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October 18, 2009
"Drill"...... by Sarah Palin
Drill Petroleum is a major part of America’s energy picture. Shall we get it here or abroad?
By Sarah Palin
Given that we’re spending billions of stimulus dollars to rebuild our highways, it makes sense to think about what we’ll be driving on them. For years to come, most of what we drive will be powered, at least in part, by diesel fuel or gasoline. To fuel that driving, we need access to oil. The less use we make of our own reserves, the more we will have to import, which leads to a number of harmful consequences. That means we need to drill here and drill now.
We rely on petroleum for much more than just powering our vehicles: It is essential in everything from jet fuel to petrochemicals, plastics to fertilizers, pesticides to pharmaceuticals. According to the Energy Information Administration, our total domestic petroleum consumption last year was 19.5 million barrels per day (bpd). Motor gasoline and diesel fuel accounted for less than 13 million bpd of that. Meanwhile, we produced only 4.95 million bpd of domestic crude. In other words, even if we ran all our vehicles on something else (which won’t happen anytime soon), we would still have to depend on imported oil. And we’ll continue that dependence until we develop our own oil resources to their fullest extent.
Those who oppose domestic drilling are motivated primarily by environmental considerations, but many of the countries we’re forced to import from have few if any environmental-protection laws, and those that do exist often go unenforced. In effect, American environmentalists are preventing responsible development here at home while supporting irresponsible development overseas.
My home state of Alaska shows how it’s possible to be both pro-environment and pro-resource-development. Alaskans would never support anything that endangered our pristine air, clean water, and abundant wildlife (which, among other things, provides many of us with our livelihood). The state’s government has made safeguarding resources a priority; when I was governor, for instance, we created a petroleum-systems-integrity office to monitor our oil and gas infrastructure for any potential environmental risks.
Alaska also shows how oil drilling is thoroughly compatible with energy conservation and renewable-energy development. Over 20 percent of Alaska’s electricity currently comes from renewable sources, and as governor I put forward a long-term plan to increase that figure to 50 percent by 2025. Alaska’s comprehensive plan identifies renewable options across the state that can help rural villages transition away from expensive diesel-generated electricity — allowing each community to choose the solution that best fits its needs. That’s important in any energy plan: Tempting as they may be to central planners, top-down, one-size-fits-all solutions are recipes for failure.
For the same reason, the federal government shouldn’t push a single, universal approach to alternative-powered vehicles. Electric cars might work in Los Angeles, but they don’t work in Alaska, where you can drive hundreds of miles without seeing many people, let alone many electrical sockets. And while electric and hybrid cars have their advantages, producing the electricity to power them still requires an energy source. For the sake of the environment, that energy should be generated from the cleanest source available.
Natural gas is one promising clean alternative. It contains fewer pollutants than other fossil fuels, it’s easier to collect and process, and it is found throughout our country. In Alaska, we’re developing the largest private-sector energy project in history — a 3,000-mile, $40 billion pipeline to transport hundreds of trillions of cubic feet of natural gas to markets across the United States. Onshore and offshore natural gas from Alaska and the Lower 48 can satisfy a large part of our energy needs for decades, bringing us closer to energy independence. Whether we use it to power natural-gas cars or to run natural-gas power plants that charge electric cars — or ideally for both — natural gas can act as a clean “bridge fuel” to a future when more renewable sources are available.
In addition to drilling, we need to build new refineries. America currently has roughly 150 refineries, down from over 300 in the 1970s. Due mainly to environmental regulations, we haven’t built a major new refinery since 1976, though our oil consumption has increased significantly since then. That’s no way to secure our energy supply. The post-Katrina jump in gas prices proved that we can’t leave ourselves at the mercy of a hurricane that knocks a few refineries out of commission.
Building an energy-independent America will mean a real economic stimulus. It will mean American jobs that can never be shipped overseas. Think about how much of our trade deficit is fueled by the oil we import — sometimes as much as half of the total. Through this massive transfer of wealth, we lose hundreds of billions of dollars a year that could be invested in our economy. Instead it goes to foreign countries, including some repressive regimes that use it to fund activities that threaten our security.
Reliance on foreign sources of energy weakens America. When a riot breaks out in an OPEC nation, or a developing country talks about nationalizing its oil industry, or a petro-dictator threatens to cut off exports, the probability is great that the price of oil will shoot up. Even in friendly nations, business and financial decisions made for local reasons can destabilize America’s energy market, since the price we pay for foreign oil is subject to rising and falling exchange rates. Decreasing our dependence on foreign sources of energy will reduce the impact of world events on our economy.
In the end, energy independence is not just about the environment or the economy. It’s about freedom and confidence. It’s about building a more secure and peaceful America, an America in which our energy needs will not be subject to the whims of nature, currency speculators, or madmen in possession of vast oil reserves.
Alternative sources of energy are part of the answer, but only part. There’s no getting around the fact that we still need to “drill, baby, drill!” And if those in D.C. say otherwise, we need to tell them: “Yes, we can!”
LOOK at THIS!
3 to 4.3 Billion Barrels of Technically Recoverable Oil Assessed in North Dakota and Montana’s Bakken Formation—25 Times More Than 1995 Estimate
6 months ago I was watching a news program on oil and one of the Forbes Bros. was the guest. This is out of context, but this is the actual question as asked.
The host said to Forbes, "I am going to ask you a direct question and I would like a direct answer, how much oil does the U.S. have in the ground.."
Forbes did not miss a beat, he said, "more than all the Middle East put together."
Please read below.
The U. S. Geological Service issued a report in April ('08) that only scientists and oil men knew was coming, but man was it big. It was a revised report (hadn't been updated since '95) on how much oil was in this area of the western 2/3 of North Dakota ; western South Dakota ; and extreme eastern Montana .... check THIS out:
The Bakken is the largest domestic oil discovery since Alaska 's Prudhoe Bay , and has the potential to eliminate all American dependence on foreign oil. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates it at 503 billion barrels. Even if just 10% of the oil is recoverable.... at $107 a barrel, we're looking at a resource base worth more than $5.3 trillion.
'When I first briefed legislators on this, you could practically see their jaws hit the floor. They had no idea..' says Terry Johnson, the Montana Legislature's financial analyst.
'This sizable find is now the highest-producing onshore oil field found in the past 56 years' reports, The Pittsburgh Post Gazette. It's a formation known as the Williston Basin , but is more commonly referred to as the 'Bakken.' And it stretches from Northern Montana, through North Dakota and into Canada . For years, U. S. oil exploration has been considered a dead end.. Even the 'Big Oil' companies gave up searching for major oil wells decades ago. However, a recent technological breakthrough has opened up the Bakken's massive reserves..... and we now have access of up to 500 billion barrels. And because this is light, sweet oil, those billions of barrels will cost Americans just $16 PER BARREL!
That's enough crude to fully fuel the American economy for 2041 years straight.
2. And if THAT didn't throw you on the floor, then this next one should - because it's from TWO YEARS AGO!
U. S. Oil Discovery- Largest Reserve in the World!
Stansberry Report Online - 4/20/2006
Hidden 1,000 feet beneath the surface of the Rocky Mountains lies the largest untapped oil reserve in the world. It is more than 2 TRILLION barrels. On August 8, 2005 President Bush mandated its extraction. In three and a half years of high oil prices none has been extracted. With this motherload of oil why are we still fighting over off-shore drilling?
They reported this stunning news: We have more oil inside our borders, than all the other proven reserves on earth. Here are the official estimates:
- 8-times as much oil as Saudi Arabia
- 18-times as much oil as Iraq
- 21-times as much oil as Kuwait
- 22-times as much oil as Iran
- 500-times as much oil as Yemen
- and it's all right here in the Western United States .
HOW can this BE? HOW can we NOT BE extracting this? Because the environmentalists and others have blocked all efforts to help America become independent of foreign oil! Again, we are letting a small group of people dictate our lives and our economy.....WHY?
James Bartis, lead researcher with the study says we've got more oil in this very compact area than the entire Middle East -more than 2 TRILLION barrels untapped. That's more than all the proven oil reserves of crude oil in the world today, reports The Denver Post.
Sarah Palin fans can expect to see a new Palin political organization surface as her memoir, “Going Rogue: An American Life,” hits the shelves next month.
The New York Post reported this week that Palin’s new group will be called “Stand Up For Our Nation.” (News Corp. owns both the Post and The Wall Street Journal.) Crawford, who is treasurer of Palin’s existing political-action committee, SarahPAC, refused to provide any details about the new organization’s purpose or structure.
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Wild Thing's comment........
Reaganesque. Simple, direct, and compelling. A laying out of the facts in a clear and direct way that the public can digest. Point eloquently made by our next President.
Amazing how "common sense" conservatism ALWAYS succeeds. And compared with Obama's “all Marxism, all the time” is not even a fair contest. heh heh
Liberals like to pretend that we should stop using oil and use solar power instead. Show us a solar-powered dump trunk and then they've got something.
....Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67
....Thank you Jack for sending this to me.
United States Army
1965-1971
Army Combat Engineers
Quang Tri & Chu Lai '68 -'69
67-69
Jack's blog is Conservative Insurgent
Posted by Wild Thing at October 18, 2009 06:55 AM
Comments
I posted on this yesterday, but did not mention Bakken. I have read that quite a while ago and will now go back and look at it again. We need a bright light like Sarah Palin in the dark halls of Washington D. C.
Posted by: Bob A at October 18, 2009 10:18 AM
Thank you Chrissie.
"It's better to light a candle than curse the darkness"
Back when I was a pup I worked for Westinghouse doing nuclear R&D work with Isotopes, Uranium and Plutonium fuels, destructive and non destructive testing of reactor components and the building of the Fast Flux Test Reactor, cutting edge stuff for energy independence.(I've come close but I don't glow in the dark).
Then as now Congress (and the people) had a tight strangle hold around their necks from their own sphincters. Domestic oil production had declined at the same time, leading the United States to lean heavily on foreign oil. In 1973, the United States was placed under an OPEC embargo for political reasons. Middle Eastern(Saudi Arabia) members of OPEC wished to protest American involvement in an ongoing conflict with Israel(NAKBA, remember!!!), and these nations struck the United States where it hurt, depriving them of oil in 1973 and again in 1977.
During that embargo those same OPEC lovers and appeasers fought to halt the exploration and development of Alaskan oil, Vice-president Spiro Agnew cast the deciding vote to approve the Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act on July 17, 1973 allowed oil drilling and production in Alaska. Surely you didn't think a Democrat would do this for the nation!!!
Major opposition came from within the ranks of the Sierra Club and Greenpeace. I didn't mention Berzerkely, my apologies, assholes.
At the same time Eastern bloc countries were moving ahead with their nuclear power plants to get away from raghead dependence. Westinghouse had long term contracts to supply nuclear fuel to those foreign companies behind the Iron curtain, that's right, trade with Soviet bloc entities.
Since I was in the business of making reactor fuel pins, Westinghouse was forced to sell off it's appliance division to fund the extreme rise in energy costs while maintaining their contractual commitments overseas, at the same time operation the Hanford Complex and building FFTF. Not a fun time to commute under rationing nor to work under near bankrupt conditions.
In the United States the anti energy independence groups successfully shut down WPPSI, WPPSII, Hanford Washington's 'N' reactor, the Trojan nuclear power plant near Rainier, Oregon, both Satsop plants, defaulting on energy plans that drove the costs of existing energy up and drove away investors. Environmentalists also closed the Barnwell Nuclear Fuel Plant, the BNFP P-reactor had the advantage of being located adjacent to the Savannah River Site so transportation and security issues were minimal, not good enough for the greenies.
In 1992, after years of work by activists in Los Angeles, Unit 1 of Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric's San Onofre facility was forced to close. California has screwed itself out of energy by allowing the half-baked to take over, energy policies have led to economic downfalls and even the ouster of Gray Davis.
In 2007, the IAEA reported there were 439 nuclear power reactors in operation in the world, operating in 31 countries.
Every aspect of Iran's current nuclear development was approved and encouraged by Washington in the 1970s. President Gerald Ford offered Iran a full nuclear cycle in 1976. Moreover, the only Iranian reactor currently about to become operative -- the reactor in Bushire (also known as Bushehr) -- was started before the Iranian revolution with U.S. approval, and cannot produce weapons-grade plutonium. Their centrifuges can and just where is Greenpeace or the Sierra Club?
The din and hue of the eco-terrorists doesn't extend to Iran, Pakistan, India or North Korea, only to those nations like Israel and the United States who use it for peaceful purposes and their nuclear weapons as a mutual deterrent. Albeit, Obama may be the first to threaten Israel with annihilation like his counterpart in Iran has.
France leads the world in nuclear power production, our Navy led and continues to lead the nations of the world in safe nuclear energy for propulsion. The technology is there and if you trust your safety equipment and policies it's safer than oil patch work.
Oil is the only viable alternative since we are barred by the Algore's from using nuclear, coal or hydroelectric power. Sarah Palin gets my support for rational thought and America first ideals. Develop our resources or some body else will!!!
Posted by: Jack at October 18, 2009 01:20 PM
Our own oil and nuclear power plants. What could be better for America. We are finding huge oil fields right here. Nuclear is clean. We are developing clean usage of coal. America has the capacity to not only be energy independent, but also to export energy.
The Al Gores, Barrak obamas, Greenpeace et al need to be exposed as what they really are. obama is anti Amerian, Al Gore is self serving, the environmental groups are lefty extremists.
I bet that Sarah Palin's new organization will include energy independence as one of it's primary points of discussion. Go Sarah!
Posted by: TomR at October 18, 2009 03:07 PM
Great post Wild Thing. Sarah has it just right and the oil the nuclear plants and refineries are the answer as we develope other energy sources. Barack Himself Obama and those on the left will never agree to this. For them its their way or the destruction of the American economy.
Posted by: Ron Russell at October 18, 2009 06:35 PM
Bob A., I agree she is a bright light
and we really need her.
Posted by: Wild Thing at October 18, 2009 07:34 PM
Jack, thank you for sharing about
your experiences.
Posted by: Wild Thing at October 18, 2009 07:35 PM
Tom,your so right. It would be
so fantastic, so awesome if we
could stop this insanity of not
getting our own on our own land in
our own country. oh I want this
sooooo much.
Posted by: Wild Thing at October 18, 2009 07:39 PM
Ron, yes and it should really be made a
crime, something criminal NOT to drill
not to go after what God has given to
our beloved country.
Posted by: Wild Thing at October 18, 2009 07:40 PM
In my view we have to move away from oil - in the last 150 years we have been taking out HUGE quanities of this stuff out from under the earth. That must have a detrimental impact on the earths ocean & land beds over time. There is something strange happening in the Pacific region. It's no secret that there are large oil rigs in the ocean pumping this stuff out 24/7. In the East Timor region we have a catastropic spill pouring into the oacean as we speak. Then we have the recent (ongoing) earthquakes and tsaumi's in the region as well. These events are leading up to something big...and I think your California will bear the brunt of it when it comes.
Personally, I am a fan of nuclear power. It's cheap, it's clean, and the new generation of power plants are far far superior than the older models. Australia is a vast continent and it's centre is geologically sound to store nuclear waste. We have the world's largest repositories of uranium in the world and the land in which to store the the by product of producing nuclear power. My country should sell & store uranium as a new niche product to the world. But unfortunately we have a socialist government that REFUSES to even debate the issue.
One of our top nuclear physcists is warning the TOOLS in our government what will happen if we don't!
Posted by: Lyn in Australia at October 19, 2009 12:00 AM
Lyn in Australia:
It is fact that we must move away from Oil. That is not the point. Sarah Palin, Wild Thing, and all of us agree with that. But, let's do it in a timely fashion, seeking the best of the best alternatives, not more bureaucratic boondoggles like Ethanol, (which has NO reason to be used), and half-tried other alternatives. And while we are seeking this better alternative, we must move away from foreign dependence, (the point in contention in the article). Jimmah Cahtah formed the Department of Energy to accomplish just that, and it has done nothing but spend money. We are more dependent now than before.
There are many new things in the Labs on getting away from Oil, and one or more of them may actually be what we need. For now, we need affordable fuels to heat our homes, run our power plants, fuel our vehicles, etc. The closest we can come today is crude oil. That is a given. We will use crude oil until we have a better option. We needn't continue to get it from terror supporting countries.
And, surely someone will dig up the old cliche that "It would take 10 years to get that crude to the pump.". It was first used 28 or so years ago, with the same wording. While the environmentalists deny permitting for new refineries, the old ones are becoming more and more dangerous to the operators and the communities around them.
We must get government either out of or in support of the oil industry. It is a national resource, and we may as well use it now, because in the near future, we will have that alternative energy source.
That's my rant.
"Learned all I need to know about Islam on 9/11!"
Posted by: Frankly Opinionated at October 19, 2009 10:29 AM
