Redstate

Posted at 12:35am on Jun. 19, 2008 If Only We Had Cars That Ran on Magic

By Ben Domenech

I had the pleasure of participating in a BBC debate this afternoon on the World Newshour show with Daniel Weiss of the Center for American Progress. We had an extensive discussion with the host on the President's announcement today in support of offshore drilling and other energy initiatives. Feel free to listen, and then a few points after:

Ben Domenech on BBC Radio (6:00 Minute Mark)

Posted in ANWR | Biofuels | Energy | ocs | oil | Oil Prices — Comments (17) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 12:12am on May 31, 2008 ANWR Development: The Devil's in the Details (or Lack Thereof)

By Vladimir

At the request of Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK), the Energy Information Agency of the Department of Energy recently updated its assessment of the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge. A copy of the full report is here.

We RedStaters have recently engaged in some speculation about how fast ANWR could be brought on production, presuming we had the national and political will to do so, and presuming no litigation on behalf of the "threatened" polar bear.

As you read the following analysis, never forget that in 1995, the Republican Congress approved opening ANWR to oil exploration. The measure was vetoed by the Democratic President. If it had passed, ANWR might be on production today.

The bigger lesson has nothing to do with Republicans vs Democrats, though. The oil price was around $20 per barrel back then. Oil was cheap; why disturb the caribou and the polar bears? But setting appropriate energy policy takes responsibility, discipline and foresight, and unfortunately all three commodities are in even shorter supply than crude oil.

Below, I quote liberally from the EIA report to try to answer some of these questions. Please turn the page...

Posted in ANWR | Energy | The Future Belongs to Thin Solar Film — Comments (3) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 9:19am on May 1, 2008 WaPo Columnist Robert Samuelson Channels RedState's Vladimir

By Vladimir

To the moderators: Maybe I'm flirting with Fair Use here, so feel free to edit if necessary. Mr. Samuelson did such a good job of encapsulating the current energy picture that it was hard to cut anything.

Start Drilling

...The truth is that we're almost powerless to influence today's [oil] prices. We are because we didn't take sensible actions 10 or 20 years ago. If we persist, we will be even worse off in a decade or two. The first thing to do: Start drilling.

Posted in ANWR | Energy — Comments (15) / Email this page » / Read More »