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Off-shore drilling in NC


dubone

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http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/news/12819997.htm

Carolina's beaches are some of the most natural beaches remaining in the east coast.

Beaches near offshore oil drilling are often dirty looking with slicks washing on shore.

...but that is a lot of money.

At current US consumption rates, 4 billion barrels of oil could only supply the US for 6.5 months, even if all 4 billion barrels were ultimately recoverable. Most oil fields yield 40-70% of ultimately recoverable oil as a part of the total.

Drilling for this oil does not solve any energy issue for us.

Read www.theoildrum.com or http://www.simmonsco-intl.com/research.asp...esearchspeeches

to find out more.

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People make a big deal about the look of oil platforms out on the horizon, but I don't think it looks any worse than some big cargo ships out there.

If we did it, the proceeds should go into a trust fund like Alaska does. I do not trust the legislature to spend the money wisely.

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I think so if done right. Granted our beaches are prestine aside from the syringes washing up onshore now and then(trash from NJ probably). I think the platforms could be well ofshore with terminals on the lower Cape Fear somewhere. It could really help the eastern half of the state recover some commerce that it lost from companies relocating manufacturing overseas.

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Off-shore drilling off NC's coast doesn't deal with the larger energy issue not to mention global warming. The state should be offering incentives to the private sector to develop alternative energy sources. Or Washington could do the simple thing of raising CAFE standards on SUVs instead of considering the defiling of the NC beaches.

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Or Washington could do the simple thing of raising CAFE standards on SUVs instead of considering the defiling of the NC beaches.

I doubt that this Washington would do any such thing. We're talking about the same neo-con garbage that wants to delete the Clean Air Act all for the instant gratification of cheaper gas. Heh, screw it... Go ahead and burn the planet up... and burn yourselves out of office and off of America's political map once and for all. I suspect this is the proverbial "grand finale"--why not go out in a blaze of glory, right? I mean they've already stacked their wealth since this sleigh ride began :lol:

I crack myself up. :D

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yeah, it seems like the typical short sighted polices that our politicans (especially the prez and his croonies) like to deal with. we got to get out of this oil business and find a more eco, less globally dependent source of energy. i think the "old north state" should issue out a big F U to the proponents of off shore drilling.

not too mention that we get hurricanes, too. do we not foresee potential enviromental issues here?

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what about off-shore windmill generators?

do the same arguments against the bad appearance apply to those, or are those okay by most of the groups that oppose oil drilling?

for me it is not as much about the appearance. i would be all for windmill farms, as long as they don't go overboard. i wonder if the energy grids would go biszerk during a hurricane.

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  • 7 months later...

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/news/12819997.htm

Carolina's beaches are some of the most natural beaches remaining in the east coast.

Beaches near offshore oil drilling are often dirty looking with slicks washing on shore.

...but that is a lot of money.

_____________________________________

Perhaps instead of ruining a coastline with 'accidental spills' (see Alaska) we could use less. Better mileage vehicles, etc. Who needs a 7,000lb truck to go to the store for bread?

It is obviously greedy people (don't care about their childrens children) but just what it takes for them to drive endlessly.

The stock car races are the worst - driving 500 miles in a circle to prove who can get to the other end first. How about not putting any gas in it and see who can PUSH it to the other side first.

Don't even think of drilling on the shores of NC. It would be political suicide. One or two pictures of the birds with oil on them and the beaches streaked with oil... vote NO.

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This isn't a matter of what fuels are used for what. This is merely an issue for extra income for the state. Drilling for oil has to come from somewhere and there is a lot of money in it. If we have it, we should capitalize on it while its value is at its highest. We have mines and landfills that do more damage to our land than oil spills do to the ocean. If we have low production oil platforms, the risks for accidents are exponentially smaller. I'm not sure how far off the beach the platforms would have to be, but I've been plenty of places along the gulf where you can see them and the water is just as clean. A lot of the platforms in the gulf are outdated and not nearly as safe as new ones. Also, a platform built to withstand the Atlantic will probably fair better against hurricanes than the ones in the much calmer Gulf. This could also provide a backup for the next post-Hurricane Katrina/Rita gas scare. With the amount of commerce this would bring, a port like Wilmington would boom if this was brought to the area.

As for alternate fuels, Ethanol/E85 is a joke. It requires more energy to create it than it actually yields. And that is fact. Unless every car out there is a hybrid (which they probably will be someday) our dependence on gasoline will not decrease. Even so, even if we all drive hybrids, it still does not help the overall issue. Automobiles only pull a fraction of our petroleum. Roughly 28% of our energy consumption is from transportation. Thus, cutting back that portion only possibly cuts 10% of our overall dependency.

There is a great six page article on this in this month's Car and Driver. I suggest picking the July (yes July) 06' issue the next time you're at a magazine stand and breeze through it real quick. I was hoping they would put their article on the web so I could post a link, but they always wait two months after the issue releases to do that (for obvious reasons.)

My opinion, go for it; just make all the necessary precautions to avoid accidents.

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As for alternate fuels, Ethanol/E85 is a joke. It requires more energy to create it than it actually yields. And that is fact. Unless every car out there is a hybrid (which they probably will be someday) our dependence on gasoline will not decrease. Even so, even if we all drive hybrids, it still does not help the overall issue. Automobiles only pull a fraction of our petroleum. Roughly 28% of our energy consumption is from transportation. Thus, cutting back that portion only possibly cuts 10% of our overall dependency.

I don't think you understand why that is. The reason is that ethanol is not yet self-sufficient. In other words, we use non-bio gasoline/diesel fuel in the production of ethanol fuels. We use it in the farm equipment that harvests the corn. We use it in the tanker trucks that transport it. Thus, in most cases but not all, we use more or just as much gasoline/diesel fuel to produce it. The solution to this is integrating the ethanol into the production process so that it is used as the fuel in the farm equipments and the tanker trucks. Thus, ethanol would become self-sufficient. I should also note that the more ethanol we produce the less this becomes a problem.

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I don't think you understand why that is. The reason is that ethanol is not yet self-sufficient. In other words, we use non-bio gasoline/diesel fuel in the production of ethanol fuels. We use it in the farm equipment that harvests the corn. We use it in the tanker trucks that transport it. Thus, in most cases but not all, we use more or just as much gasoline/diesel fuel to produce it. The solution to this is integrating the ethanol into the production process so that it is used as the fuel in the farm equipments and the tanker trucks. Thus, ethanol would become self-sufficient. I should also note that the more ethanol we produce the less this becomes a problem.

I know, and I agree. I'm just saying for today's purposes it doesn't help out enough to make the difference we would all like it to.

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The oil money isn't enough to pay off the loss of some of the most pristine beaches in the country.

Agreed 100% I dont care how much money the oil is worth, it isnt worth ruining our beaches which are almost always on the best beaches lists you hear about. Do you think those beaches would be on the best beaches lists if they were ruined because of off shore drilling?

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Even with the best technology, human and mechanical error will always put oil spills at risk for contaminating the enviroment.

As posted earlier about wind farms, the only downside with them is maintienence (oiling the parts), salt buildup and the inevitability of hurricanes. If turbines were built more than 10 miles off shore, it will not be in view from the beach unless you are boating. Solar power is the way to go over wind mills.

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Even with the best technology, human and mechanical error will always put oil spills at risk for contaminating the enviroment.

As posted earlier about wind farms, the only downside with them is maintienence (oiling the parts), salt buildup and the inevitability of hurricanes. If turbines were built more than 10 miles off shore, it will not be in view from the beach unless you are boating. Solar power is the way to go over wind mills.

Everything is always a risk. I agree. And no risk is better than a little.

I don't like the idea of wind farms because of our area's attractiveness to hurricanes. :wub: Even though lately they have designed anti-hurricane windmills which compact themselves a week before hurricanes are projected to hit. This said, that means they are temporarily just lightning rods sticking up in the sky like cell phone towers. Wouldn't it be great if they were able to harness the lightning which hits the rods though? That would solve a lot of problems. Patent pending. :whistling:

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Everything is always a risk. I agree. And no risk is better than a little.

I don't like the idea of wind farms because of our area's attractiveness to hurricanes. :wub: Even though lately they have designed anti-hurricane windmills which compact themselves a week before hurricanes are projected to hit. This said, that means they are temporarily just lightning rods sticking up in the sky like cell phone towers. Wouldn't it be great if they were able to harness the lightning which hits the rods though? That would solve a lot of problems. Patent pending. :whistling:

Why are people's minds always driven by money?... " more income for the state"... We would gain $5 billion and lose $10 Billion in tourism because the beaches will look like Bakersfield CA oilfields - black oil spills everywhere OR like Alaska Coast with every rock in sight with a guey coat of oil that can't be rinsed off.

duck.jpgT054410A.jpg

oiledseaotter.jpg

It is more about destroying things that can't be replaced. Let's make decisions based on what is really right. It is far easier to not sit idle or driving two blocks to the store when we could Bike, public transportation, walk, carpool, etc. It is more of changing our way of thinking and finding better ways to use the fuels that we have.

Example - the big trees in California. years ago, they cut the larger trees down because they were so easy. They were 300-400 years old. Not thinking that these are precious trees that can't be just replaced the next year or so. So now 90% are gone. They were 250-200 ft tall and 40 feet in circumference. Wonderful. But gone. Are we going to ruin our white beaches with oil for a few bucks? Tree below is huge!!!!

DSCF0016.JPG

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Who ever said these have to be right off the coast? Heck, the ones in the Gulf near Texas and Louisiana are pretty far off. I've been to beaches in both states, never seen a speck of oil.

There are horror stories... people get struck by lightning but they still go outside; people get bit by sharks, yet we still go to the beach; earthquakes happen in microasia and california, and look how many people live in those areas. Things happen and with any good thing comes potential consequences. Why should a tree that could have cought a disease and died the day after it was cut down be any different than the one in my back yard? It has lived a long time, yes, and I agree we should cherish them, but if we are using our resources, wouldn't we use the best ones first? Back in the day, people did not realize the limited supply of these trees. Same as animals that are hunted to extinction.

If somebody gave you the choice of building an oil platform or two and finishing all road projects within the next decade, or said the road projects would be postponed for another two decades. This is an exaggeration obviously, but in your daily life, which would you prefer?

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We don't have to use it because its there, or because gas prices are higher than we are used to. Why not just leave it alone. There may be a time of greater need in the future. I feel the same way about ANWR. I view it kind of like a rainy day fund, and things aren't bad enough to go ahead and use it up now. We should be concentrating on alternatives instead.

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We don't have to use it because its there, or because gas prices are higher than we are used to. Why not just leave it alone. There may be a time of greater need in the future. I feel the same way about ANWR. I view it kind of like a rainy day fund, and things aren't bad enough to go ahead and use it up now. We should be concentrating on alternatives instead.

Things aren't bad enough now, but what if they become bad enough? It would then be too late to build a platform and start receiving the revenue. That takes more than a couple years to do. I doubt the need is going to go way up because of the sudden surgence of "we need alternative fuels" and gasoline's price causing some people to decide when it is actually necessary to drive or take the bus to work.

As for the lottery, most states have issues when they first allow the lottery.

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Things aren't bad enough now, but what if they become bad enough? It would then be too late to build a platform and start receiving the revenue. That takes more than a couple years to do. I doubt the need is going to go way up because of the sudden surgence of "we need alternative fuels" and gasoline's price causing some people to decide when it is actually necessary to drive or take the bus to work.

And that is exactly what needs to happen to help us off of our dependance.

It will take time to put the infrasturcture in place to get it, but supply and demand will dictate the price while that happens. Which may result in some really high prices if a sever spike happens.

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