Georges Bank protected in new energy bill

Why was this done in the dead of night and no allowance for true open debate on it's merits? From what I am hearing, seeing and reading this morning, the Dem's are trying to slide something through that will not be of any real help to the American Public .

This is much to important to not allow the American people to have some response. If it is just being done because the 9/30 expiration date is getting close then it is not in our best interest - it is politics as usual.

This is all a RED HERRING! We cannot drill our way out of this, even they manage to find some oil it will 10-15 years before a drop even hits the market.. And then it will be sold on the world market and will be sold at world market prices. On top of that there is no evidence that we will even be able to produce enough to make a dent in oil prices. Its a purely a give away to American Oil Companies.

Worst Congress ever!

Are the democrats trying to shoot themselves in the foot AGAIN? They've already voted away their most experienced candidate for president, Hillary. They launched attacks against Sarah Palin that have obviously backfired. Now they are introducing an energy bill that no one can vote on. It's loaded with extra taxes for the American people during a time when more taxes will not be welcome and will put grave restrictions on the oil industry. All they are doing is killing a bill.

What will happen to Obama's ratings once this knowledge hits the public? Democrats are signing their own death warrants. Americans, and I'm speaking for the majority of democrats AND republicans, WANT energy independence!

I think the point here is the environment and food supply. Did you know that fish, an important food supply, are becoming contaminated from pollution and are being over fished almost to the point of extinction? We CAN find and already have the technologies for cost-effective alternative energy. We CANNOT reverse the effects of poison and contamination in our water and food supply.

Thank you! We must protect our Marine sanctuaries.

The only reason Bush wants off shore drilling is so he can make more money he does not care about the USA

We live in a Republic, not a Democracy, and that means that we elect representatives for a limited term who we entrust with the power to make difficult decisions for us. One of the major points of a Republic is to insulate the minority opinion from the popular public opinion. The true open debate you are longing for should happen during times of election, and not every time an issue is put on the table. This type of behavior paralyzes government. Often it is in the long term best interest of the nation to make a decision that is against the short term interest of public opinion. Unfortunately, not enough politicians are willing to put the long term public interest ahead of their performance in the next election cycle.

In this particular situation, I am confident that in one hundred years our grandchildren will understand that it was better in the long term to protect a vital and unique natural resource such as the fishing grounds of George’s Bank (the minority opinion), rather than subject an already delicate ecosystem to the further stress associated with any type of drilling for what is, by all accounts I can find, a very small amount of oil when compared to the vast reserves in other parts of the world (the majority opinion).

This is not sliding something through in the middle of the night. It is commendable action by Congressman Markey to mitigate the damage that will be caused if, “we”, the people use short sighted public opinion about the price of gas to influence our elected officials to make yet another bad policy decision regarding energy policy and environmental protection.

with the new technology and safety measures the chance of damage to the enviroment is remote,,
the reality of the american people suffering from high energy prices that effect everything is real
the politicians to see it because they dont feel the effect, they have too much money

As a constituent, I wrote a letter to Congressman Markey two months ago asking what he was doing to help us obtain our own oil resources. I have yet to hear from him - now I know why - he is spending his time making sure we don't drill for our own oil. Thanks a lot Congressman! I and my fellow New Englanders will look forward to our outrageous home heating oil bills this winter.

The whole exercise of bringing any notion of offshore drilling to a vote is politics as usual - it's quite obvious that it will have no impact (perhaps a $0.01 or $0.02 drop in gas prices - wow.) on energy costs in the short or medium-term. Which is, I believe, the whole reason it is being brought up in the first place. Isn't it a bit much in the irony department to claim politics as usual on politics as usual?

Elissa , your either a tool or a plant the importantance of George's Bank to the health of our economy here in New England is far more important then what one or two wells could possibly bring in. Not to mention most geology reports suggest little if none will be found in this area. I openly applaud Congressman Markey for staying on this critical issue. You want to support Oil and Gas go move to the gulf here in New England we like having Hadock and Cod once a week its healthier for you then sniffing oil or swimming in a sheen at the beach.

First comment: many provisions in bills are "slipped in in the dead of night" if they might be controversial. Every provision in every bill is not subject to public debate. Many provisions in congressional bills aren't even read by the congressmen who are voting for them. They are enormous, and nothing would ever get done if we had debates on every single provision in every bill. This is the way the system works. You elect people who you think will "slip things into bills" that you support, and who will fight to keep others from 'slipping things into bills" that you don't support. Also, just because it's in teh current version of the bill doesn't mean it will be in the final version. There are many steps to the bill being adopted.
Second comment: read the articles regarding the offshore oil supply in George's bank. It is miniscule. About 27 days worth of oil supply for the US. Is that worth risking George's Bank fishing grounds over? you should also understand that all of this talk of lifting the offshore drilling ban is political puffery. It is laughable that people think it will have any effect on oil prices, because even if they start today, that oil will not be produced for TEN YEARS. Minimum. not to mention that the oil will be very expensive. Deep water drilling rigs are insanely expensive (half a billion dollars) to build. This whole offshore drilling gimmick is a cheap political trick that assumes the American people are incredibly stupid and ill-informed.

If you read the story, it's clear that the time for public debate already occurred almost 20 years ago, and this debate was resolved in favor of conserving Georges Bank. The fact that this was re-opened goes to show how desperate this country has gotten over oil. People come all over the country and even the world to eat the fish harvested from these waters, to see the whales and dolphins that move through them, and to relax on the beaches that lie "three to 100 miles" from the drilling site. Managed effectively, these resources will bolster our local economy for generations to come. Why would MA voters choose to sacrifice that just to fill up your gas tank, Elissa?

I live on Cape Cod and cannot believe that our representatives in Congress can add a last minute provision to a bill to protect Georges Bank, yet they cannot stop the proposed wind farm in Nantucket Sound. Both projects threaten our fishing businesses in Massachusetts. This is classic back room deals in Washington. Wouldn’t the same logic apply to the wind farm and horse shoe shoal? I think the same argument can be made, but no one in Washington is willing to do it…why? Is it to much of a hot bed or is the private money to deep for them to turn away? Certainly makes you wonder, doesn’t it!

How is protecting fishing grounds and the enviornment not helpful to the American Public?
Off- shore drilling will take 10 years to come on line for about ten years of oil, not much oil for the Nation but plenty of profit for the oil rich.

Sounds like more whining from the fascists, I mean Republicans.

Just typical. Another Mass. ultra-liberal putting NIMBY ahead of our top priority: energy independence. Yet you bozos continue to send these dolts to Congress ...

So we can't put wind turbines offshore but we can put oil rigs out there? What a hypocrisy.

I'm glad that my congressman had the guts to stand up to the drill drill drill mentality that is permeating this election cycle. Opening more wells only hurts the United States in the long run. Anything that further encourages our short term dependence upon foreign energy supply is a bad thing. There are not enough oil reserves for this country to rely entirely upon domestic petroleum. As long as oil is our primary power source, we will be dependent upon foreign powers for our energy. As was demonstrated this summer, Americans are overly reliant upon that inbound flow of oil, which exposes us to too much influence from unfriendly nations. Drilling on George's Bank (or the GoM, or ANWAR) will do nothing to change that fact. It will simply extend the status quo.

Any oil we don't drill and burn this generation will be available to our children's and their children's generations.

Drill, Baby, Drill is not an energy policy. Democrats should not support offshore drilling. Let's get off of oil, gas and coal and move forward with wind and solar. Fossil fuels will obviously have to be part of the mix, but let's not sacrifice the best of Creation to wring the last few barrels of oil out of the earth.

And J. Black -- drilling offshore would certainly not make an impact on your heating bills this winter. Maybe it would in 2030 - but by then you'll hopefully have a better solution for heating your home than fossil fuels.

Thank God for Congressman Markey.
If it weren' t for him, Washington in one swoop could have wiped our the nation' s major fish breeding ground .... not to mention knocking out another industry,

Does Drill Baby Drill ......mean devastate everything in sight for the benefit of the rich oil men?
These natural resources are OURS......not the Oil Companies.

The fact that even Speaker Pelosi has allowed this vote speaks volumes to the world markets. We are sick of paying $3.50 per gallon. This is a first step. Now the Democrats need to stop playing politcs and approve drilling where the majority of the offshore oil is located ... that is under 50 miles for those of you not paying attention. I would suggest that all oil that is pulled from these off-shore wells be taxed at 50% and that a portion of the money be used to fund oil for low income families. I agree with protecting Georges Bank fishing grounds but the balance should be opening ANWR for drilling. Opening the area for oil drilling in ANWR is like opening an airport slighter larger than Logan in the area equal to the State of South Carolina. The porcupine caribou won't mind but $1.25 gas would be nice.

Much has been said about energy indepence and we can't drill our way out of our situation and it will be 7 to 10 years before the oil hits the market etc. First things first. We as a nation are voting on an energy bill using outdated and faulty data. We have not had a geological survey since the 1970's. This same survey said the oil in Alaska would have run out years ago. Before we decide on where to allow drilling, and yes, we should allow it, we should get an updated survey using the new 3D technology available so that we know what we have, where we have it, and how much of it we have. Then let's shape the debate on some valid data and decide how, when, and where we will allow companies to get at those resources.

Folks, forget about supposed boogey man called "Big Oil". We are shipping billions upon billions of dollars out of this country to areas of the world that we'd probably rather not support. Why is Chavez of any relevance? Oil. The same with the Middle East and Russia. If we can identify large quantities of oil and natural gas that we have locally, then let's put OUR people to work and get OUR oil and keep OUR money in OUR country! More jobs, more tax revenue, and more royalties for the government. This will also mean less power (money) to those less desirable countries. As far as the 7 to 10 year arguement, look around you. Do you see cars that are on the road older than 7 years old? Will we not be using plastics and asphalt and other oil by-products in 7 years? Of course we will.

Having said all this, this is not to say that we shouldn't be exploring alternatives as well, but those alternatives are going to be a long ways away from becoming main stream.

Do any of you know what drilling today will do to help us out today? Anyone?? Didn't think so.

Not a damn thing. Do some reading.

However, I think the folks on our coast need to be more susceptible to wind farms now...you can't have it both ways!

"with the new technology and safety measures the chance of damage to the enviroment {sic} is remote"

-toyo314, Message Board Sage

"This ship is unsinkable."

-Edward Smith, Captain of the Titanic

I can see not drilling in the Georges Bank region.

But, I agree with poster #26...what the hell is wrong with the windmills? I think they look fine! There's one off Deer Island in Boston Harbor, and it's nowhere near as ugly as some other things in that line of sight.

The wind farm idea is great. I see no reason why that can't be pursued much more than it has been.

Get over the aesthetics aspect. Windmills are NOT ugly!

Given the state of New England's fisheries (and the world's fisheries), I do not see how any rational person could think that it makes any sense to risk causing them irreparable harm in order to make George Bush's and Dick Cheney's best friends even richer -- ten years from now, which is the earliest that any offshore oil could realistically be realized.

As things stand now, the oil companies already have leases that allow them to drill on every inch of the equivalent of all of New England plus New York. These are leases that they signed voluntarily, perhaps enthusiastically, on the basis that there might be oil there. NO NEW LEGISLATION IS NEEDED to allow them to do this - they could start tomorrow if they wanted.

Too little ... too late. Much of the fish stock is already fished to point of extinction.

Has anyone asked the Democrats in Congress how many of them own oil stocks or getting oil annuities from Oil investments. My guess, most of them. The higher oil prices the more money Democrats take to the bank. So what if it takes 5 to 10 years to get the oil to the public, we need oil. Until we can get alternative energies I don't think we have a choice.
If Congress had taken action over 30 years ago back in the seventies when Jimmy Carter was president we would not be in this crisis today. We have to do everything we can to get off foreign oil dependency.

PS. I am registered as an independent. I will never vote for another Democrat

People are such morons. Food or driving.. it's your choice. Death of an industry (fishing) or giving in to big oil. Anyone against this is a moron.

Wind farms look good! How about the damage to the shell fish beds. Come on people...Everyone thinks drilling today will not help us today! Well, clearly in the 70s we drilled like mad to keep up with global demand and places in Texas ans Alaska benefited. In the 80s how much did you pay for gas? It will never be there again unless we drill baby drill!

I know, the wind farm is better for the environment because we burn the oil that in turn cause the planet to heat up and melt the ice. Funny thing though...the ice was metling before humans began buring fosil fuels. How come no one talks about that?

I also hear how the wind farm will reduce our energy costs....again, no one can quantify that. My energy bill has more than tripled in the last two years. Are you telling me that wind from the cape will produce enough energy to power the cities of Boston and New York and the entire east coast and therefore reduce our costs. Come on...get real.

The wind farm is a private investment by a private company to steal one of our natural resources. Anywhere else that there has been a project as big as this was public funded and all have been pulled.

Tell me...would a business person worth his salt do this if there was no money in it? Do you think the company only cares about our environement or making a profit? Get real!

Wake up!

What does more wind turbines have to do with using less oil?

number 34 - The point is that people are up-in arms over the possibility of drilling for oil in Georges Banks, but no one is objecting to a wind farm off the cape. You tell me the difference? We will not use less oil...never have and probably never will unless new technology is developed or we start bringing more nuclear power plants on line. That is a fact. I think you are correct, in that a wind farm will not reduce our oil dependence. So, why not object to it and see if we can get the private developer to use his resource to develope other alternatives?

Senator Kennedy does not want to look at windmills of his coast. Speaker Pelosi does not want drilling off her coast. I propose that those states and representatives that will not contribute solutuinsto the energy crisis be required to pay the higher prices at the pump. Let those in Massachusetts and California pay $10.00 for a gallon of gas, and those in Texas, Louisiana, and Florida pay $1.25 a gallon. I think their days in office will soon be over.

we need to get on the OIL from ALGAE /TANG train.. that will solve this whole thing...it just dosn't have a lobby!!!