Drill team coach

Cheney: 'Drill, drill, drill'

Posted by Kate Sheppard at 10:30 AM on 12 Jun 2008

Read more about: Muckraker | news | politics | oil | oil and gas drilling

Dick Cheney has weighed in with his answer to the nation's energy woes:

Vice President Cheney yesterday called for a substantial increase in domestic drilling for oil and other natural resources, including in environmentally sensitive areas, saying that only increased production -- and not new technology -- will satisfy the nation's demand for energy.

"We are an economy that runs on petroleum. Some 20 million barrels of it a day. That can and will change over time, but it will be a very long time," said Cheney, former head of U.S. oil company Halliburton. "We'd be doing the whole country a favor if more of that oil were produced here at home."

He chastised Congress for not opening up coastal areas and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling, and bemoaned the fact that Cuba and China have forged a partnership to drill near the Florida coast, while the U.S. has declared waters near Florida off-limits. "Even the communists have figured out that a good answer to high prices is more supply," he said. [UPDATE: Looks like the claim of Cuban-Chinese drilling near Florida is bogus, even though it's become a GOP talking point. (Thanks, Laurence.)]

Here's a video of his comments:

For story: Drill team coach
11 Comments | Post a Comment

Great video

Oil, gas, gas, oil, oil, oil, gas, oil, more oil.

Testing and inflating tires at emissions stations would free up more oil than drilling in the ANWR, as would a few percentage points increase in average gas mileage, as would a few miles per hour slower on interstates, and on and on. The truth is that he wants to get the money out of the ground while he still has a measure of influence.

In the end, it all comes down to biodiversity. Poison Darts--Protecting the biodiversity of our world

by biodiversivist at 11:04 AM on 12 Jun 2008

mr cheney is proving

a point i made to a friend a couple days ago, about how unhinged his fanatic sect of economistics has become.

off-shore drilling? thumbs up! energy security! revenue!

off-shore wind? thumbs down! aesthetically! it ruins the view! and the people who propose it are in a different political group! all kinds of really good reasons that are cost-benefit measurable, i have the figures in my office, i'll show you later.

remember: nobody doesn't like a swimming at an oily beach, or looking at "money" in the form of an oil platform on the horizon.

by hapa at 11:11 AM on 12 Jun 2008

the disinformation machine in action

GOP claim about Chinese oil drilling off Cuba is untrue

The China-Cuba connection is "akin to urban legend," said Sen. Mel Martinez, a Republican from Florida who opposes drilling off the coast of his state but who backs exploration in ANWR.
"China is not drilling in Cuba's Gulf of Mexico waters, period," said Jorge Pinon, an energy fellow with the Center for Hemispheric Policy at the University of Miami and an expert in oil exploration in the Gulf of Mexico. Martinez cited Pinon's research when he took to the Senate floor Wednesday to set the record straight.
Even so, the Chinese-drilling-in-Cuba legend has gained momentum and has been swept up in Republican arguments to open up more U.S. territory to domestic production. Vice President Dick Cheney, in a speech Wednesday to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, picked up the refrain.

Ped Shed Blog

by Laurence Aurbach at 12:36 PM on 12 Jun 2008

found something good

looking for info on offshore wind i found this facilities tour diary on TOD:

It seems to me that Gulf of Mexico production will drop to non-economic levels for many of these fields within the next few years, even with secondary recovery methods. I asked whether the Brutus platform could be moved to another location, since it still has most of its 30-year lifetime left. I was told that the only way this would work is if a new location is found that is of approximately the same depth (2,985 feet) as the current location.
At this point, few new drilling sites are opening up in the 3,000 foot depth range. I expect that this is one reason that Shell (and others) are very interested in getting the portion of the Gull of Mexico near Florida opened up for exploration. If further Gulf exploration is delayed for 15 or 20 years, it may be necessary to start over with new platforms. By that time, onshore pipelines may also have deteriorated with disuse, and trained personnel may be unavailable.

by hapa at 1:16 PM on 12 Jun 2008

What People Don't Get ...

is that if you insist on a lifestyle that requires traveling at high speeds or for long distances, Cheney is right. Again, it's about reducing consumption, which in this case means organizing or reorganizing your life so that you're near enough to the things you do regularly that you can walk, bike, or take public transit. If you drive, you're voting for oil drilling and oil wars, despite everything else you might do to the contrary.

by Wolverine at 4:50 PM on 12 Jun 2008

Wolverine has it right

Each of us must work to ratchet down our consumption of fossil fuels to ever lower levels. It's true that we can't get to where we need to go on personal choice alone--we need policy change. But personal policy is something each of us can change at will, whereas changing national policy looks like it's going to require the destruction of Washington DC during a State of the Union address.

by mwildfire at 6:05 PM on 12 Jun 2008

Go Fuck Yourself, Mr. Cheney

i agree with this point but I think that our politicians hold the responsibility of being good examples by living green lifestyles themselves. This is one area where the Aztecs had it right. If a member of the Aztec nobility committed a crime he was punished harsher than a commoner would be for the same crime. For their crimes against nature and humanity the oil owned Bush Administration needs to give up their limos and take the bus to work, give up their plastic bags for cloth shopping bags, and switch over cfls.

by Cacaoatl at 6:22 PM on 12 Jun 2008
[ Parent ]

What a dick ...

by el mono at 6:39 PM on 12 Jun 2008

Isn't he gonna die soon?

What does he need MORE money for?

Il faut cultiver notre jardin.

by John former Marine at 5:19 AM on 13 Jun 2008

Since When is a Car High Speed

Cities are getting more and more congested. Dirving is slower than cycling for many trips.

High-speed rail is faster than driving or flying for many trips.

by racc at 11:18 AM on 13 Jun 2008

Not just Cheney

A number of members of Congress recently have given speeches where they hammer the false rationale that the refusal of Congress to allow enough drilling on US territory/offshore for oil and natural gas is the cause of high prices of fuel.
Real reasons for high cost of gasoline:
1. oil comanies gouging, and the Republicans have been fighting hard against a windfall profits tax to collect some of the oil companies' profits which have doubled in the last few years.
2. of a decades old policy of large subsidies for fossil fuels production and tiny amounts of support for wind, solar, and geothermal which could provide cheaper cleaner electricity if they were allowed to compete fairly.
3. electric cars could now be the norm, if the Congress had not repeatedly voted against requiring auto and truck manufacturers to produce vehicles that get better mileage.

Why are they taking this position that totally ignores the fact that continued use of fossil fuels is cooking our planet? (Sen Coburn R OK, Sen Allard R CO & others) The only problem this might solve is how to increase their campaign contributions. Also, maybe they really do need huge vehicles with tinted windows.

by Zephaniah at 1:05 PM on 13 Jun 2008

ADVERTISING POLICY

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