Do any of you Dems realize who it was who set aside 2000 acres of Anwar for future exploration for oil and gas?

Jimmy Carter!

Carter was unlucky because the North Shore oil started flowing right after Reagan got into office. I say develop alternative energy AND drill everywhere we can.

I agree, the solutions to our problems are not one or the other. We must do it all, develop alternative energy, Drill for oil here, Build refineries, Build Nuke Plants. When you have a problem you do EVERYTHING that will help. You do not sit around and argue about doing one thing or the other.

The problem is the disingenuousness surrounding the discussion of energy. We ought to be honest about what is going on here. The left does not want the price of oil to be low. If it is, the impetus to use/develop more expensive alternatives would decline (just as it did in the 1980s and 1990s). The left in Congress have spent the last 25 years careful turning the screws so oil would someday cost so much that we would have to go to alternatives. That day is finally here and they don't want to do anything to screw it up.

On the right, I think there is a genuine desire to use alternatives just so they can give the finger to the middle-east. So, it's more about energy independence than about "green" alternatives. If oil dropped to $25 a barrel, you'd be hard pressed to find a right winger screwing a solar panel to his rooftop.

But, the true goal has to be energy independence. The biggest piece of that is transportation, but none of the pieces should be ignored. This is a grand business opportunity to be the technological leader and we shouldn't miss it. If we do it right, we could be the Saudi Arabia of the next 100 years.

Very well said. Energy independence should be the goal. We should Do everything in a power to achieve this. Drill, alternatives, Nuclear, ETC ETC. not just one or the other but ALL.

I would love be able to tell the Middle east oil nations we no longer need their oil. I just do not want to see it come at the cost of our economy.

Agreed, the drilling will delay the inevitable which is our need to end oil dependency. Which will allow time to perfect alternative energy sources.

__________________
Be thankful we're not getting all the government we're paying for.
Will Rogers

Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel or envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.

Winston Churchill

And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.

JFK

No man's life, liberty, or property are safe while the legislature is in session. -- Mark Twain

anyone know what converting all our power plants to nuke or coal would do to our oil consumption......

__________________
"I would rather live my life as if there is a God and die to find out there isn't, than live my life as if there isn't and die to find out there is." ~ Albert Camus

Do you have the numbers?

__________________
Be thankful we're not getting all the government we're paying for.
Will Rogers

Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel or envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.

Winston Churchill

And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.

JFK

No man's life, liberty, or property are safe while the legislature is in session. -- Mark Twain

Wasn't that farsighted of him?

Now we'll have that oil for emergenies.

80% of our electricity is made from Coal and gas. So it stands to reason converting to Nuclear would save a shit load of Oil.

The major portion of our oil consumption comes from transportation not electrical infrastructure. But, it is a piece of the puzzle. One additional aspect people may not be considering is that if we switch our transportation from oil based infrastructure to electrical infrastructure, we will need a whole lot more electricity than the power companies have planned for.

From what I see, electrical (battery or ultra capacitor) is the most likely form of replacement for the ICE. There seems to be too many issues with hydrogen, as nice as that might be. Even then, hydrogen would power an electric engine.

The point is that each piece of the energy puzzle is important and in the case of power generation plants, we can rest assured we will not need fewer of them, we'll only need more.

Just a few facts as we go along. Source CIA World Fact Book.

Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 71.4%
hydro: 5.6%
nuclear: 20.7%
other: 2.3% (2001)

Oil - production:
8.322 million bbl/day (2005 est.)
Oil - consumption:
20.8 million bbl/day (2005 est.)

Of that, we Export 1 million bbl/day and Import 13 bbl/day.

We are also a net electricity importer.

Who's trying to tap it now stupid? Jimmy Carter isn't running.

Why the rush to tap anwar... congress should force oil companies to DRILL ON ALL CURRENTLY HELD LEASES...

U.S. oil consumption was high in the early 1970’s, while U.S. oil production declined
In 1973, 36% of energy consumption was in foreign oil, while in 1970 it had been 22%
The Nixon administration was in office, the Watergate scandal was at its height in 1973, providing limited strength in policy formulation, and little potential for an effective response to the oil embargo
Arab-Israeli conflicts had already produced a growing tension between U.S. and Arab countries
The OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) cartel led to rising gas prices in early 1970's


We don't have an supply problem. The American Oil companies are sitting on oil fields. They just want to OWN ANWAR and Offshore.

Maybe they should build some new refineries. Maybe they shouldn't have killed the electric car.


The 1979 (or second) oil crisis in the United States occurred in the wake of the Iranian Revolution. Amid massive protests, the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, fled his country in early 1979, allowing Ayatollah Khomeini to gain control. The protests shattered the Iranian oil sector. While the new regime resumed oil exports, it was inconsistent and at a lower volume, forcing prices to go up. Saudi Arabia and other OPEC nations, under the presidency of Dr. Mana Alotaiba increased production to offset the decline, and the overall loss in production was about 4 percent. [2] However, a widespread panic resulted, driving the price far higher than would be expected under normal circumstances.

In 1980, following the Iraqi invasion of Iran, oil production in Iran nearly stopped, and Iraq's oil production was severely cut as well.

After 1980, oil prices began a six-year decline that culminated with a 46 percent price drop in 1986. This was due to reduced demand and over-production, and caused OPEC to lose its unity. Oil exporters such as Mexico, Nigeria, and Venezuela expanded. The US and Europe got more oil from Prudhoe Bay and the North Sea.


The Carter Administration began a phased decontrol of oil prices on 5 April when the average price of crude oil was US$15.85. Over the next 12 months the price of crude oil rose to $39.50 (its all time highest real price until May 7th, 2008[6]). During this period domestic U.S. oil output rose sharply from the large Prudhoe Bay fields while oil imports fell sharply. However, since there were no price controls on imported oil, this had no impact on boosting the supply of gasoline in 1979. Hence, long lines appeared at gas stations, as they had six years earlier during the 1973 oil crisis.

As the average vehicle of the time consumed between 2-3 liters (about 0.5-0.8 gallons) of gasoline (petrol) an hour while idling, it was estimated that Americans wasted up to 150,000 barrels (24,000 m³) of oil per day idling their engines in the lines at gas stations.[7]


Gas coupon printed but not issued during the 1979 energy crisisDuring the period, many people believed the oil companies artificially created oil shortages to drive up prices, rather than simply high prices caused by natural factors beyond any human influence or control. Many politicians proposed gas rationing, such as the Governor of Maryland, Harry Hughes, who proposed odd-even rationing (only people with an odd-numbered license plate could purchase gas on an odd-numbered day), as was used during the 1973 crisis. Several states actually implemented odd-even gas rationing, including Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Texas. Coupons for gasoline rationing were printed but were never actually used during the 1979 crisis. [8]

President Jimmy Carter made symbolic efforts to encourage energy conservation, such as urging citizens in a famous July 15, 1979, 'malaise' speech to turn down their thermostats. He also installed solar power panels on the roof of the White House and a wood-burning stove in the living quarters. However, the panels were removed in August 1986 during the administration of his successor, Ronald Reagan, after a leak and were never replaced.

Carter's fire-side speech argued the oil crisis was "the moral equivalent of war". More importantly, Carter, as part of his administration's efforts at deregulation, proposed removing price controls that had been imposed in the administration of Richard Nixon during the 1973 crisis. Congress agreed to remove price controls in phases; they were finally dismantled in 1981 under Reagan. [9]

In 1980, the U.S. Government established the Synthetic Fuels Corporation to produce an alternative to imported fossil fuels.


[edit] Oil Patch
When West Texas intermediate crude oil increased 250 percent between 1978 and 1980, the oil-producing areas of Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Colorado, Wyoming, and Alaska began experiencing an economic boom and population inflows.[10]