Drill, baby, drill....right in the path of the hurricanes.

madfloridian

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Wed Sep-17-08 01:41 AM
Original message

Drill, baby, drill....right in the path of the hurricanes.

The Democrats let it happen. Did they have to even bring it up for a vote? I did not think so.

Think Katrina, Rita, Gustav, Ike....right up the Gulf of Mexico. That doesn't even count the ones from 2004 that devastated Florida and gave us natural gas shortages and fuel shortages because the rigs were in the path of the hurricanes.

Their thinking on this just eludes me, I can not figure it out. Going along to get along...not wanting to upset the opposition. Instead of standing and speaking out on it, they went along.

The funny part is that the Republicans are not satisfied. It is not enough, too little for them. The more we cave to them, they less they are satisfied.

House approves offshore drilling bill but skeptical Republicans raise objections

The fate of the legislation, which Republican members contended would produce little new domestic oil, remains uncertain. The politically sensitive issue of offshore drilling may only be resolved as part of a budget bill that Congress must approve before it adjourns at month's end.

The measure, which was approved 236-189, would allow states to authorize drilling 50 to 100 miles from their coasts. The federal government would be allowed to approve drilling 100 to 200 miles from shore.

Nevertheless, the Democratic plan failed to placate most Republicans, who argued that it would not open up areas closer to the coasts with potential to provide more oil and gas. And they want to lift bans on drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Republicans also said the proposal did not offer states incentives to approve new drilling off their coasts because it did not allow them to share the oil royalties with the federal government.

House Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio said the plan "won't do a damn thing about American energy.

They surely know how to play us.

Here is the Senate Gang of 10 which is now the Gang of 20. This is the plan Obama went along with.

The measure now goes to the Senate, where a bipartisan group of 20 lawmakers has been working on a compromise that would lift a drilling ban in the eastern Gulf near Florida, and allow Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia to approve offshore drilling.

This bill will give Florida no choice...drilling will be done right up to 50 miles off shore.

RIGHT IN THE PATH OF THE HURRICANES

Obama supports the offshore drilling plan of the Gang of 10. Some details...

Obama also said, in a separate statement issued by his campaign, that he supported the bipartisan energy plan offered by 10 senators Friday.

"Like all compromises, it also includes steps that I haven't always supported," he said. "I remain skeptical that new offshore drilling will bring down gas prices in the short term or significantly reduce our oil dependence in the long term, though I do welcome the establishment of a process that will allow us to make future drilling decisions based on science and fact."

The proposal would end most of the ban on drilling. It would allow a 50-mile buffer on the East Coast, as well as Florida's Gulf Coast. Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia and South Carolina would be permitted to start oil and natural gas exploration outside the buffer.

....."The Gang of 10 proposal would encourage states to allow drilling off their shores by sharing some of the federal offshore royalty revenues with the states. But unlike the other four states, Florida would not get a choice on whether to allow drilling off its coasts. When asked why not, Chambliss said, "It's only a logical extension of what's happening in the Gulf right now. Plus, that area has been identified as an area where resources are available right now."

Only 50 miles offshore in the most hurricane prone states. Common sense just is overflowing in Congress.