U.S. Senate Backs Oil Drilling In Alaskan Refuge

[Gold9472]

U.S. Senate backs oil drilling in Alaskan refuge

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N03308101.htm

(Gold9472: Yay! Make sure you kill ALL of the wildlife. You can certainly kill a lot more now that you've lost your little map.)

03 Nov 2005 17:11:02 GMT

WASHINGTON, Nov 3 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Thursday voted to allow oil drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, barely rejecting a Democratic-led attempt to strike the controversial plan from a budget bill.

Drilling supporters said developing the refuge's 10.4 billion barrels of crude would raise $2.4 billion in leasing fees for the government, reduce U.S. reliance on foreign oil imports and create thousands of American jobs.

However, opponents said there was not enough oil in the refuge to lower gasoline prices significantly, and what crude is there would not get to the market for at least a decade. They also warned drilling would threaten ANWR's wildlife, which incudes migratory birds, polar bears and caribou.

The Senate voted 48 (yes) to 51 (no) on an amendment to remove the ANWR provision from the budget bill.

The Senate is expected to approve this week the overall federal budget-cutting bill. The House of Representatives may vote as early as next week on its budget legislation, which would also give oil companies access to ANWR.

It remains far from clear, however, if a final version of the budget-cutting package -- which includes items ranging from farm subsidy limits to cuts in food stamps and Medicaid -- will be approved by both chambers.

[somebigguy]

10.4 billion barrels of oil????

Lets see, the U.S. uses about 25 million barrels of oil per day. So 10.4 billion divided by 25 million = about 400 days.

So the U.S. is going to drill in Alaska, destroying the environment up there, all to put off the inevitable by about 13 months. Wow, thats forward thinking!!!

Instead they could be researching and developing alternative fuels, fuels that already exist and are already feasible, that would sustain the U.S. forever. Naa, thats crazy talk.

[Gold9472]

I know... do the math for this... by all estimations, there is about 2 Trillion barrels of oil left in the world. How long is that?

[somebigguy]

I know... do the math for this... by all estimations, there is about 2 Trillion barrels of oil left in the world. How long is that?

Well, obviously my guestimates will tend to be way off base when you're talking numbers in that range, however, using the same formula, there is enough oil for about 219 years. But that is only considering what the U.S. uses daily for oil.

If we use consider the fact that the world goes through about 85 million barrels of oil a day, then there is only enough oil in the world for about 65 years. This is for the entire world, not accounting for population changes, etc.

Also, oil gets harder to get out of the ground as the supplies diminish, therefore, there will come a time when it is simply not feasible to extract the oil from the ground, it will be too costly and involve too much work. As the cost of extracting oil rises over the years, less and less of it will actually be produced due to the amount of money and work involved in producing it.

Therefore, the adoption of alternative fuels will have to take place on a reverse scale to counteract the depletion of oil. Therefore, spending any time or energy obtaining 1 year worth of oil is shortsighted at best. That energy should be focused instead on increasing the output of alternative fuels.

We will see this in our lifetimes, and our children and grandchildren will suffer the most. Any shortsighted strategies like this one put future generations at risk.

Anyway, We got 13 more months of oil!!!! Time to fuel up our SUVs and party!!!

[Gold9472]

No... the earth uses 90million barrels every 11 days. Use that formula... I already know the answer, but you're not including growth, etc...

[somebigguy]

No... the earth uses 90million barrels every 11 days. Use that formula... I already know the answer, but you're not including growth, etc...

Its 85 million barrels a day or 1 BILLION barrels every 11 days.

[Gold9472]

90Million every 11 days...

[Gold9472]

Hmmmm... I seem to remember it was 90Million every 11 days.

Whatever the "formula" is... we have between 60-90 years left. NOT including growth... population, more people driving, etc...

[somebigguy]

Hmmmm... I seem to remember it was 90Million every 11 days.

Whatever the "formula" is... we have between 60-90 years left. NOT including growth... population, more people driving, etc...

Dude, aren't you a Ruppert groupie???? Its 85 million barrels a day, without question.

The U.S. consumes 25 % of the worlds oil and produces less than 10%. There is your stinking motive for 9/11, to protect the "American Way".

[Gold9472]

Here's an article that tells us...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4681935.stm