Why won't Congress let us drill for oil, build nuclear and electric generation plants? Do they care about us?

Question

For the past 30 years Congress has banned oil drilling and nuclear plant construction, and stopped building electric power generating plants with costly environmental controls. As a result, we now pay more for fuel -- and for food.

Answer 1

the 96 repub congress voted to do this until Clinton vetoed it.....now the dem congress won't allow it to happen......the far left environuts have got ahold of em..

Answer 2

Because congress is owned by the oil companies

Answer 3

It isn't Congress it is Democrats. Democrats have had an unholy alliance with environmentalist for more that 30 years. As you have said they have kept us from drilling for oil here in the US and keeping us from being energy independant. They also have not allowed a power plant or oil refinery to be built here in that time.

The single largest land owner is the federal government and oil drilling is not allowed on 92% of federally owned land.

Right now Cuba and China are slant drilling 60 miles off the coast of Florida taking oil that belongs to us.

In the 1990s Republicans passed a bill allowing drilling in ANWAR but president Clinton vetoed it. If he had not vetoed we would be getting oil from there today and gas would be cheaper.

We have more known oil reserves than Saudi Arabia's largest oil field but we are not allowed to drill for it.

The Democrats do not care about us they are much more affraid of the special interest groups and with them it is all about getting and holding power at all costs. The Democrats could change all of this tomorrow all they have to do is join the Republicans that are trying to get a bill passed that will allow offshore drilling.

Answer 4

oil drilling is banned with 50 miles of the ocean, to prevent pollution.  do an image search for 'oil spill' and you'll see why.  Nuclear power plants aren't being put into production because the government hasn't decided on a permanent storage facility for spent fuel.  Right now, nuclear plants are forced to store waste on-site.  Imagine never throwing ANYTHING away for 40 years... that's what the Nuclear program is putting up with right now.  Stopped building electric power plants?  A lot of solar plants and wind farms are being built.  Within a 50 mile radius of my home in central Illinois, there have been 2 wind farms built within the past three years.  Power plants are going up as soon as the old ones start paying for themselves.

Do they care about us? Yeah, but they're trying to take care of us while leaving behind the smallest possible carbon footprint as they can.

Answer 5

You can thank the environmentalists for that.  They want to save the environment and destroy the country in the process.  They can't see the forest through the trees. This will be the downfall of America.

Answer 6

Congress actually has allowed drilling off of Florida

but Governor Charlie Crist,R,  has continously blocked it

Answer 7

Saying they won't let i happen is wrong.They made the regulations so tough that it might not be profitable.So why would anybody spend  all thier resources that might not turn a profit for many years to come?Not that I think all enviormrntal laws are bad.Think about if they were to bulid a nuclear power plant or oil refinery near you.Would you be all for lesser restrictions?I will tell you this the companys that bulid these plants or drill for this oil cares only about profit.If you were to be harmed by it they would point out how they were in withen the laws written!The current situation is proving that the laws may need to be revisted to lessen some red tape.

Answer 8

Not true. Ask the oil companies why they aren't drilling where they are already allowed to drill.

Answer 9

Patriotic.........The areas mentioned have so little potential it's

not profitable, unless you want 200/barrel oil.........Kinda like

driving 50 miles to save 50 cents on something

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—

Released: 4/10/2008 2:25:36 PM  

And for those "Bush/Big oil" yappers I guess the UK companies are in his pocket too huh

Shell, BP amaze the analysts

Commentary: Crude prices paper over old performance measurements

By MarketWatch

Last update: 2:46 p.m. EDT April 29, 2008

Comments: 48

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - On Tuesday, Europe's biggest oil companies, Royal Dutch Shell and BP, reported first-quarter profits built on the back of record-high crude prices.

Those profits were so astounding that not even the industry's top equities analysts saw them coming, which itself is astonishing, given all the ruckus surrounding oil prices. See full story.

Answer 10

The Congress is a set of bought off central government hacks. They are all tyrannical left wingers, no matter the party.

Answer 11

nope

Answer 12

You, my friend, have been brainwashed by right-wing propaganda.  Drilling for oil in the US wouldn't do a thing to fuel prices.  All it would do is line the pockets of the oil companies, which is what Republicans want.

Answer 13

Environmentalists are preventing us from having the energy resources we need to compete in the global economy. The movie, "The China Syndrome" unnecessarily made people scared of nuclear energy. France and Japan use nuclear energy. We must stop the environmentalists and drill in ANWR, North Dakota, Utah, Rocky Mountains, Gulf of Mexico, Pacific and Atlantic Coasts, wherever else we can find oil.

Answer 14

Somehow the squirrel has become more important.

(sarcasm off)

Answer 15

one word... democrats..

look it up... they have blocked every bill that would have let the oil companies build new refineries or drill off Florida coast and Alaska...

why?

an abundance of energy created jobs..

jobs let people make money..

when people make money they invest it..

when its invested they become well off.

and the well off dont vote for democrats..

you do the math

Answer 16

because they still are not safe or as clean of energy producers as we need

we need to think forward in longer, more sensible terms of renewable energies