A Michigan Republican Congressman, Joe Schwarz, was a member of a group of "moderate" Republicans which managed to get the ANWR oil exploration authorization removed from the House version of a budget bill.
I am pissed. The quickest way to reduce our use of Saudi oil is to pump more of the stuff ourselves. That is also the quickest way to reduce oil prices. And this is Michigan--we live and die by the domestic auto industry. ANWR is a huge, harsh, desolate frozen wasteland. It's not like we're proposing to log out the entire Amazon rain forest, or dynamite the Grand Canyon.
Joe Schwarz put the interests of a herd of Caribou and a herd of greenies over the interests of his own consituents.
If you are from Michigan, and especially if you are from his district (the Battle Creek area), you should give Rep. Schwarz a call (202-225-6276) or drop him an email (click here) and let him know what you think.
10 comments:
This is very dubious claim.
1) Drilling in ANWR is certainly not any part of the "quickest way to reduce imports from Saudi Arabia", since it isn't likely to produce any oil in less than ten years.
2) Drilling in AWNR, whether or not it is a good idea on the merits, is unlikely ever to produce more than about a million bpd. and given ten years to work on it, there are many ways (e.g. efficiency, unconventional oil, fuel switching) we could reduce our oil comsumption by more than that.
3) As oil is a world market, and AWNR is unlikely ever to produce as much as 1% of world oil supply, it is not likely to ever have any measurable effect on prices anyway.
Possibly voting against this is selling out Alaska, where this would have a significant economic impact, but people who want to "sell out" Michigan will have to find something more relevant to support or oppose.
There have been conflicting reports as to the amount of oil in ANWR. A 1998 USGS study indicated at least 5.7 billion (95% probability) and possibly as much as 16.0 billion (5% probability) barrels (0.9 to 2.5 km³) exists in ANWR, with a mean value of 10.4 billion barrels (1.7 km³). Technically recoverable oil within the ANWR 1002 area (excluding State and Native areas) is estimated to be at least 4.3 billion (95%) and as much as 11.8 billion (5%) barrels (0.7 to 1.9 km³);, with a mean value of 7.7 billion barrels (1.2 km³).
Which areas of unfettered nature do we wreck after we exploit ANWR? How about we stop using oil, period?
A lot of people say ANWR is a wasteland. I don't understand why they say that (except in the context of winning an argument). I don't think it's a wasteland. It's just empty nature. It's cold and harsh, but so are lots of places in the world which people like very much and would not want to fill with oil industry equipment.
Do you have any idea how long it would take and how expensive it would be, both in research and development in terms of economic destruction, to move away from oil?
Moving away from oil is a great idea, but that is a 20 to 30 year timeframe, at least.
Drilling in ANWR is like putting a band-aid on a leak in the Hoover Dam... If all the Republican hot air over this issue were redirected towards finding alternative energy sources, maybe some progress would start being made. There's zero momentum in our government currently for anything else besides drilling more...
Frankly, I've got no problem with drilling in ANWR - it probably won't disrupt things much. I think the biggest question is what the water cut will be, because many US wells produce upwards of five gallons of water for every barrel of oil. Dealing with that water in an environmentally-free manner isn't much fun, but then again it's worlds easier than handling the waste-water problem with oil sand harvesting.
My real issue with ANWR is the fact that it's a placebo. There isn't enough oil there to really reduce our dependence on foreign oil, but there's enough to trigger a false sense of security in the American public. One of the worst things that could happen with ANWR is that prices drop sufficently to increase consumption beyond what ANWR provides, thus making our problems worse, not better.
Frankly, I think we need to develop the fields fully, and then keep our hands off until that oil is really needed. It's only good as a reserve if it's ready to go at the instant we need it (how long does it take to develop a field - a decade, maybe?), but I definitely don't want to see this "rainy day fund" pissed away in someone's boat on Lake Michigan.
For the record, AP, my local rep here in MI is Peter Hoekstra. He's in favor of ANWR drilling, but I'm very hestitant to say that this comes from any strong sense of support for the auto industry. Interestingly enough, a major part of his election campaigns consists of him taking bike rides throughout the district ;)
The Native Alaskans are for the most part positive about ANWR drilling. For once, they can see a bright future for their communities. Of course, never question the progressives. They have all the answers.
This is probably more of an ice-cold shock to the Bush admin than the Meiers kerfuffle:
The Republican base weaseled out on the Prez vs. Barbara Boxer, the most PAC-active leftie was only able to get 38,821 signatures on her "Stop ANWR" webpage. (http://ga4.org/campaign/boycott?)
Go figure.
Reduce your consumption.
America has 5% of the world's population but uses 25% of the world's fuel resources.
Surely you can see the problem.
It's good to see even a few Repub's still have a conscience.
We also produce a disproportionate number of the world's patents. We developed the internet, which you are using. We developed the airplane. We developed the artificial heart. The nuclear bomb. GPS. We can grow so much food we pay our farmers not to produce.
We are also the world's largest marketplace. Every country wants to sell their goods here, becuase of our "high consumption". You know what would happen if Americans stopped consuming? The economy of whatever country you live in would probably not recover for some time.
In WWI, we saved Europe from itself. In WWII, we saved Europe again. In the Cold War, we defended Europe and Asia against Russian. In the war against Islamo-fascism, we are the largest player.
Sometimes, I think about "Atlas Shrugged", and I wonder, what if...
Check out this blog from Adrian, MI for updates on the Joe Schwarz primary showdown with Tim Walberg.
www.adrianinsider.blogspot.com
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