One of the mainstays of John McCain's campaign is that we need to increase domestic oil production by drilling more. I think this is a terrible idea, and this post is my attempt to gather all my arguments against increased offshore oil drilling in America(Genius points), as well as to counter many of the traditional arguments for more drilling(Idiot points).
Genius point: Burning fossil fuels is not a good long term energy solution, and we should not do more to encourage it.
I firmly believe that the future of planetary energy production is in renewables, not in the difficult, expensive, and pollutive extraction and burning of fossil fuels from the earth's crust. Already the construction of the world's largest thermal-solar plant is beginning in my home state of Arizona (albeit by a Spanish-owned company), and even larger wind farms are being planned for the northeast. MIT recently discovered a breakthrough in photovoltaics that could produce solar energy from window-pane glass.
As much as I'd like to believe that these developments are born of altruistic, planet-saving intentions, in reality they exist because of the potential of profitability. Money is the biggest driving factor in a capitalism like America, and I don't have a problem with that. However, now that the facts regarding climate change have become (more or less) universally accepted, I feel like continuing our old path of burning fossil fuels is anachronistic and should be discouraged. I don't think that taxing all the money away from big oil is the answer, but certainly we shouldn't do anything to promote more use of oil. The price of gas in the US is at an all time high, and as any 1st year economics student knows, there are really 2 basic factors that influence the price of a commodity. I think we should concentrate on lowering demand instead of increasing supply.
Idiot point: Offshore drilling will provide short-term relief for cash-strapped Americans at the pump.
I don't really even like to acknowledge arguments that are this far off base. Someone please reply with something other than rhetroic that disprove the fact that new offshore oil drilling would take years to come to market. If you have some link-overload from that last sentence, I apologize. The one you should click is this one: a DOE report on drilling in ANWR that is favorable to the idea. Even this report states that new drilling in Alaska could lead to a decrease in global oil prices of as much as "$1.44 per barrel in 2027." In case you're not paying attention, that about a 1% price decrease, which, if translated directly to gas prices is about 4 cents per gallon. By 2027. And that's their best (worst?) case projection. So all the expense and time of building new rigs, drills, and pipelines just to save me a few cents per gallon in 20 years? Seriously?
Genius point: The oil companies should explore the millions of acres of land they already lease before opening new areas.
While not quite as idle as many democrats would have us believe, the oil companies do have millions of acres of land available for drilling that are currently "non-producing" for one reason or another. It would certainly be faster and cheaper to start production on that land (where they have already partially explored, and are in the process of drilling holes as I write this article) than to start from scratch on off-shore land which holds an unknown amount of oil that will be expensive and time consuming to explore as well as more and more environmentally damaging.
Idiot point: China is drilling off our coast, so why can't we?
This simply isn't true, and Cheney even rescinded his comments to that effect.
In Conclusion:
I'm sure I missed a few points from either side on this one, and I'm sure that my esteemed college will hop aboard to help with that. I hope he will concentrate on my first point which I feel is almost air-tight. Consider this final fact: The Solana solar plant I talked about early on will generate 280 MegaWatts, enough to power 70,000 homes at the cost of about a billion dollars to build. Exxon Mobile announced their once-again record-breaking profits of $11.67 billion. The amount they spent last quarter on more oil exploration was upwards of $7 billion. If they had spent even half of that on the actual construction of similar solar plants in Texas, the could have built solars plants that could power over 200,000 homes for the lifetime of those plants.
I'm not saying the government should tell a company how to spend it's profits; but the government also should not go out of its way to make it easier to do something we shouldn't want to do in the first place. This is a complex issue with a complex solution, but I firmly believe that encouraging the drilling and use of more oil will at best postpone the problem and at worst seriously aggravate the problem in the long term.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Election 2008 pre-nup
Ahhhhh. Nothing better than to sit back at work and argue politics with my friend/sometimes irrational (he would say the same about me) pal, Samson. Or Chonch, or Pierre le Chonch, or if you are a 40 year old bartender in Tempe -- Princess.
This election has literally become the grandest, most polarizing, and mezmerizing election that I can remember in my lifetime (26 years, 20 that I can actually remember). Looking at all the forces at work in this election is dizzying. Never before have there been so many issues that divide our country and could chart our path into the future. An unpopular war, a recession (it is a recession because the economy has receded from point A to point B), Islamic facism (not all Muslims are facists, but the guys that get the headlines are a variant), the environment, a heroin-like dependence on foreign oil, the internet, the dollar, race relations and the old standard bearer issues that never cease to divide: abortion (more specifically personal rights) and gay rights. It looks like all the cards are on the table for 2008-2009, which has created a strange mix of excitement, dread, and most importantly division!
Chonch and I are much the same when it comes to political leaning and for the most part we agree on the standard issues. But we are divided on our candidate. I am a libertarian. Chonch is Demopublican. I am for the old geezer with the swollen cheek, Chonch is for the sparkly Porsche with no engine, whose last name starts with an O.
Lets set the tone here with some good hearted, bi-partisanship.
Things we agree on for the most part.
--Abortion = womans right. (stop reading right now, if you think its the government's job to regulate a woman's private parts, because I have been trying for years to master control over woman's privates and its impossible. And quite absurd to assume she would let you.
--Gay rights = Its your life, bro/sister. When we live in a world where people can tell you who you can/can't love or be attracted to, we will be stuck in some Orwellian nightmare you cannot imagine.
--Money= it's mine and you work for it. If you want some, get a job, get an education(government funded!), or shut up.
--Free speech -- you can say whatever you want as long as its not in a crowded movie theatre. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Deal with it.
--National Security -- defend our country. Support the troops. But you are free to question how they are used.
--Government waste and lies--politicians in this country waste money--lots of it. They also will tell you anything to get a vote. Read more. This ain't Zimbabwe, but it can get outrageous.
--Americans need to read more, watch less -- TV is a hell of a drug. Read, listen to the radio, understand that TV is not reality. MTV, American Idol, etc. is not the canvas you should paint your reality on.
PC sucks -- political correctness is a plague. (Chonch can agree with me). I can't walk on eggshells in the future. They will scuff my spaceboots. In all seriousness, PC kills opinion and free speech. It could be a control agent (my opinion) or it could be an ill-advised concept to keep us from killing each other. Either way, it kills public debate.
Lastly. STOP WHINING! America is turning into a nation of whiners-- gas is sooo expensive!, I don't make enough money!, My mortgage is too expensive! , The air is dirty! , etc etc. DO SOMETHING. Maybe our generation will start doing things instead of sitting back and waiting on big government to put us in the high chair.
Chonch -- what say you?
This election has literally become the grandest, most polarizing, and mezmerizing election that I can remember in my lifetime (26 years, 20 that I can actually remember). Looking at all the forces at work in this election is dizzying. Never before have there been so many issues that divide our country and could chart our path into the future. An unpopular war, a recession (it is a recession because the economy has receded from point A to point B), Islamic facism (not all Muslims are facists, but the guys that get the headlines are a variant), the environment, a heroin-like dependence on foreign oil, the internet, the dollar, race relations and the old standard bearer issues that never cease to divide: abortion (more specifically personal rights) and gay rights. It looks like all the cards are on the table for 2008-2009, which has created a strange mix of excitement, dread, and most importantly division!
Chonch and I are much the same when it comes to political leaning and for the most part we agree on the standard issues. But we are divided on our candidate. I am a libertarian. Chonch is Demopublican. I am for the old geezer with the swollen cheek, Chonch is for the sparkly Porsche with no engine, whose last name starts with an O.
Lets set the tone here with some good hearted, bi-partisanship.
Things we agree on for the most part.
--Abortion = womans right. (stop reading right now, if you think its the government's job to regulate a woman's private parts, because I have been trying for years to master control over woman's privates and its impossible. And quite absurd to assume she would let you.
--Gay rights = Its your life, bro/sister. When we live in a world where people can tell you who you can/can't love or be attracted to, we will be stuck in some Orwellian nightmare you cannot imagine.
--Money= it's mine and you work for it. If you want some, get a job, get an education(government funded!), or shut up.
--Free speech -- you can say whatever you want as long as its not in a crowded movie theatre. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Deal with it.
--National Security -- defend our country. Support the troops. But you are free to question how they are used.
--Government waste and lies--politicians in this country waste money--lots of it. They also will tell you anything to get a vote. Read more. This ain't Zimbabwe, but it can get outrageous.
--Americans need to read more, watch less -- TV is a hell of a drug. Read, listen to the radio, understand that TV is not reality. MTV, American Idol, etc. is not the canvas you should paint your reality on.
PC sucks -- political correctness is a plague. (Chonch can agree with me). I can't walk on eggshells in the future. They will scuff my spaceboots. In all seriousness, PC kills opinion and free speech. It could be a control agent (my opinion) or it could be an ill-advised concept to keep us from killing each other. Either way, it kills public debate.
Lastly. STOP WHINING! America is turning into a nation of whiners-- gas is sooo expensive!, I don't make enough money!, My mortgage is too expensive! , The air is dirty! , etc etc. DO SOMETHING. Maybe our generation will start doing things instead of sitting back and waiting on big government to put us in the high chair.
Chonch -- what say you?
Welcome
Welcome to One Idiot, One Genius, a political blog that everyone will agree with. My name is Samson and across the isle is my associate Simmons. We are two independents who've found ourselves split on the 2008 presidential contest, and we needed a place to write so that when its all said and done we can point at something and proclaim "I told you so!"
Who plays the roles of idiot and genius then? Just wait, I'm sure after a few posts it will become obvious.
Brian Samson
Who plays the roles of idiot and genius then? Just wait, I'm sure after a few posts it will become obvious.
Brian Samson
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