To those who think we need to not drill for oil because we may bother animals...?

Question

What is your solution to getting energy needs met?

Remember this

1. We are an oil based economy and it will take decades to switch to something else.

2. As our economy grows, so does needs for energy

Environmentalists have blocked

oil drilling all over the US
new refineries being built
nuclear energy

What is your solution?

Here is a response to the second answer

1. We have not at all come close to depleting oil. We do not drill for it in most of America. About the only area we do is off the coast of LA.

2. Oil is made from decomposition of organic matter, which is constantly occurring.

3. Global warming is completely untrue. At best, it can be shown that Earth naturally changes in temperature, beyond the control of humans.

4. Energy demands increase as societies grow and become civilized. India and China have grown from 3rd world to industrialized nations. Those nations need energy to fuel cars, indoor lighting, etc.

Answer 1

My solution is to drill all over the United States. Maybe there is some way of extracting the oil to cut down on the risks to wild life. Maybe there can be better monitoring or the oil can be extracted very slowly but over the long-term. Maybe we can use financial incentives like all of the oil companies have to pay an extraction escrow tax and that some of money is refunded based on how successful the oil company was in protecting wild life and not creating spill problems. Maybe some of the money that is collected can be used to overtrain an excess number of people to be able to handle spills and wildlife so that these things are quickly cleaned up.

Wildlife is great. But if we keep empowering the middle east, there isn't going to be wildlife or anything else left due to their inability to control their fanatics.

Answer 2

The planet is overpopulated with people.

This is pretty much uncontested within the community of science and economics. Through education and planned parenting the world population must be reduced to a sustainable number.

We already have alternative energy sources that could be made more available and prevalent.

We have many more alternative choices for less demanding, energy efficient, technologies

I challenge your comment on the situation of an oil based economy...The "switch" would be far less demanding on the general public than it would be on the pockets of Corporate America.

Even President Bush and many former adversaries of climatological and environmental studies are now concluding that global warming is very real and a very significant portion is the responsibility of the human race. Some time the issue of fossil fuel burnout must be addressed and again the alternatives lie in other and cleaner energies.

A biologically diverse and delicate ecosystem that pervades this planet that all of us call home requires that we give some credit to the flora and fauna that share this globe and respect them well enough to realize that without plants and animals we're not going to breath and eat.

Answer 3

I really do not LIKE the idea of drilling oil in Alaska, but I think we Have to. Not to use resources that we own and that will benefit our country and the economy here in favor of buying it from unstable foreign countries has caused too many problems. We have to drill there.

There is also a lot of oil in western NY and PA. But its not a very good grade.

We also need to build more nuclear reactors. France has had them for years and the technology is much safer now.

We also should make AZ and other western states at least 90% solar, and they could supply the energy for most of the country. With the amount of sunlight we have in AZ it is criminal that this was not done a long time ago.

All three of these could supply a huge amount of energy.
I would also like to see a lot more research in hydrogen and into energies that would be derived from all the trash we currently throw in landfills, that would clean the place up while producing energy at the same time, that sounds like a smart idea.

Answer 4

We don't need to drill for oil because our efforts and investments should be going to the future of fuels. It is inevitable that we must do this, but the old dinosaurs at the top insist on doing things as they always have with no concern for the future, much less the present. It's all about making as much money off of oil for as long as they can, which is why you don't see a strong movement to move off of the stuff. The technology is there to change our economy, but the want is not.

We don't have to drill anymore, we really don't. We have plenty of alternatives that will make it obsolete. The sooner, the better imo.

Answer 5

I agree that we should increase domestic oil production where it is environmentally prudent, but also need to continue to develop other sources of energy.
Nuclear power could be a stop gap energy source while developing alternatives. However, the only viable waste storage facility is being blocked by the republican dominated state government of Utah. Having a permanent waste storage facility is the only way I would agree with continued use of nuclear energy, much less expanding its use.
I agree we need to increase refining capacity, but to say that the lack of construction of new refineries is entirely caused by environmentalists is only telling part of the story. Energy companies expect the taxpayers to fund much of their exploration and infrastructure improvements through huge tax exemptions. They refuse to cut into their record profits to fund their own exploration and construction operations like companies in virtually any other business do.

Answer 6

Ive always wondered this
Does the earth somehow reproduce oil, like the human body does with blood?

If not, then one might be able to say, this oil we've always tapped into, when depleted could have a negative effect on the world, wouldnt it?
Like draining all the juice from a fruit, or the blood from the human body.

could part of the global warming dilemna be symptoms that we are bleeding mother earth dry?

Please correct me if Im wrong,m as I was always distrurbed by the thought of this happening

Answer 7

It's not just animals. the ice which its under could break not to mention the long pipeline could break or be damaged. Destroying the wildlife and losing oil.

We need to use less power. Get hybrid cars. use better lightbulbs. New means of power. Wind, Solar, water. Better cars. We are last in creating cars. If we get cars that use less oil/gas than then we will use less oil. Plus you're destroying the Earth. If it's getting messed up, we will all die. We are destroying the enviroment not just for animals but for us as well.

Answer 8

Americans need to use less oil and drilling for more will just fuel the addiction. Too many Americans waste gasoline by aimlessly driving around their neighborhoods and inefficiently planning their trips. I hear people complain about gas prices, but I see the same fools driving around the neighborhood and passing my house several times an evening while I am on the porch reading.

Answer 9

The solution is to free ourselves from crude oil, but our government is not interested in doing so. If the government partnered with major auto manufacturers to produce automobiles with hydrogen fuel cells (instead of wasting billions in Iraq), we could end our obsession with combustible engines. GM, Toyota, Honda all have launched major R&D programs to develop the hydrogen fuel cell. Each has committed a minimum of 1 billion dollars, but in order to make this a reality in the next decade, it's going to take billions more to mass produce an affordable vehicle with a hydrogen fuel cell and to set up the infrastructure for fueling stations.

This is not a fantasy. My son is an engineer for GM and his group is working feverishly to develop the fuel cell. But with only a billion dollar budget, it's going to take decades.Our government needs to recognize how critically important it is to free ourselves from crude oil. Not only would it nearly end pollution, it would stop the flow of money to Arab nations that support terrorism.

Answer 10

Ive seen a show where they used the runoff C02 from power plants and use the gas to grow algae in huge tanks...oil is decomposed algae and algae's only purpose is to reproduce while consuming C02


all you need to do is speed up the decomposition of algae...