“We need to get on it - quickly.” - George Bush
I just heard President Bush on the radio speaking about the economy. One of the sound bites that got my attention was his opinion about drilling in ANWR (Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is 19 million protected acres of land in the Alaska North Slope.)
President Bush is calling Congress to pass legislation so we could begin drilling for oil in ANWR. Demand for oil is increasing faster than supply and it doesn’t take an economist to figure out that this spells higher prices at the pump. He suggests that we use environmentally friendly methods of drilling (i.e. using only one site to drill and explore large reserves of oil) while at the same time pouring resources into renewable fuel such as ethanol. He mentioned the production of ethanol from crops of native grasses, such as fast- growing switchgrass.
Could this be our solution? Can we actually reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign oil, curb emissions of carbon dioxide, and strengthen America’s economy with this plan? What do you think? Do we really “need to get on it quickly?”
April 29th, 2008 at 7:26 pm
Call me a “tree hugger” if you want to, but I’m against drilling in ANWR. No. 1 because there are very few unspoiled places on this planet and even tho I probably will never see it, I know it’s there. No. 2 once we drill there and use up all of the oil that’s there, what then? We still need to find other fuel and we have destroyed the area in the process. Why not “get on it quickly” and find other other fuel now. Check out the official Montana web site at
http://governor.mt.gov/hottopics/faqsynthetic.asp
According to this article, synthetic fuel that can be used in existing vehicles can be made from coal at a price of $55 per barrel. That equates to around $1.60 a gallon of gas at todays ratio of oil to gas price. According to the article, Montana has enough coal to make “enough fuel to power every American car for decades”. Multiply that by all of the other states with coal and we could be totally independent on foreign oil. Now granted coal is not a renewable energy source but neither is the oil in ANWR. Use the coal generated fuel process as a stepping stone to finding renewable energy.
That’s my two cents worth, and yes we really “need to get on it quickly”.
April 30th, 2008 at 1:32 pm
Ron,
Thanks for your comments. Would it change you mind to know that ANWR is roughly the size of North Carolina and the drilling site would be about the size of Love Field? Additionally, the Alaskan people welcome the opportunity for a stiumulated economy and more jobs in their State.
Look at what the senior senator from your great State of Texas has to say on the matter, “Expanding biofuels while refusing to take other measures, such as lifting the ban on oil and natural gas production in Alaska and the Outer Continental Shelf, is counterproductive. We should be tapping into a broad portfolio of energy options, including clean coal, nuclear power and wave energy. ”
So what I hear her saying is we need to diversify our energy sources and use what we already have while looking for more environmentally friendly fuels.
Heather
P.S. Kay Bailey Hutchinson for President ? What do you think?
April 30th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
No, It wouldn’t change my mind. What about the traffic getting in and out? That much truck traffic disturbs everything. I can testify to that by the Barnett Shale traffic less than a quarter mile from my house; and that’s just one small well. Yes, lets use what we’ve got without destroying everything else. It can be done.