Bill Nelson: Gulf Oil Spill Shows Danger of Offshore Drilling

As time passed, books show how LBJ was fooled into issuing the Tonkin Gulf Resolution. The CIA's Howard Hunt forged the cables, mentioned in Nixon transcripts. The Pentagon Papers described how corrupt Catholic Pres. Diem & Thieu secretly used US transport & people to profit from heroin from poppies. See "The Politics of Heroin in SE Asia" by McCoy. That illegal war was called "Cardinal Spellman's War." The gay Cardinal made sure his little pal became Pres. of S. Vietnam. Before the War, Congress gave tax rebates to people who invested in renewable energy..solar, wind, waves, etc. I bought shares in solar panel companies. The war ended the subsidy. The little companies failed. I lost $6000 on them but solar techniques improve, & maybe some of it from workers in those companies I like the look of huge offshore wind machines in Scandinavia, and the big blue solar panel display on a majorm NS Calf. freeway to Vegas. It's old but still making electricity. Portugal now has a wonderful big iinstallation of wave power capsules, rocking back & forth. Oh, whet a change to have a lullabye mode instead of using coal mines with men being kiiled there every day.

ajura dawnveirs of CA 7:18PM June 09, 2010

1. The reason oil companies are drilling in deep water is because so many areas have been closed to them because of Environmentalist ethics and aesthetic concerns - not because they like the higher costs and greater risks involved.

2. Wind turbines destroy thousands of acres of ecosystem and kill thousands of birds annually. If you stop to think about it, aren't they just giant, flailing, thrumming scarecrows - scaring wild things from the landscape? Additionally, the pollution disposal problems caused by storage facilities - for wind or solar - are daunting.

3. Approx. 1700 barrels of oil are released from the earths strata daily in North American waters alone - this is 150 times the amount lost from oil extraction activities. Even considering the current mess from Deep Water Horizon over the long term much more oil is chronically lost by natural seeps then by drilling. And, it is an established fact that that "natural seepage" would increase by 40 - 50% if we were to eliminate drilling which takes the pressure off natural fissures.

4. 70,000 barrels of oil a year seep from natural fissures just off the coast of Santa Barbara Calif.. This amount would be over 100, 000 barrels per year if it weren't for the few oil platforms in the area.

5. George Vancouver and Juan Cabrillo both reported vast oil slicks and mounds of tar along west coast during their explorations.

6. More than 200 freighters, warships and tankers were sunk off the eastern seaboard and the Gulf of Mexico during WWII. WWII era tankers held about 12 million gallons of oil each - not to mention thousands of gallons of fuel oil aboard all ships.

7. In California, Environmentalists have succeeded in getting the state to approve the destruction of 3 hydroelectric dams, and spending tens of millions of dollars restoring rivers for salmon habitat. This is insane in a bankrupt state that can't supply itself with power. Now, instead of "renewable" water generated power we will have to turn to coal or fuel oil burning for our power needs.

8. There is more oil in our coastal waters and Alaska than in Saudi Arabia. However, we would rather pay oppressive, terrorist supporting, anti-woman regimes billions of dollars than drill in our own country - madness...

9. Nuclear power is the answer to our energy needs, but the Green-Socialists have denied the science because it is incompatible with their dogma.

10. Our economy is in shambles and the deficit is staggering. We need jobs and industry - both require affordable energy. The last thing the nation needs is the "cap and trade" scheme and a moratorium on off shore drilling.

R.L. Schaefer of CA 3:14PM June 07, 2010

Mr Nelson, I strongly disagree that obama "...correctly recognized that safety isn’t the only issue of concern." He really came up with that on his own? All by himself? Really?!? My 14 year old son also "correctly recognized" that, and he also said "...that there is no progress without some risk..." - I put it in my own words. My 14 year old son also said "...where would we be with technology without risk, look at those brave astronauts that gave their lives so we can explore and have technology..." - I guess if obama was in charge at that time he would have shut down NASA, no, oh wait, yes, he did shut down NASA - what was I thinking!! NASA has given us more technology that has impacted our lives than we know - like the "small" advancement in plastics that is used everyday in hospitals to save lives - NASA furthered the development of that!

My 14 year old son knows there is no achievment without some risks - and some risks come with a high price tag. obama needs to fully grasp that concept and quit trying to drag us down by doing purely ignorant things so he can look good in the polls!This doesn't mean we throw out the baby with the bath water and just ban offshore oil drilling. What is required is REAL leadership and that means we try to figure out what happened, with intellect, reasoning, combined with what we know to try and fix the problem in order to keep drilling and PREVENT this from happening again. The solution is NOT to stick your head in the sand, like obama wants to do, play golf and have photo opportunities LOOKING like he is doing something then come out and ban further offshore oil drilling. That is not a solution, it is a cop out - something obama is very good at. obama needs to find another job, hey maybe you could convince him to run for president in Russia, that way he can ruin that country instead of ours - good idea huh?

JP of FL 6:01PM June 04, 2010