fact that we've exhausted the "easy targets" that we are looking deeper offshore, further into remote lands and employing novel technologies to find the remaining hydrocarbons. Peak oil has been a speculation for decades...are we there yet? Not if you keep driving your 12 mpg SUV, nope.

[Sean]

Let me preface this by saying i don't consider a word of Sarah Palin to be genuine or useful. Do not agree with her.

But as for "domestic" exploration...I hear your points. For me though, it comes down to a cost/benefit analysis. Based on what little I know about it, the oil yielded from domestic drilling would only provide a small fraction of what our current needs demand. To me, the damage caused by this spill coupled with all the potential damage that future spills and drilling in general will undoubtedly cause simply isn't justified by the minimal gains it would provide. So if we as a country have the drive and means to be building new oil rigs and drilling for new oil, why not redirect those efforts towards the development and construction of new, sustainable sources of energy?

[bryantm3]

i see your point, holden, but the way i see it is that offshore drilling near populated areas (florida, virginia, california, are some of the proposed locations) both would not provide enough oil for about 25 years, simply because the oil wells would have to be built, and then after that, imagine what an oil spill 50 miles offshore could do to the economy in florida— we're talking about a major shutdown of one of the biggest state economies in the US. the risk is too much and it would take too long to set up— offshore drilling is no more of a quick solution than investigating alternative energy sources.

[Troy McClure]

So this is what drill baby drill looks like...really disturbing and sad pictures from the Gulf Coast.

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/06/caught_in_the_oil.html

Jason

[Andrea]

poor bird....:(:(:(
but there are people who are working on solving the problem so it seems
of course each one after his own fashion...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8v2tMJmeg0

[Sean]

So this is what drill baby drill looks like...really disturbing and sad pictures from the Gulf Coast.

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/06/caught_in_the_oil.html

JasonAnd now Palin is trying to blame this disastrous spill on environmentalists. From her Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/notes/sarah-palin/extreme-enviros-drill-baby-drill-in-anwr-now-do-you-get-it/395324638434):

"This is a message to extreme “environmentalists” who hypocritically protest domestic energy production offshore and onshore. There is nothing “clean and green” about your efforts. Look, here’s the deal: when you lock up our land, you outsource jobs and opportunity away from America and into foreign countries that are making us beholden to them. Some of these countries don’t like America. Some of these countries don’t care for planet earth like we do – as evidenced by our stricter environmental standards.

With your nonsensical efforts to lock up safer drilling areas, all you’re doing is outsourcing energy development, which makes us more controlled by foreign countries, less safe, and less prosperous on a dirtier planet. Your hypocrisy is showing. You’re not preventing environmental hazards; you’re outsourcing them and making drilling more dangerous.

Extreme deep water drilling is not the preferred choice to meet our country’s energy needs, but your protests and lawsuits and lies about onshore and shallow water drilling have locked up safer areas. It’s catching up with you. The tragic, unprecedented deep water Gulf oil spill proves it."

[bryantm3]

umm... what? she basically said "we have safer drilling standards, so we should do it here" and then she said "the spill in the gulf is the fault of those who wish to move drilling overseas". she must be just an absolute moron.

[Strangelet]

I can't think of a clearer reason why liberatarians will never be a legitimate party than this. Not only do they have the political savvy of a knocked up unwed teen on meth at a fundraiser, they don't even know themselves what they stand for.

First clue: rand paul talking about corporate rights to discriminate, allowing himself to be backed up into a corner of intolerance because he wants to argue the finer points of unfettered freedoms of private organizations. Zach from Saved by the Bell has more understanding of humanity.

Second Clue: (the clincher)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAGS73bmnkM&feature=player_embedded


We should not tar and feather BP because "accidents happen" and that it's unamerican to hoist fiscal responsibility on the company.

Welllll...........

I distinctly remember reading in the ron paul manifesto that the libertarian/capitalist solution to corporate pollution is to hold them fully responsible for the damage they cause other individuals. Because that's how the free market will work. See, you don't have to **REGULATE** companies to be good boys and girls. The free market's invisible hand will self motivate companies to be pollution free.

idiots. Well, as a long term ron paul admirer, and sometimes a willing libertarian, my desire is for BP to get wrung for every drop of asset, and to wish them godspeed, and don't hit your multinational ass on the door on your way out. Retire to Iran. Oh that's right, you propped up a puppet government there that's led to a religious oligarchy, Ok well there's the Bahamas. Oh that's right...

[Deckard]

This is more-or-less how it's being played out in the mainstream UK press:

http://i48.tinypic.com/16b11dh.jpg

Of course the British media would be just as principled had Exxon ruptured a pipeline down off the Devon coast with US shareholders facing a possible shortfall... :rolleyes:

[Strangelet]

I love how multi-nationals conduct themselves without any regard for their "country" or the interests of their citizens, but can make it an issue of patriotism when a foreign country is making noise about putting them on the gallows.

HEY ENGLAND, BP DOESN'T GIVE A SHIT ABOUT YOU!

PS WE'RE GOING TO KICK YOUR ARSES TONIGHT!!!!

[Deckard]

PS WE'RE GOING TO KICK YOUR ARSES TONIGHT!!!!

What, you mean in the soccerball? :D

Yup, it's England v USA.... in every sense....

[Troy McClure]

I see that people across the pond also subscribe to the 'too big to fail' mantra.

Jason

[Deckard]

I see that people across the pond also subscribe to the 'too big to fail' mantra.

Jason
It's true, sadly.

Listen to this:

Mr Obama's blunt criticism of BP over the spill has prompted accusations of "anti-British" language ... Conservative MP Richard Ottoway, who is chairman of the foreign affairs select committee, questioned whether the US president ought to "interfere in the operations of an international overseas company".
What a crock of shit, eh? From what I can tell, the only ones talking up the anti-British angle are .....oh, the British!

[Strangelet]

It's true, sadly.

Listen to this:


What a crock of shit, eh? From what I can tell, the only ones talking up the anti-British angle are .....oh, the British!

So its a tie in the soccerball match :D (England was the better team tonight I'll hand it to you)

I'm glad people can see past this propaganda bullshit. Its chilling, don't you think? the power these corporations have to spin the media and the shallow breather mp's?

[cacophony]

Of course the British media would be just as principled had Exxon ruptured a pipeline down off the Devon coast with US shareholders facing a possible shortfall... :rolleyes:
i have a few british friends who are up in arms over a perceived attack on their native land by the US. they cite a "brits go home" sentiment i've not heard yet from any of the extreme lefties or extreme righties i associate with. it's total persecution paranoia.

i don't get what's so difficult to understand. A COMPANY (regardless of country of origin) is destroying the ecosystem of an entire coastline of the US, and along with it is destroying the lives and livelihoods of thousands of people for generations to come. we're allowed to be pissed off.

but instead of caring about the ecological or societal impact, these friends are obsessing on this bizarre jingoistic preference for the health and wealth of the company responsible, simply because of the geographic location of their headquarters.

[//\/\/]

USA needs more land open,ramp it up,don't halt Gulf oil/gas activty

:rolleyes:

[//\/\/]

Fuel America with Terrorist-Tarred Oil Instead of Drilling Our Own, Baby?

wow! bet the saudi's would LOVE you to get into power so they can REALLY fuck you over. baby. daft bint.

[Troy McClure]

He Facebook posting is here:

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=398548958434

Citing Newsmax? Seriously? She's basically the 'cat lady' in the 'The Simspons'.

A drug resistant moron.

[cured]

He Facebook posting is here:

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=398548958434

Citing Newsmax? Seriously? She's basically the 'cat lady' in the 'The Simspons'.

A drug resistant moron.

C'mon, man, you know how the conservative machine does this. Nobody is going to question the credibility of a source on the hateful right if it's something they feel, anyway.

[Troy McClure]

C'mon, man, you know how the conservative machine does this. Nobody is going to question the credibility of a source on the hateful right if it's something they feel, anyway.

I know that. It's just completely short-sighted, and I completely disagree with her. Caught myself in a bit of being really angry after reading her page. Plus I'm extremely saddened at the destruction of the Gulf and the coastal beaches / marshlands. It's some of the most beautiful land in America, and it's destroyed for decades. Not to mention the 11 people killed on the platform from the explosion.

--Jason

[//\/\/]

i hadn't even clicked that newsmax link -have now! blimey - article number 4 is about immigrants (even legal ones) taking jobs from u.s. teens. if an immigrant is legal, surely they are a u.s. teen themself?

[//\/\/]

brilliant comment from the fb piece:

"We have three states in the northwest, not inckuding Alaska that have more oil than the midle east all together.Oil is a natural resource, can't be all that bad for the enviroment if God created it. Yes in heavy traffic areas the fumes are bad, but if it bothers you you can move to a less congested area.
As for what happened in the Gulf Of Mexico...Well was that all necessary? Milk doesn't spill unless someone tips the glass over, and most folks start the cleanup as soon as the spill happens."

yeah; and if you spill milk in the arctic, it won't been seen so much because it's white. oh hold on, i'm lost in my metaphor...

[Rog]

I bet BP will pay more than Exxon or Union carbide did;)

[Sean]

i have a few british friends who are up in arms over a perceived attack on their native land by the US. they cite a "brits go home" sentiment i've not heard yet from any of the extreme lefties or extreme righties i associate with. it's total persecution paranoia.

i don't get what's so difficult to understand. A COMPANY (regardless of country of origin) is destroying the ecosystem of an entire coastline of the US, and along with it is destroying the lives and livelihoods of thousands of people for generations to come. we're allowed to be pissed off.

but instead of caring about the ecological or societal impact, these friends are obsessing on this bizarre jingoistic preference for the health and wealth of the company responsible, simply because of the geographic location of their headquarters.Honestly, the comments here are the first I'm hearing of this attitude. I'm with your assessment 100% Cacophony. This has nothing to do with England and everything to do with the company that's literally destroying our southern east coast as we speak.

[bryantm3]

"We have three states in the northwest, not including Alaska that have more oil than the midle east all together.Oil is a natural resource, can't be all that bad for the enviroment if God created it."

so i suppose rattlesnakes, volcanoes, giant meteor showers, tornadoes, enriched uranium, solar flares, black widows, poison dart frogs, and oj simpson are completely safe and good for people, children and the environment in which we live, because God made them! oh my gosh. this woman is stupider than i thought she was.

[//\/\/]

i have to say, that that isn't a palin quote - it's from one of her fb followers...

[Rog]

so i suppose rattlesnakes, volcanoes, giant meteor showers, tornadoes, enriched uranium, solar flares, black widows, poison dart frogs, and oj simpson are completely safe and good for people, children and the environment in which we live, because God made them! oh my gosh. this woman is stupider than i thought she was.

good except god didn't make 'enriched uranium' bryant, the iranians did;)

[bryantm3]

good except god didn't make 'enriched uranium' bryant, the iranians did;)

i have to say, that that isn't a palin quote - it's from one of her fb followers...

they say stupid minds think alike (me and palin...)

i should've said "uranium 235". enriched uranium means that they've taken out all the other isotopes. so God did make u-235, but he didn't enrich it. i should've checked the palin post... i was going to say, that's got to be the stupidest thing i've ever heard her say, and she's got to be the epitome of slapstick comedy in the political world...

[Rog]

they say stupid minds think alike (me and palin...)...

why don't you run for congress then?:p

only joking mate;)

[cacophony]

so i suppose rattlesnakes, volcanoes, giant meteor showers, tornadoes, enriched uranium, solar flares, black widows, poison dart frogs, and oj simpson are completely safe and good for people, children and the environment in which we live, because God made them!

these are the same people who think the word "natural" on beauty and hygiene products automatically makes them good for you. hi, you know what else is natural? poison ivy.

[//\/\/]

they say stupid minds think alike (me and palin...)

i should've said "uranium 235". enriched uranium means that they've taken out all the other isotopes. so God did make u-235, but he didn't enrich it. i should've checked the palin post... i was going to say, that's got to be the stupidest thing i've ever heard her say, and she's got to be the epitome of slapstick comedy in the political world...

you know, i wasn't going to pick you up on that glaring piece of idiocy :rolleyes:


(ahem :o)

[chuck]

John Clarke - once a Kiwi, now mainly an Aussie - does some seriously quality satire with his mate Bryan Daw.

First: Some comments on the BP oil spill (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5C9Q7ZLMVM).

And then an old classic: The Front Fell Off! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcU4t6zRAKg)

And plenty others on Youtube - but those fit the current thread quite well.

[bryantm3]

that's really funny. i just posted it on my facebook.

[cacophony]

that was awesome.

[Rex]

more info is coming out that for years bp has been operating on different standards. They operate with several failsafes and precautionary measures in the shetlands, etc. But with collusion with the US congress, they've managed to short cut through most of these fail safes while operating on US soil.

This includes the exxon valdez spill

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLu-Hp9--RU&feature=player_embedded

[cacophony]

i get the feeling the US gov't is hoping to come out of this whole spill business unscathed. they're hoping to point at BP and evil big business and say, "it wasn't our fault!"

[Rex]

There's a lot that I find increasingly troubling about this situation.

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/if_only_information_flowed_as_freely_as_oil_201007 06/

the coast guard is apparently busy serving the interests of BP, not the public.

[chuck]

i get the feeling the US gov't is hoping to come out of this whole spill business unscathed. they're hoping to point at BP and evil big business and say, "it wasn't our fault!"


Kevin Bacon is to blame!!!! (http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-june-29-2010/blame) (via. Daily Show)

[Strangelet]

Hey England, glad you supported your home team against those unruly colonists now?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/oilandgas/7892112/BP-admits-lobbying-UK-over-Libya-prisoner-transfer-scheme-but-not-Lockerbie-bomber.html

BP is facing fresh scrutiny into whether it was involved in the release of the Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi, after the oil giant admitted lobbying the British government over a prisoner agreement with Libya.

[//\/\/]

not sure people here were particular comfortable about that whole sorry incident. no surprise that the deeper you dig, the shittier it gets...

[Sean]

Hey England, glad you supported your home team against those unruly colonists now?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/oilandgas/7892112/BP-admits-lobbying-UK-over-Libya-prisoner-transfer-scheme-but-not-Lockerbie-bomber.htmlWHAT THE......?!?!?!?!?!?!

[Deckard]

Hey England, glad you supported your home team against those unruly colonists now?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/oilandgas/7892112/BP-admits-lobbying-UK-over-Libya-prisoner-transfer-scheme-but-not-Lockerbie-bomber.html
Be fascinated to see how this develops.

[stimpee]

Larry Hagman says "Shine baby, shine!" supporting solar power initiative
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/14/business/media/14adco.html?src=busln

He said the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/o/oil_spills/gulf_of_mexico_2010/index.html) prompted him to bring back the J. R. character. “With all that oil gushing away in the gulf, I figured it was time to call for a new direction in where we’re getting our energy,” the actor said. “Since Sarah Palin (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/p/sarah_palin/index.html?inline=nyt-per) is saying, ‘Drill, baby, drill,’ I’m saying, ‘Shine, baby, shine.’ It’s a lot cheaper and cleaner.”

[Deckard]

Larry Hagman says "Shine baby, shine!" supporting solar power initiative
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/14/business/media/14adco.html?src=busln

He said the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/o/oil_spills/gulf_of_mexico_2010/index.html) prompted him to bring back the J. R. character. “With all that oil gushing away in the gulf, I figured it was time to call for a new direction in where we’re getting our energy,” the actor said. “Since Sarah Palin (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/p/sarah_palin/index.html?inline=nyt-per) is saying, ‘Drill, baby, drill,’ I’m saying, ‘Shine, baby, shine.’ It’s a lot cheaper and cleaner.”
Taking on the oil industry... dangerous stuff. He's gonna get shot coming out with stuff like that.