Quote Originally Posted by LegalizeTheGreen
this is just disgusting. Am I the only one to see what happened to the Mississippi River? These are the risks intrinsic to oil drilling, and one of the main reasons more drilling is not the answer. Anyone that would sacrifice our planet (or even our country) for the sake of lower gas prices needs to have their Humanity Card revoked. Drilling is not the answer.
I take it you are referring to this?

Spill could close part of Mississippi River for days - CNN.com

This actually has nothing to do with drilling, but it does have to do with oil.

Or are you talking about the flooding.. which also has nothing to do with drilling or oil?

If we had a knee jerk reaction everytime something bad happened in the name of society and progress then we would never have any advancement.

If your argument is that drilling is damaging the mississippi river then I would have to argue that drilling was not the cause of the spill. If your argument is that drilling for oil is dangerous because it could risk spilling oil and harming the environment then I would have to say you're right, except you need to be realistic and reference how many times Oil has been safely transported compared to how many times we've actually had an Oil Spill. You can't deny the world energy because you're scared of a spill that may or may not happen. It may not be the most idealistic thing to do in terms of our home, the earth, but it's a need that we have and will need to be weened off of.

Energy/oil is a need of the world. This is not something that any politician can make up or refute. This is also not just a problem for the United States but rather a GLOBAL problem.

Drilling may not be the end solution but neither is alternative Energy. Currently technology is not where we need it to be to ween us off oil. Even when all of our automobiles are electric or hydrogen or whatever technology they decide to use becomes availale.. there will still be a large need for oil. Alternative energy is not cheap and it does not come quickly either. It takes time to build hydrogen filling stations or electric charging stations for vehicles. There is much more logistical problems when you start to think about how do you transition from oil to alternative energy.

It's not just a light switch that you can flip on and off. We need to aid the world oil market while at the same time researching alternative energies to relieve of us from our dependance from oil.

I am pro alternative energy but I am also realistic in how long it would take to get all of America on the same page. Unfortunatley because of the time table I would have to say we have no choice but to use a combination of drilling and heavy funding into research. Something we should have done during the first oil crisis in the 70's.
daihashi Reviewed by daihashi on . McCain credits Bush for drop in oil price Republican John McCain on Wednesday credited the recent $10-a-barrel drop in the price of oil to President Bush's lifting of a presidential ban on offshore drilling, an action he has been advocating in his presidential campaign. The cost of oil and gasoline is "on everybody's mind in this room," McCain told a town-hall meeting. He criticized Democratic rival Barack Obama for opposing drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf. Bush recently lifted the executive order banning offshore Rating: 5