Does anyone think that the debate on drilling in ANWAR is just a smoke-screen?

Question

Why concentrate on ANWAR when no drilling is being done at the sites already leased?

Answer 1

Sites are leased to oil companies without any guarantee that there is oil on that land.  The lease gives companies the right to explore for oil, and to drill for that oil if they find it.  If they do not find oil, they do not drill.  Even when they think they have found oil, they sometimes drill and do not get oil.  It is kind of like those tourist attractions where you pay your money and they let you pan for gold.  Sometimes you get lucky, mostly you do not.  The oil business is a boom or bust industry.  Sometimes prices are up, and there is a race to find oil.  Sometimes prices drop, and no one can afford to explore or drill.  Also, the oil industry is not just made up of people flying around in jets, and driving around in limos.  Most of the people in the oil industry are ordinary people.  They work--have jobs--when exploration and drilling is profitable.  When it isn't profitable they don't have jobs.

It is silly to say that oil companies have lots of land leased that they should drill on first.  It is kind of like telling a cow in a cactus patch to eat up, there are plenty of plants around.

Answer 2

I believe it is a ruse to divert attention from the real issue, and agenda, and to confuse the public.

Answer 3

Absolutely -- there just isn't enough oil in it or at the offshore sites to make much of a difference in the price.

Bush and the Republicans are just trying to lay the blame for the disasterous consequences of their non-existent energy policies on people who weren't even in office. The truth is that we have only 3% of the world's oil reserves, and use 25% of its oil, and nothing's going to change that -- we need to move to alternative fuels and establish strong efficiency standards.

But I'm not sure about the existing offshore leases. Just having a lease doesn't mean a company discovers economically recoverable oil there. Also, what's not economically recoverable when prices or low can become economically recoverable when prices are high.

Answer 4

I dont believe it is a smoke screen. Will drilling there drop price immediately... no. But to set things in play to increase our energy Independence is important. We are too reliant on foreign oil. I believe a combination of changes are needed.

1 increased domestic drilling is a must

2 increased exploration of alternative energy

3 restrictions placed on the oil companies profits. (in a time where our country is in need our oil companies are increasing prices and garnering record profits)

Answer 5

Anyone that wants to know the answers to the oil question just look up Lindsey Williams on you tube and your eyes will be opened- you will know what is happening and the reasons behind what is happening.

Answer 6

Considering that any oil from the region won't show up for 10 years, that the amount of oil there won;t make the U.s. energy indepedent and that drilling will do nothing to alleviate current gas prices, the answer has to be yes.