McCain visits oil rig to pump up drilling
Republican John McCain, whose photo opportunity on an oil rig was blown away by a hurricane last month, is scheduled to make it today to one in the Gulf of Mexico to promote his energy policy -- and bash Democratic rival Barack Obama.
"Senator Obama opposes new drilling," McCain plans to say, according to excerpts released by his campaign. "He has said it will not 'solve our problem' and that 'it's not real.' He's wrong, and the American people know it. This platform we are at today sits above a field of 160 million barrels of oil, and is capable of producing on a daily basis 55,000 barrels of oil and 72 million cubic feet of natural gas."
"Our nation is sending $700 billion overseas every year to countries that don't like us very much," McCain will say. "When I'm president that's going to stop. We're going to achieve energy independence, and we're going to do it by using every resource at our disposal to get the job done, including new offshore drilling."
McCain changed his position during the 2000 presidential race and called for expanded oil exploration this summer. Obama has softened his opposition, saying limited, environmentally friendly drilling could be part of an overall compromise.
"New drilling has to be part of our energy solution," McCain said. "It will not solve this problem alone. Alternative energy will not solve this problem alone. Conservation will not solve this problem alone. Solving our energy crisis requires an "all of the above" approach. It will require aggressive development of alternative energies like wind, solar, tidal and bio-fuels. It also requires expanding traditional sources of energy like clean coal, nuclear power, and offshore drilling like that done on this rig."
Democrats and their allies are trying to hit McCain for ties to Big Oil, pointing out a surge in campaign donations since calling for more offshore drilling and arguing that a broad-based corporate tax cut would also benefit oil companies.
The Democratic National Committee is handing out "ExxonMcCain '08" bumper stickers to reporters today, along with a stress reliever shaped like an oil drum. The antiwar advocacy group MoveOn.org is planning protests across the country today, including one at Republican Party offices in Boston.
Massachusetts GOP spokesman Barney Keller responded in a statement to the protest: “We were going to go outside and remind the twenty protestors that Senator Obama voted for the 2005 Energy Bill, which gave $2.8 billion in subsidies and tax breaks to the oil companies, but then we realized -- it’s MoveOn.org! They’ve never cared about facts before.”
UPDATE: MoveOn.org, which is backing Obama, also has a new ad that hits McCain and Senator Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina, who is in a tough fight to keep her seat in November, for their ties to oil companies.
"Two more Republicans in the pocket of Big Oil," the announcer says.
Democrats also said that the rig McCain is touring, called Genesis, is a joint project of Exxon and Chevron, among the oil companies making huge profits. They also said that the rig took 10 years to produce any oil.
“For three decades, as our energy crisis grew, decision-making in Washington has been rigged against our national interests and the interests of American consumers," Obama campaign spokesman Tommy Vietor said in a statement. "And for almost that long, Senator McCain has been part of the problem. For decades, he has stood with the big oil companies and voted against the development of the alternative energy we need....And now he's standing with the oil companies in opposing a bipartisan compromise in Congress that would expand offshore drilling and, at the same time, make serious investments in alternative energy to break our dependence on foreign oil. When it comes to solving our energy problems, John McCain is just more of the same and America can’t afford it."
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Resource wars will continue to dominate the politcal scene for decades to come. Strategic planning now makes perfectly logical sense. Only oil will meet demand until the us consumers revert to electric cars. Common sense says that will not happen any time soon. With that being said common sense says "drill now, drill here, and allow the markets to change with government funding and tax credits for alternative fuels, such as wind and solar, but do not forget...it's the price of gasoline that is hurting the pockets of Americans. Wind and solar will be less than significant until the automobile engine, which has a 20 year life span from new, is replaced culturally with electric means of transport.
Aside from fearing the loss of white privilege, I can't think of any reason to vote for McCain. If that's your problem, just look at the entire southern region of Africa. After South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia, the list goes on, after these countries won their freedom from colonialism they elected black leaders and have continued to do so. Blacks constitute the majority population. In spite of this, white people in southern Africa continue to enjoy great privileges and enjoy living conditions that are much more comfortable than the living conditions of their black fellow-citizens. Futhermore, if loss of white privilege is your concern, my guess is that you're a white working-class person. Well, let me tell you something, Obama might seem unfamiliar, but you already know that McCain will not be the one representing your economic interests. His voting record is clear, the American workingman is not his concern. Vote for Obama if you care about keeping a roof over your head.
The primary issue concerning US energy is not about the fact that we depend on foreign nations for a resource that makes our consumer lifestyle possible. The real problem is that oil is not a renewable resource, and our consumption of it is fundamentally altering the ways in which our planet functions--to an extent that will certainly be catastrophic. The future survival of our species and all others that Earth supports will depend on the policies of our elected officials over the next decade. Until McCain recognizes that we need to turn away from oil altogether in the pursuit of renewable, efficient and non-polluting sources of energy, he will be unfit for office. He, like Bush, will also never change his stance on energy because he will be indebted to the big oil corporations that have contributed heftily to his campaign. Like Barack says, we just can't afford more of the same; the world we live in is at stake. Give our kids a chance--turn away from oil and John McCain!!!
The McCain campaign has given statistics on the potential availability of oil that may exist in the proposed offshore areas that he and other Rebublicans wish to open up to drilling, and the best estimate is that this would produce only enough oil for ten years (given today's consumption rates). Aren't we simply prolonging the inevitable, and making the oil companies richer in the process? Given that realistically any drilling that happened today would make it to the pumps, at the earliest, in seven years, the entire concept of further offshore exploration and drilling is just unrealistic as it pertains to solving any problems, either today or for the longer term.
Is there a need to allow drilling off the coast of Texas in the Gulf.? If so, I say lets go for it. Lets allow unlimited drilling off the coast of Texas in the Gulf. California and the East coast are too conservative to alow drilling yet. So lets all agree to start with the Gulf off Texas. If safer methods work out, the rest of the country will follow. The oil companies are all based in Texas let them experience it first. They can be the canaries in the mine. IF it works out who will be able to deny it elsewhere.
“Drill, surge, drill, surge, drill, surge.”
When is the corporate media going to wake up and call the old codger out on this nonsense?
The facts are that George Bush’s relaxing the executive branch’s restriction on offshore oil drilling had nothing to do with the price dropping. It would take years to open those expensive fields and would only serve to raise the price of oil since it costs billions to set up the mammoth rigs and is environmentally dangerous. Oil prices went down because the speculators artificially drove the market up, and when they took their profits, the price went back down. The Bush and McCain corporate interests made their quick money, and now the price is stabilizing to help McCain’s chances in the fall election.
As far as McCain’s beloved “Surge,” just what have we accomplished? Baghdad, despite the news media failure to cover the story, is still the most dangerous place in the world.
The basic infrastructure of the city has been largely destroyed, there is no electricity or running water in many parts of it, and our troops cannot venture out of the Green Zone without the use of armored vehicles and air support. Just what are we “winning?”
We are spending over two billion dollars a week in a civil war in a far off place with no end in sight. I guess the old man is just going to declare victory and bring the troops home in a hundred years.
Don’t be fooled by this pathetic attempt to avoid talking about our economy. John McCain has no solutions- and really no intentions of changing the flawed Bush domestic policies. His wife is worth over 600 million dollars, has several private jets, and ten homes- and he is calling his opponent an elitist?
Not this time, ” My friends.”
Resource wars will continue to dominate the politcal scene for decades to come. Strategic planning now makes perfectly logical sense. Only oil will meet demand until the us consumers revert to electric cars. Common sense says that will not happen any time soon. With that being said common sense says "drill now, drill here, and allow the markets to change with government funding and tax credits for alternative fuels, such as wind and solar, but do not forget...it's the price of gasoline that is hurting the pockets of Americans. Wind and solar will be less than significant until the automobile engine, which has a 20 year life span from new, is replaced culturally with electric means of transport.
Now that oil prices are falling, the media has almost stopped with stories relating to our energy crisis. Both the media and the Democrats want to bury the drilling idea by lulling Americans into another false sense of security. Nor are there any stories relating to the Republican protest in the House of Representatives. Are they still there? It was predestined that there would be no coverage by the media for this event, which has been called a "stunt." I'm glad McCain is back to the drilling issue. We can have no energy policy without oil being in the mix. I laugh everytime I hear of Obama's $150 billion dollar plan for alternative energy. I have no problem with renewables, but where are they, when will they be available and what do we use for energy in the meantime? If he has answered these questions I haven't heard them.
Good for McCain!
Obama is in trouble....he should name Hillary! as his VP.....
How can they say McCain is has stood by big oil for years? He OPPOSED offshore drilling because he is concerned about the environment. After 9/11 and the Iraqi war, he started to change his opinion. That is not a bad thing, as before 9/11 there was no reason to dislike sending money to the middle east. Now though, we know that they are hostile to us, and as such there is no reason to keep funding them. That isn't a flip-flop, but a smart, economically sound reason for changing, not to mention that it will help with national security.
Not only that, but McCain has more alternative energy solutions than Obama does. Especially more REAL solutions. Like clean, efficient nuclear energy. Even France runs the majority of their country on nuclear, because if done correctly it is very safe. He has more solutions for inventors to start working on energy efficient batteries for cars, he has plans for wind, solar and more.
That all is not good for big oil, but if Obama mentioned all that, everyone would notice that he doesn't even have a halfway decent energy policy, and that would be bad for him.
The primary issue concerning US energy is not about the fact that we depend on foreign nations for a resource that makes our consumer lifestyle possible. The real problem is that oil is not a renewable resource, and our consumption of it is fundamentally altering the ways in which our planet functions--to an extent that will certainly be catastrophic. The future survival of our species and all others that Earth supports will depend on the policies of our elected officials over the next decade. Until McCain recognizes that we need to turn away from oil altogether in the pursuit of renewable, efficient and non-polluting sources of energy, he will be unfit for office. He, like Bush, will also never change his stance on energy because he will be indebted to the big oil corporations that have contributed heftily to his campaign. Like Barack says, we just can't afford more of the same; the world we live in is at stake. Give our kids a chance--turn away from oil and John McCain!!!
A friend of mine worked on an oil rig off the Santa Barbara, CA coast until just a few months ago.
He told me they were ordered by Exxon to burn 12,000 barrels of gas per day for months on end because the company had no where to store the gas.
Why doesn't someone look into this stuff?
"Aside from fearing the loss of white privilege, I can't think of any reason to vote for McCain."
I can think of several reasons.
Mc cain Pro Life- Obama Pro Infanticide
Mc Cain has a proven record of working across the aisle to produce compromise- Obama has a record as a total partisan
McCain put country before his own political interest in supporting the surge at a time when this was definitely not popular- Obama puts his own political interest ahead of country by continuing to deny the obvious that the surge has resulted in victory for the US and Iraq and defeat fro Al Qaeda
McCain has a record of never taking an earmark- Obama takes hundreds of millions of dollars in earmarks
McCain has a record of fighting corruption- Obama has Tony Rezko
Need I go on?
8/20/2008
""Senator Obama opposes new drilling," McCain plans to say, according to excerpts released by his campaign. "He has said it will not 'solve our problem' and that 'it's not real.' He's wrong, and the American people know it.............."
No John, the answer is very simple; and most should be smart enough to see it. I guess you are not one to see it. To increase drilling would simply encourage people to continue to drive their gasoline guzzling vehicles. That is not going to bring the price down. There will be more of these vehicles to use up the oil.
I really don't understand why anyone would vote for Obama. He has NO experience. This is a man who up until know wouldn't even place his hand over his heart during the PLedge of Allegience. This also is a man who has just had an $500,000 overhaul on his plane and took off the American Flag. Our Commander in Chief has to be military tough, he has to watch out for all American's, including the wealthy, since they pay the majority of the taxes. How do you think all of those on welfare continute to get their paychecks. I'm all for someone trying to find a way to not be so dependent on the oil companies in the Middle East. We have to find new ways here at home. I'm also for someone who opposes abortion. Our country is in need of change, that's true, but not the kind that Obama will give us. In 4 years, if Obama is elected, you can bet our borders will be worse, we will have another 9/11, EVERYONE who works will have their taxes raised, and your healthcare will not exist.
500,000 Overhaul on the PLane & the FLAG was in the SAME PLACE as the one on John McCains Plane..on the Fuselage. Go Look for yourself!!
Obama has had the foresight to grasp foreign policy concepts MONTHS Before either McCain or Bush.
When he said we needed 2 more Brigades in Afghanistan 4 months ago.. now suddenly here in September Bush is talking about re-allocating troops cause we need them in Afghanistan.
When he said we need to have a Time table for withdrawal 12 months ago, now Bush is embracing that idea too. How long do we have to wait for "old inept men"
to be able to think clearly about the issues??