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The Washington Post On Drilling

Speaker Pelosi's obstructionism just got a little harder

By: streiff (Diary)  |  August 12th, 2008 at 07:48 AM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

The editorial board of the Washington Post today takes the unusual step of fact checking a full page ad run by the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) decrying additional drilling in response to oil prices as “100% Snake Oil.”

After an obligatory nod to two standard enviro-weenie memes on the time lag from drilling to gas pump and the “pristine” nature of our mosquito infest arctic wastes it addresses three “factual” claims — Drilling is pointless because the United States has only 3 percent of the world’s oil reserves; the oil companies aren’t using the leases they already have; and drilling is environmentally dangerous — made in the ad and demolishes them.

With the Washington Post taking this line on new drilling the chances improve that the Congress will actually act on this issue.

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COMMENTS

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  • CroakerNorge

    it seems just as likely that the Wapo, and the MSM in general, sees the handwriting on the wall and realizes the danger that the Democrats will be found wanting in November. Even Pelosi can see that the Dems are in danger because of energy, and that’s a very dim bulb. If Nan can see it, it’s pretty darned obvious.

    It’s also true that the party that appears to have solutions is vastly preferred to the party that just says no. Finally the Republicans have a platform that resonates, and which they appear to actually be ready to implement.

    Other than Graham and Chambliss, of course.

  • GaryCook

    ….that article was on page 12.

    But it’s a start.

    I’m waiting for Pelosi and Obama to come out fully supporting new drilling so they can say McCain is adopting their plan.

    • streiff

      it was on their editorial pages, it isn’t a news article.

      • mdetlh

        cisco Dem, can you tone it down a bit?
        drilling for oil is hoax to her and a vote is possible, hah!

        I’m looking forward to her post election press consession interviews.

        • Next93

          I still find myself less than comforted when McCain talks about drilling, given the fact that this past spring he was sponsoring a cap-and-trade bill.

  • Vladimir

    At least they bothered to do some basic research & fact checking.

    As one example, the word “reserves” has a specific, technical meaning. It refers to quantities of oil and gas that have already been discovered and are expected to be recovered at the 90% level of confidence.

    Laymen using published reserve statistics often jump to conclusions that reveal their ignorance. The “3% of world reserves” is meaningless in terms of our potential to add new supplies.

    • Next93

      I still find myself less than comforted when McCain talks about drilling, given the fact that this past spring he was sponsoring a cap-and-trade bill.

  • rjd27

    The conclusion to the article is all you need to know:

    …the United States can no longer afford to turn its back on finding all the sources of fuel necessary to maintain its economy and its standard of living. What’s required is a long-term, comprehensive plan that includes wind, solar, geothermal, biofuels and nuclear — and that acknowledges that oil and gas will be instrumental to the U.S. economy for many years to come.

    Bold is mine. Did the Post miss the memo? Did somebody have a bad (good?) day? Oil, gas and nuclear! My god, has hell frozen over? – no, that’ll be the day when Pelosi lets a vote on energy happen in the House.

  • Sean_Hackbarth

    Even the less dogmatic WaPo editors see the writing on the wall. Republicans’ “all of the above” approach is full of common sense that will help hurting Americans.

    I want to let you know Senate Republicans released a video calling for Sen. Reid to quit stalling and act on high energy prices. You should take a look and let me know what you think.

  • nod90

    1/”? Drilling is pointless because the United States has only 3 percent of the world’s oil reserves.”

    We’ve only drilled 51 wells along the Atlantic Coast, compared with well over 30,000 wells in the Gulf of Mexico. There isn’t enough data to make a reliable resource estimate for the area.

    2/” The oil companies aren’t using the leases they already have.”

    I should think that they have done seismic work on most of their leases. Drilling is expensive and oil companies won’t drill if seismic results are unpromising, or if dry holes are being drilled on adjacent leases.

    3/”Drilling is environmentally dangerous”

    I once heard that in 1969 people didn’t have CDs. They listened to music on something called “8-track tapes.” I think I saw one once and it looked really primitive.

    Offshore technology has also moved on since the 1969 Santa Barbara spill. There are hazards to importing oil in tankers too.