To the people who think McCain changed his position when gas went from $2/gal to $4– HARDLY.

McCain was originally against off-shore drilling two months ago. Get a clue– GAS WAS STILL $4/GAL two months ago.

McCain is a flipflopper. he does whatever is most popular. He's a true lady of the night and he will sell himself to whomever will put him in office.

We won't see the fruits of any new drilling for at least 3-5 years, if at all. There is no point to this.

We are addicted to oil.

The Republican solution is to drill for more.

If we were addicted to heroin,

would their solution be to plant more poppies?

Oil companies are not drilling on already leased lands because it is not cost effective; they are waiting for the government to cave in and allow them to drill offshore, much easier for them to do. I say T. Boone Pickens is putting his money where his mouth is. Even an oilman knows it's time to stop priming the pump and start doing something about alternatives.

MDB…

if there were no oil there… (as you refer to the leases that the oil companies hold, but aren't using)…

why did they go throught the trouble of getting the leases??????????

(at least we debating beyond calling each other idiotic names)..

By the time a drop of gas is developed from this latest great idea,gas will be $10 a gallon.Where are the savings ? Dropping back to $9.00 ?

We have natural gas in Canada.Our brothers here at home have tripled the cost on us in the last 5 years.

Big Companies want big profits…

Pure and Simple

Vig, Jeff Long & Ken–before you throw around the flip-flop label, you may want to check on McCain's shift on this very issue and many others to avoid appearing hypocritical.
The oil companies and their Bush/McCain affiliates seem to be manipulating the public. If people are for drill, drill, drill, these oil companies need to use the 68 million acres of land they already have available and not using. It will still take 7-10 years to produce any oil and will only lower prices by as little as 4 or 5 cents.
Obama is absolutely correct on this issue. We need long term solutions with investments into alternative fuels.

Obama '08–Si se puede!

Bush won't be happy until he completely destroys everything. All the experts say that we won't see immediate results after having destroyed our coasts. We won't see results for about 10 yrs. and then maybe a nickel difference. LEAVE our coasts alone. I am hoping and praying that Congress does not cave in on this one……fingers crossed.

Oh, good. We can have our own tar sands, just like Canada.

Your albatross will be sauteed in 30 weight light crude, sir.

The only relief the public will get in the oil companies strangle hold on the economy,,,,,, would be for them to increase the refined product,,,,,, gasoline,,,,,,,,,,,, when enough of the product is available to the public,,,,,,,, demand will have the price drop because they (big oil) have produced what the consumer is in dire need of,,,,,,,,, REFINED GASOLINE………………… INCREASE THE REFINING CAPACITY OF –ALL— REFINERIES,,,,,,,,, TO PROCUCE A "GLUT" OF GASOLINE,,,,,,,,,, THEN THE PRICE WILL COME DOWN………

It would seem that the only way to actually affect the "Big Oil" strangle hold on our economy would be to take over the companies. At first, I was calling for "Nationalization" of the oil companies,,,, but that would be totally "socialistic."

Maybe a better way to combat their stated position of "what is in the best interest of our SHAREHOLDERS," would to become "shareholders ourselves, as a government. I don't know if it would be legal,,,, but if the government bought on the open market, shares of these oil giants,,,enough to have an impact on the board decisions,,,,,,,,,, THEN and only then, would they listen to the "public" because as the biggest bloc of it's shareholders (the american public) THEY WOULD HAVE TO ACT, TRULY IN THE BEST INTEREST OF THEIR BIGGEST SHAREHOLDER,,,,,, the american public………… to the moderator……. this is just my opinion,,,, why do you persist in limiting my comments,,,,, when they actuall apply to the subject their posted to??????

Yeah

lets drill baby,

get that Oil,

where are we going to refine it. How are we going to refine.

Amen to Jason, TX. More drilling is not the answer. It only prolongs our dependence on oil. Oil companies will not change until forced to. McCain and Bush are getting their talking points from the oil companies who see an opportunity to exploit Americans' fears, frustrations, and desires for independence in order to secure more cash in their pocketbooks. By finally getting access to Alaska and offshore sites, they can insure they will have cash flow for another 20 years and don't have to change the status quo. They just don't want to spend their profits to develop new technologies. Instead they prefer to continue living high on the hog. Oil people love oil money because it's big money. The powerful never want to relinquish money/power, regardless of what is in the larger best interest (the environment, which we need to last more than 20 years). Heaven forbid our economy should switch to solar or hydrogen, because the oil companies might have to eat a lot of the cost of phasing out the gasoline infrastructure and installing a new one, in order to stay relevant and competitive in the energy sector.

SO WHAT IS HIS ALTERNATIVE PLAN THAT BEATS 5-10 YEARS!

SO TIRED OF OBAMA CRITICIZING AND COMING UP WITH NO PLANS OF HIS OWN!!!!

AT LEAST THIS GUY SHOULD BE SAYING MCCAIN'S PLANS SUCK, HERE'S WHY, AND BTW HERE IS WHY MY ROCK SOLID PLAN IS SO INFINITELY BETTER! TRUTH IS HE HAS NO PLAN!

Typical right-wing ignoramus response. You can find every talking point in here w/o one single factual statement::
……………………………………………………
July 14th, 2008 4:08 pm ET

I think Dr. No is a fair way to describe Barack Hussein Obamas solution to this problem. Even if it takes 30 years to drill and get the first drop of oil I would still say drill immediately, not go around and say its just a gimmick. The drilling creates jobs, and oil and lowers the requiremnts of importing oil from the middle east. The pathetic democratic party will finds ways to stall and Barack will say it is just a gimmick. I think Barack is the gimmick of nothing more than a merchant of change. Yea, change of Dr. No on energy and Dr. Yes on taxes.
……………………………………………………………………………..

Obama is certainly 'Dr. No' when it comes to destroying our environment for the hopes of dropping the price of gas by a few pennies in 7-10 years, but he is Dr. YES when it comes to taking care of our future by investing in alternative energy so that we are not dependent into the distant future on foreign oil. Investments in green energy will not only reduce our dependence on foreign oil and bring the cost of energy DOWN for all of us, but it will also create FAR MORE JOBS than drilling for offshore oil.
You people should be ashamed of yourselves. 8 years of Bush Economics was based on an energy policy in secret consultation with Enron and other avaricious oil company execs. The result has been the disastrous economy which includes high oil prices. and now you morons want to reward these crooks by giving them our precious natural resoueces to destory so that we can put off investing in alternative energy for another few decades.

THank G-d Obama willbe our next president in a LANDSLIDE. I can't wait to listen to Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity's show after the NOvember elections. THe dittohead sycophants will of course be very disappointed, but when the economy and optimism in the country picks up over the next few years with investments in education, health care and the environment, you guys will finally be forced th see the light. ANd when you do, we progressives will welcome you to the fold.
Until then, unfortunately you wil remain in darkness as long as you are too lazy to think for yourselves.

Old Blitzer about lost his lunch during his exasperated interview of New Yorker Editor. Today. Watching Wolf these past few months, beating up Hillary, almost totally ignoring McCain, and nothing but praise for Obama. He might as well have OBAMA tatooed on his forehead, he's so obviously an extreme, left liberal who tries to make news rather than just report it!

Are you guys idiots? Just because you open up lands for drilling doesnt mean the oil companies will actually drill. Why should they? They are making millions as it is right now. They will buy the land and sit on it for 50 years.

Hey MDB….Don't be an idiot. We aren't talking about them not having oil/gas, we are saying they don't even know if they do or not. They are just SITTING there and nothing being done with them. They aren't even being 'explored' to find out. Don't state lies, the THOUSANDS of oil leases they have aren't even CLOSE to being explored and/or defined. They have just sat there for YEARS.

Tell the oil companies to finish what's on their plates already before asking for a second helping. All other leases back for every new lease they get. I think it's fair, and I'll go with the fair compromise. But lets not give them more when they haven't finished what they already have.

All you folks calling Obama a flip-flopper are full of crap. He changed his mind on the FISA bill because it was the right thing to do to keep America safe. That's the only thing he's changed his mind on. Gov Arnold the terminator was right when he said the term "flip-flopper" is way over used. Obama is not a flip flopper and anyone who says otherwise is a republican trying to spread lies.

I can't wait for the 1st debate between Obama and McCain, the old man is going down.

Good for Bush, if we had done this years ago we would not be in such
mess with the gas prices today… IT will NOT HAPPEN OVER NIGHT!!!!
***************************************************************************
Offshore drilling does not automatically equal cheaper gas, we don't have that much oil to impact the supply and demand on a global level.
-IT is CALLED PANDERING !!!

This Obamacan is thinking we have to drill AND work on alternative energy at the same time. Even IF we find a new fuel source, the actual distribution of this supposed NEW energy will take much longer than 10 years.

Get over it tree huggers. We are NOT the only ones polluting the environment. BUT if we don't do more than chase alternative fules, there won't be anything left of our economy or any jobs we have to worry about commuting to or no grocery stores left open to sell overpriced food. We better do EVERYTHING we can to get all the oil we can produce UNTIL new alternatives are developed and infrastructures in place to handle them.

I can just see all these electric cars plugging into failed power grids that cost 50X what electricity used to cost. Where is the trade off if we don't do both?

Al Gore was advocating $5/gal gasoline in his book that he was selling back in 2000.

I don't see what all the fuss is about regarding the current price of gasoline, since it is less than the Global Warming Guru has been pitching for years.

Of course todays gasoline prices are high if you only value them with Federal Reserve Notes, but if you use Constitutional money (gold and silver COIN as per Article 1, Section 8, US Constitution) then the gasoline price is only around $0.30/gal in pre-1965 silver coins.

Constitutional gold and silver coinage holds its value unlike worthless fiat currency.

McBush—-“If we can show that we have significant oil reserves off our coasts, that will clearly affect the futures market and affect the price of oil. BUSH and McBush are just Grand Standing

(KEY WORDS)
affect the futures market -in other words No way SOON

The Obama campaign said the development was no fix for the nation’s energy woes. "If offshore drilling would provide short-term relief at the pump or a long-term strategy for energy independence, it would be worthy of our consideration, regardless of the risks,” said Obama spokesman Bill Burton in a statement

Evidently some people here are not aware that off-shore drilling will take at least 2-4 years to have any effect, if it has any effect at all.

And yes, McCain has flip-flopped on this issue. McCain used to be against off-shore drilling and rightfully so. Now McCain is quoted as saying that he now supports it b/c of the emotion behind the issue, not the merit. Sorry but that's ridiculous.

Although it may be a tough pill to swallow, gas prices are not going down. It's running out. Get over it.

Gas is still highly subsidized, even more so than alternative energy. Yet, we're still going to pay $6/gal pretty soon.

Unfortunately most Americans just don't get that it is not our God-given right to buy cheap gas. Talk about entitlement.

And no, there is no solution. Gas will continue to go up and there's nothing anyone can do about it.

The do nothing congress and senate are responsible for this oil problem that they say exists.. no one is addressing the oil in alasaka,
wy.or co. not to mention the oil wells that are capped with oil in the wells waiting to be pumped.
I had a senator, state that there are full oil barrels at the refineries that can not be refined because the refineries are running full bore.
If this is the case then why isn,t anyone addressing the possibility
of building more refineries in the U.S.A.
The only thing that I heard from elected officials is they plan on buying opecs oil until the oil field is out of oil then the U.S.A. with hold the purse strings to all the worlds oil.
Obama or Macain can not do anything about this problem we have to FIRE ALL ELECTED OFFICIALS AND START OUT NEW. THEN SOMETHING WILL GET DONE.

McShame Flip Flops Again
BARACK THE VOTE !!!

Has anyone been to the TX Coast, compared to the FL coast the water is murky, all kinds of garbage, you old foggies don't deserve to make this decision your gonna die what maybe 10 years after we see progress, nothing to help global Warming, or pollution or what my children will enjoy, If you love drilling move to midland TX

I say let find some alternative form of energy. Why should we continue to line the pocket of the nation's number one oilman, who has already robbed the nation's treasury. Bush suggesting oil drilling should be considered a conflict of interest. Additionally, if we want to give the Saudi's a psychological wake up call, they may give us a wake up call and decide to reduce the amount of oil that they are sending us now.

Offshore drilling is not the solution and McSame knows it. THERE ISN'T ENOUGH OIL OFF OUR SHORES TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE. Bush and McSame are echoing the demands of Big Oil.

Even the experts say that offshore drilling will reduce the cost of gasoline.

In about ten years.

By about a nickel.

This is just a last minute gasp by the Bush administration to throw a wedge issue out there and cow-tow to Big Oil at the same time.

If drilling is so important, why doesn't Big-Oil drill on the millions of acres they already own, but are doing nothing to?

It doesn't matter if we everyone decided to drill (which want happen) we wont see the benefits in a very long time. That is not helping my pocketbook RIGHT NOW. Pandering will get you no where…

Obama '08

Drilling won't do a thing to help ease the price at the pump, we can't refine that much oil, and if we do it will be sold on the world market and we still wont see a return.. oil companies are just putting the screws to us to find that "happy" spot, where we are happy to pay $5 a gallon to keep from having to pay more… why are the oil companies making record profits if things are sooo bad? we went to the freaking moon yet we can't come up with good enough solar cells or other cleaner fuels? but you want to pay the people who make all their money from OIL to come up with the alternatives!? and look whos running this country, all oil men… wake the **** up people… they will milk oil for as long as they can, and when it really does dry up, they'll have the next big thing the very next day… and get over oil shale, it takes way more energy to get oil out of it than it can possibly produce, its pretty much worthless, not to mention more polluting than oil alone is already… and do you want that nuclear power plant in YOUR back yard? how about the waste from it…?

Um, drilling is stupid. People for drilling are just prolonging the oil dependence of this nation cuz Americans can't get a clue and force compainies to get off their duff and make gas free vehicles. Unless you hit most Americans in the pocket book, they do nothing.

Obama 08!

@ tony…..it takes one to know one. And fortunately for me….my Governor doesn't think so. So it would appear as though we Californians are safe.

DEMOCRATS UNITE!!!

The only difference between McCain and Obama is McCain is 25 years older and white.

last that I heard we are addicted to oil……..so lets drill…….well to all you crack addicts if you let GWB tell he says smoke that pipe that will get rid of your cracks addiction……..whatever you are addicted to keep doing it thats what our infamous president would do……Americans are selfish and that is why these played out good ole boys have run this country into a hole…..we need to unite and figure it out for ourselves instead of letting hired fools do it for us

drill for god's sake! also, open up drilling in alaska too!

Anyone who is against off-shore drilling, please mail me money for gas.

McCain and Bush are idiots!!! No drilling and no McCain!!!! Lets find real solutions.

Are you drill happy people delusional?

Have any of you noticed that you haven't heard any stipulations that the oil drilled in America or off of the coast of America be used exclusively for America to lower our prices and dependency on foriegn oil?

You know why? Because the multinational oil companies (Bush and Cheney's golf and dinner buddies) will sell to the highest bidder and would refuse to only keep American oil for Americans.

You should be questioning if the oil is drilled, will it even go for the American Market.

Or are all of you so gullible that you will then parrot that the free market is king and allow the multinational oil companies to get richer while exporting our oil?

To Really?:

The difference is that McCain was against drilling when it was trading at $60 a barrel: now that it's 2 and a half times that, I think "flip-flopping" might be a sign of intelligence…

Obama, on the other hand, merely flip-flops when he can pick up a few votes, and although that is an intelligent move, it's hardly the sign of good leadership…

biff hussein- here's your response! check you political history before you open your mouth,the last 7 years dems had both mahjorities the last three, split house and senate the 4 before that, then they had clinton the 8 before that when they rep had the majority in both. maybe that's the problem, everyone thinks clinton did so good, he had republican congress, lets elect obama, mccain or the trash man, just make sure we get a rep congress back, if we want to get back to pre-bush that every says they want.

h-rod, yea oil companies want to make money for their stock holders, that's why they work out the leases and royalties with the government or states. and they may not care, just like any other company (gm, ford, etc) they are there to make money. but democrat congress is who don't care, they will let you suffer and wreck the economy so they can change everything GREEN, which is OK, in 2025. And if you people out there are as ill informed as you write in these blogs, you deserve the prices your going to pay and jobs loss after november election.

Mother nature puts more oil into the waters than do oil tankers and rigs.
I hear a lot of whining and no solutions, great job! I can't wait till 2030 to reap the benefits of BO's plan. You people want to jump start the economy and not be held hostage by other countries, then start drilling and build up our refineries. Think about all the jobs that will be created from workers, truck drivers, shopping marts, etc.
We are all to blame for this! Quit pointing fingers and wishing people get destroyed "ProundToBeDemocrat." (check your spelling)

I am an independant leaning toward Barack… However he is on what I believe is the wrong side.

If you youtubed lindsey williams and watched the eight ten minute vids you would might agree that we have the oil on the north slope and there is enough to change our economy. Why would we not drill?

For anyone to claim it's for pollution, wake up!!!!!!!!

The world is going to burn oil, we should at least burn our own.

Do we need to find a clean way to burn it YES! But let us Americans try and solve that one with out giving the United States Of America away.

Looks like Obama is about to flip on off shore drilling….
stay tuned folks…another Obama flip flop in the making!

Hello Obamabots:

He doesn't favor nuclear power.
He doesn't favor off-shore drilling.
He doesn't favor coal.
He doesn't favor anything that America has in abundance.

He does favor "alternative" energy (ie. heavily subsidized by the taxpayer) that has very little economic rationale (Boone Pickens not withstanding).

Obama's ignorance is overwhelming.

He??? Mr Obama does not agree with this Off Shore oil.. He does not agree with NAFT and free trade? Where does he expect to get he's 'Oil' from….

annonymous, your almost right, but i was around during carter sitting in gas lines for hours or being rationed out. and yes, daddy bush signed the legislation, but two differences, better technology that is environmentally safe and gas was 1.50 a gollan. 20 dollars a barrel, which it has to be atleast 55 a barrel for oil companies to break even. that's why they got subsidized. but a fact is, democrat congress has blocked it for 35 years, and when repubs did get the majority, it was vetoed by a dem president, clinton.

Yet another temporary fix with political implications. Why weren't they (McBush Sr. and Jr. ) pushing this issue 7 years ago? Now all of a sudden it's the answer to all of our problems? C'mon people, you're smarter than that! Even if I were able to save ten cents a gallon next week as a result of this plan, I would still be vehemently opposed to it because of the potential impact on our environment. And guess what, 5 years from now we'll be having this same discussion. We are and have been entirely too dependent on foreign oil for years now. Maybe a tax refund isn't the solution but drilling off-shores certainly isn't the answer. And please, let's agree to disagree and stop with all the name calling. Just how "united" do we appear in the United States of America. We're far from from it and getting farther and farther away…

For all of those who thinks that this is a good idea let me give you a little insight and let's use some common sense. Forget the environmental issues, we're just going to focus on the price at the pump. No matter how much oil is pump in or around the U.S., it DOES NOT mean that we can get oil for a cheaper price. All the world's oil goes into the same world market and at whatever price it is sold at, that is how much WE will buy it back at. Let me say that again, if I find oil in my backyard today doesn't mean that I get to pay a reduced price for gas, that oil still put into the world's supply and sold at the price of trading for that day.

Offshore drilling does not automatically equal cheaper gas, we don't have that much oil to impact the supply and demand on a global level.

If we started drilling tomorrow, and were able to have it ready for consumer consumption by the end of this week, we would still be paying over $4.00 for a gallon of gas. The only way gas is going to go down is if we show them that we have alternatives. As long as oil has no competition, we will be at their mercer.

einsteins! apparently you missed it! you listen to politicians, bias news. when they ask the oil developers that drill, not the CEO's, how long it takes. they said shail rock 1-3 years, OCS that is 50 miles out 1-3 years, 200 miles out 5-7, ANWR 4-5 yrs, inland 3-5. they said there is no oil out there that would take 8 years. refineries 3-5 years. i'll take my advice from the people that do it everyday before any politician that is going to say what ever favors him and his party.

TO BIFF BIFFINGTON,

The answer to your question is easy. When we were pumping and processing our OWN oil and it was selling on the open market for 1.50 a gallon there was no need to drill more wells. Now that we are importing 72% of our oil compared to 30% in 1992 (thanks to Bill Clinton) we need to go back to what was working before. It was not necessary before, but it sure is now. As for those thousands of oil leases that we are not drilling on, THERE'S NO OIL THERE dittoheads. You can't just drill a hole in the ground anywhere and expect there to be oil there. Does anyone really believe that any good, corrupt profiteering oil company would leave oil in the ground if it was just there for the taking and legal. Use your heads morons.

For all you Republicans who think "flip-flopping" is so horrible, you should listen to what Gov. Schwarzenegger said on Sunday:
"Flip-flopping gets a bad rap…" It's the mark of a true leader, somebody willing to change his mind as circumstances change, Gov. Arnold told viewers. And true leaders are willing to defend their moves and take the heat for it. And the changes should be based on policy grounds and sound judgment, all of which applies to Sen. Obama.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of McCain. He too has changed his mind, most offensively on tax cuts for the rich. But that has absolutely nothing to do with a change of circumstances for Americans. It's just to satisfy the Republican Party regulars.
So, let's stop saying candidates are flip-floppers. Who cares? The real question when somebody changes his mind: What's the thinking behind that change? Obama is a thinking-man and thinking-woman's candidate for president. It's change you can believe in!

Good for Bush, if we had done this years ago we would not be in such a mess with the gas prices today. If we don't start somewhere we will never finish. Sure, it is not an immediate fix but maybe the younger generation can reap the benefits. I don't like making the Arab countries rich and richer.

atleast mccain has enough sense to know when gas goes from 2 to 4 a gallon, maybe it's time to rethink your position. flip-flop or not, sounds like common sense and looking out for americans.

Here is a cheap analogy for this whole offshore drilling that the GOP is pandering with.

I don’t know where my next meal will come from but you can give me an onion, I will peel it and chop it and tears will run down my chicks while I wait to flavor my next meal with it that I don’t know where it’ll come from.

Julie 22 sure isn't the sharpest tack in the bag. Just sounds like more mealy-mouthed right-wing whinning to me.

I'm not aware that there are any anti-american democrats; maybe she can name names. McCarthyism live and well…but if you really want to pursue it……a better case for anti-american behavior can certainly be made for the admistration she elected to office (TWICE!).

Patrick, I do agree with you. I do not believe he will change his mind. It isn't so much that Obama is against drilling but that he is for bloated central power. Barack Obama has a visible socialist streak. He believes that the nations resources and means of production are better managed by the federal government.

leases are not leases when you are not allowed to drill on that lease.
and the effct on tourism is showing up now .. no one can afford to go on vacation . that has an effect on all sorts of different things . and for those that dont want old growth trees cut down , new trees produce more oxygen than old trees another + plus to do what should have been done years ago.

Tejano

BHO wants us to continue being controlled by Middle East countries and their monopoly on Oil. Drill , Drill, Drill until there is so much oil, the Arabs can't give it away.

Si Se Puede, Hispanos Por Juan McCain. Viva McCain el Patriota.

Tejano I am with you all the Way John McCain is for the Latinos people. Hispanic for McCain!!!! yes drill drill drill OBAMA is such a BOZO!!!!

Hispanic for McCain

Pat Riot, Anthony, Dallas, TX is 100% correct. 'WE AS A NATION IS TOTALLY STUPID." Even the Zimbawean vote on issues and american vote for OLD prune!!

Mark PDX — chill out. The debate will occur after the conventions are held and Barack becomes the actual candidate instead of the nominee. But be careful what you ask for – it might not do the good for your candidate that you seem to think

This is part of the Bush/Cheney agenda to secure more revenues for the oil financiers that control the world. The mission to grab Iraq's oil fields was accomplished, so now it's on to the oil reserves in the US and along the coastline before the Bush/Cheney thing leaves the oil slick it's created. McCain is the next designated flag bearer to stick it to the US so naturally he has to promote and continue the Bush/Cheney agenda which is to stay in Iraq, then plant the drill into the heart of the US. Obama's positions have changed so often to counter the Bush/Cheney/McCain trail of fears that he'll likely change his position here too. "Father forgive them, they know not what they do."

If you think offshore drilling will provide relief to the current gas prices you are just another right-wing koolaide drinker. Those with some knowledge in these areas (scientists and engineers) have already told us that concerted efforts at conservation and development of currently feasible alternative energy sources will far outweigh any oil reserves in our waters. But of course the facist right wants to prop up its corporate puppet masters at any price. And scientists who give their best analysis for public policy are hounded from within the current pathetic administration.

The current move for drilling is just another in a long series of sad distractions which have kept us from pursuing a long-term energy strategy. For those on the right who bemoan the lack of the existence of such a longterm strategy to now whole heartedly support another shortterm distraction is exceptionally hypocritic. Putting [R]s in control of our energy future is like putting a monkey at the controls of a nuclear reactor — there is no better proof than the last 6-7 years, much of it governed mono-politically by the [R]ight.

Oil spill are vastly more likely to occur when transporting oil from foreign nations. Domestic drilling has the best record by far of industries.

Can someone please tell me what alternative energy source we have that can be used in the next 2-3 years to effectively replace oil? We don't have ANY that are cost affective right now and it will be a while before they are.

But oil causes CO2…boo hoo. But you're ok with a hydrogen fuel thats only by product is water vapor. Yeah, do you know that water vapor is 10x the green house gas that CO2 is?

“If we can show that we have significant oil reserves off our coasts, that will clearly affect the futures market and affect the price of oil. I urge Sen. Obama to change his position on this issue," he said.

It seems to me that if I am in the futures market, I would know that even if he shows that there are significant oil reserves off our coast, I will also know that it will be anywhere from 8-10 years before these reserves are drilled and refined. That would mean that I would do all I can to maximize my profitability by driving up prices even more in anticipation of these domestic reserves. Just me thinking like the greedy oil companies.

Yeah. McCain urges obama to change his position now, but if Obama did, he would accuse him of "flip-flopping."

convenient, eh?

Wow!! It's 2008 and there are still folks out there carping about "socialism" and "communism." Next thing, they'll be arguing that the Bible promises them the right to fill up their "horseless carriages" with "ethyl."

Got news for ya': Even if the most radical ideas fantasized up by the Right for Obama were real, the U.S. would be light-years from anything that looks like communism or even vague socialism.

For those saying wait a few days and Obama will flip flop on the issue, MCCAIN already has. he was against it and now he's for it. read the facts.

the oil guys have been telling us for years that "it isn't the availibility of oil, it is the refinement process that makes gas increasingly difficult to come by."

so.. where is all of this oil going to be refined?

McCain said "…If we can show that we have significant oil reserves off our coasts, that will clearly affect the futures market."
~ BINGO!!! We have a winner! ~

Obama wants to offer another stimulus package…that only some of us will receive and does ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to fix the problem.

Alternative fuels are great…when we get them and can transition to them (10-20 years realistically). But lets face it, it's going to take a LONG time to convert every piece of machinery that uses oil based fuels into whatever the new source is.

Why would we not keep using a resource that we already have access to? Regardless, reducing imports from hostile nations is the biggest benefit of domestic drilling.

Lets not forget that congress has to allow more refineries to be built or this isl for nothing.

McCains response is another reason I do not like him. He offers no solutions to anything and instead just calls Obama a flip-flopper.. and McCain has switched on SO many more positions than Obama it is ridiculous.

The republicans know how to play American voters!!! Every four year the same crop. Drilling will not help us tomorrow or even 10 years down the line. We need to start looking at alternatives. Republicans can play all the tricks they want with the few unread & ignorant voters who wants to place the blame at Obama's feet.

I cannot tell anyone who to vote for, but a vote for McCain is a vote for George Bush. THE SAME OLD CROP!!! I said it in 2000 & 2004, a vote for George Bush will only creat problem economically. I'm hear witnessing it TODAY!!!

TIME TO VOTE OUT ALL THE ANTI-AMERICAN DEMOCRATS !!!

Matt, Manchester, CT July 14th, 2008 3:47 pm ET
"So is it Obama's position that off-shore drilling will not increase the supply at all? You can go on and on about the need for "energy independence" and green alternatives, but the need for a nearer-term solution is here now. There's too much carping going on in Congress and on the campaign trail and no action on a solution to the problem at all."

______________________________________________________

Obama's stance on off shore drilling is that it will not provide relief within the next few years. It is not going to affect the price of gas today, next year or the year after. Off shore drilling will not only be a blight on for our local beaches, the potential for accidents that would kill off millions and millions of marine life is far too great.

As for action, these candidates are campaigning and until we get a new president, you will not see any new action. President Bush says that he has been pushing for off shore drilling for years yet he waits until today to decide to lift the executive order. If it were really that serious to him, why did he not push harder for this and lift the order years ago? Suddenly, he is doing things that he should have done years and years ago as he prepares to leave office. Such a crock.

The only real viable solution for our energy concerns is turning to nuclear. Wind, solar, geothermal and stuff like corn ethanol are too inefficent at this point to becaome alternates.

Conservation would be great, but comon, it won't happen. Turning to nuclear would help lighten our oil / coal dependance, help with greenhouse emissions all at the cost of tiny ammounts of nuclear waste that can be safely stored and contained for now and easily destroyed in the future.

People are scared of nuclear because of ignorance. The worst disaster in American history was at 3 mile island and no one died!

Screw offshore drilling and open up nuclear power plants.

The gentleman who noted that oil companies hold leases on more land than they drill on says it all – this is not about more but about economics. Granting more land will be a band aid and not a solution that solves our issues. This is not about Barack flip flopping or McCain showing his ineptitude but about simple economics. The answer is to come up with alternative energy solution – which are far more developed than we care to believe but our lobbyist won't support because it would disintermediate the oil industry. A billion that we piss away in Iraq – which funnily has resulted in oil at $150 per barrel – for those ignorant writers – and SADLY the death of brave but poor soldiers who died in figthing for security – and for the clowns above who are crying about oil being too expensive – could be deployed to subsidize or fund alternative energy development.

have McCain's missing Military Records in a Shoebox outside of Toledo July 14th, 2008 4:03 pm ET

This ain't going to work…There is not enough oil to put a dent into anything and by the time it's able to be used, My 2 year old will be going to 2nd or 3rd grade.

In the meantime, More $$$$$$$ for the oil guys.

———————————————————————————————–

How do you know how much oil is available? And, how would the "oil guys" be making more money? Do you not realize that it costs a lot of money to drill, especially offshore? They wouldn't see a return for years.

By the way, their profits are due to volume, not markup. The profit margin on oil is small compared to the latte you're sipping now. How come you're not asking the Government to crack down on Starbucks?

** Nader/Gonzalez 2008 **

see mccain talking about issues that are relevant to the US not like obama bla bla bla

Bush, Cheney, and big oil companies, we the American people are smarter than you think!! We know this is a gimmick to make the DEMS look like they are against drilling. If this method works, then why in the world did it take you 8 years to do something about it!! Move out of the way for OBAMA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Vote OBAMA '08!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What keeps the oil companies from turning around and EXPORTING any of the domestic oil that this may produce?

Furthermore, one economist said it best when he said allowing offshore drilling as a solution to America's energy needs is like trying to find change inside the couch cushions when you're two months behind on the mortgage.

Why can't we have additional drilling to increase supplies of oil in the US in addition to other types of policies, such as conservation, alternative energy, etc.?

Obama states that drilling alone won't solve the problem of high gas prices. Of course, that is correct. But, why not allow it to be one part of a multi-part approach to solving the problem? He has not put forth a single reason as to why increased drilling would be negative.

Drilling is certainly more likely to help with America's goal of energy independance than a gas rebate check.

There are a lot of Obama haters here, they don't hate him because he lack issues, but because they just hate him.

The Obama haters will forgo their values and believes just to vote for Mccain who doesn't have anything incommon with them.

It could be either they are racist or they are stupid loyal Republicans.

Some Democrats said they will also vote for Mccain because they also hate blacks and they can't stand to believe America are equal.

I can belt with you Obama will win the general election by the grace of God. Those racist from Europ can't stop him. I said this because those who live and growup together understood togetherness, but those immigrant from Europ and elsewhere are racist.

Yes I said that, just watch the first generation of immigrant they are very racist, they act as if they own the country. Go home if you can't stand black man as president, because we are created equaly by God.
Call yourself a Christian and discriminate against your fellow Christian God will not give you your wishes.

God sees your heart eventhough you deny the truth folks. Criticized these candidates on what they do, not false rumour against Obama.
God will purnish anyone that course his son. Amen.

Obama has no record? Are you guys just saying things just to upset yourself or others? Please visit fact check about the candidate if you can't visit Obama web.

.
Obama is an idiot on the subject of energy!!!

If Obama and all of those who think that only wind, solar, biofuels, and conservation are going to get us out of the predicament , it proves that he is CLUELESS !!!!

If we had acted during the Clinton administration we would not even be having this conversation. We would have oil and this would not be an issue.

Obama and the Democrats have painted themselves into a corner.

They will not help the American people because of their radical environmentalist stance.

They don't even believe in nuclear energy.

They believe "solely" in alternative energy.

What happens when there is no WIND to turn the wind generators??

It happened this year in Texas. Almost all of them stopped turning, and that area of Texas sufferred for "black outs" and "brown outs".

What happens to SOLAR energy when it is a cloudy day??

Again LITTLE or NO energy is produced.

McCain has the right idea.

And he also wants to persue alternative energy. McCain is not tieing our hands by using only alternative fuels but also by using what we currently have access to, and also by adding nuclear energy into the equation.

It is going to take a COMBINED effort of OIL and ALTERNATIVE fuels to get us out of the delima that this country currently faces.

And the Democrats have ruled out the easiest fix.

Get ready to pay $10 / gallon for gas it the democrats have their way!!

Seems mighty funny how today a cover depicting the Obama's as radical, and an interview with Cindy McCain TRYING to look like the all American girl appear on the same day. She is even trying to emulate Michelle talking about raising her children, and not living in Washington, blah, blah, blah!
Who's the elitist?

Go Obama all the way to the White House!
OBAMA ;08!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh yeah….and how can all these conservatives be calling Obama a flip-flopper on this issue when he's remained consistent in his position while MCCAIN ACTUALLY FLIP-FLOPPED on it! Until recent weeks, McCain opposed offshore drilling! And yet he has the gall to say that maybe Obama will flip flop on it too? Are people really dumb enough to buy into this bs?

RANDY… NICE TRY…

"but" WHEN THE REPUBLICANS HELD THE HOUSE, SENATE AND WHITE HOUSE…… THE DEMS COULD NOT STOP "ANYTHING"..

no filibusters, and no procedural maneuvers worked…

whatever the republicans wanted.. they got…

perhaps it is YOU who should do a bit more homework…

(thanks for playing…)

if the rich oil guys are complaining about not having enough money to build new refineries, and the billions in profits isn't what it looks like. deep oil drilling should be a struggle for them. why not break away from oil, and starve these people out. mcbush would back any plan to put more money into criminal bush's pockets. when some of your biggest backers are big oil, i guess i would have to back their plan also. remember people, come november when we still paying 4.00 a gal for gas, who to vote for. you can't vote for the party that the president who owns an oil company, is gauging you every week when you buy gas.

We need to start pumping oil out of the pumps we already have drilled….not drill new ones…that would help bring down oil and gas prices

Even billionaire Oil Tycoon Pickens says that drilling for oil will not solve our problem. McCain is simply playing into the GOP rule book of creating one problem to cover another, and then leaving someone else to clean up the mess.

off shore drilling will kill fish and sea life like it did years ago.
McCain is an ignorant old man who is just interested in napalm.

P. Morrison July 14th, 2008 3:55 pm ET

Are there enough refineries in this country to do anything with oil if it is actually drilled ?? Someone who knows what they're talking about, please answer this.

Obama'08

————————————————————————————————

That's somewhat of a moot/stupid question/point. Not all oil that is drilled is refined into gasoline, some is stockpiled. But, why would you expect a company (oil in this case) to operate at 50% capacity, or anything less than 95%? That's not good business. You would get fired if you worked 50% of the time. If more oil is available, they will increase refining capacity. That's pretty obvious.

The impact is that there will be more oil available, bringing prices down. The cost of transporting the oil to domestic refineries will decrease considerably, decreasing the costs of refined products.

I am willing to bet any sum of money that by the time any oil from offshore hits the market, we will still be using oil as our main source of energy.

** Nader/Gonzalez 2008 **

MCCAIN IS THE IDIOT NOW HE'S SAYING THAT THE YOUNG ARE PAYING FOR THE OLD IN SOCIAL SECURITY , WELL I GOT NEWS FOR IDIOT BOY JOHN MCCAIN THAT'S HOW IT WORKS !!!!!!!! (YES OBAMA CAN)!!!

Anthony, Dallas, Tx, "We as a nation is totally stupid." I hope you are realize the irony in your statement.

DRIL, DRILL AND MORE DRILLING NOW. WE HAVE TO START ASAP FOR OUR CHILDREN AND OUR CHILDRENS CHILDREN.
OIL AND NATURAL GAS WILL BE PRIME ENERGY SOURCES FOR THE NEXT GENERATIONS TO COME. AMERICA MUS,T REPEAT MUST, DRILL FOR OIL AND NATURAL GAS NOW AND FOREVER.
AMERICANS CANNOT AFFORD MUCH MORE ECONOMIC PROBLEMS AS WE HAVE NOW. ALTERNATIVE SOURCES BEING DEVELOPED NOW WILL NEVER BE ENOUGH WITH OUR GROWING POPULATION AND THE POPULATION OF THE TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPING COUNTRIES LIKE CHINA AND INDIA.
OTHER COUNTRIES MUST LOOK AT US AS BEING FOOLISH IN NOT
EXPLOITING OUR NATURAL RESOURCES LIKE OIL AND NATURAL GAS WHEN WE HAVE BILLIONS OF BARRELS OF IT.
DO CHINA AND INDIA CARE ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING AND ENVIRONMENT IMPACTS AS MUCH AS WE DO. OUR OIL AND GAS COMPANIES ARE MIINDFUL OF THE ENVIRONMENT AS NEVER BEFORE. THE DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS RATES LOW ON PERFORMANCE BY THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. THEY COLLECTIVELY OPPOSE OIL DRILLING WHICH WE NEED AND WILL BE IN NEED FOREVER. EVEN IF WE DONT GET THE OIL AND GAS IN UNTIL 7 YEARS FROM NOW, AMERICANS ARE IN FAVOR OF IT AND TO START NOW, NOW, NOW.

It's a simple issue of cost-benefit analysis. One, the oil companies already have large, as yet unexplored areas available to them in which to drill for oil domestically. Two, offshore drilling is no more certain to offer success in finding oil than the afore-mentioned unexplored areas currently do. Three, the long-term costs of drilling offshore far outweigh the short-term benefits. Whether or not some people want to acknowledge it, functioning ecosystems on Earth are crucial to the survival of all species, including humans. And at the heart of the Earth's ecosystems are the oceans. Even if you refuse to acknowledge the price that would be paid through damage to a huge variety of ocean life, you cannot ignore the financial repercussions we'd ultimately face when we inevitably have to deal with rectifying the negative changes we'll have caused to our planet's ability to sustain us. We're already seeing significant problems in fishing industries around the world, and in the contamination of fish populations that are making a once healthy food source become toxic to our bodies.

We need to explore alternative solutions that have less negative consequences if we are going to tackle the energy issue effectively.

To those who think Obama is changing his mind, where is your evidence? He has always said he was against drilling, that stance has not changed. Our own Interior Dept. said that drilling will not effect anything. How blind are these people? Do you need reading and comprehension lessons? You must be one of those children left behind.

It seems that way from all the McCain supporters here crying flip-flop, when it's McCain who is retreating from his previous stance. MCCain is a sell-out.

This temporary fix of offshore drilling is the equivalent of giving a cocaine addict more cocaine. "oh, you have an addiction? here, let's go find more of it." Genius.

Peter, what you are describing is communism. If your friend cannot help himself with an addiction friends and family can come his aid. That is quite different than government mandating that the natural resources of a state not be used because oil is "bad for us". I am disturbed that you believe government should make decisions for us to help us because we are incapable of helping ourselves.

We need to refine more, not drill more. Oil companies are just sitting on acres upon acres of land that can be drilled, but they won't. Off shore drilling does nothing to help us.

Oil is the past. Renewables are the future. Bush/Cheney and his McCain surrogate are puppets for the Big Oil monopoply and the GOP party has been hijacked.

This won't make a difference to offset dependance on imports, not to mention effect prices at the pump. It's all a BIG LIE and the Republicans have become the official political endorsers of the Big Oil monopoly.

This is such a joke. These people haven't explored or aren't drilling in all of the places that they already can, why give them access to more?
Besides this will never have any significant impact and what impact it will have is over a decade away.
Washington needs to be fired, time for a change.

So MORE oil rigs off my coast?? thousands of oil spills already occur worldwide…

Millions invested and I save $0.10-$0.25 per gallon 5-10 yrs from now?

The US consumes 25% of the worlds oil but has 5% of the reserves?

Hundreds of thousands of acres already available for drilling but aren't being drilled – and this will open up more?

no thanks!

The only way to energy independence is an all options are on the table approach, im talking more drilling for oil, natural gas, alternative energy like solar and wind, renewable energy, nuclear, and perhaps clean coal. I have to say McCain is closer to this than Obama who thinks a $300 check is going to drop the price of gas.

We as a nation is totally stupid. McCain and Hillary pandered about the gas tax holiday and now McCain is pandering over offshore drilling just to get votes. Why did it take Bush 8yrs to come up with this if it is the rt thing to do. He is trying to fool us by saying we will drill offshore.

I heard oil companies are purposefully not drilling on millions of acres of land already, making the supply artificially lower than what it really is. Isn't this the same thing Enron did?

Things that make you go hmmmmm…

Where does the oil go that we get out of the Alaskian Pipeline??

Who get's the majority of that oil??

Why isn't more drilling in the Gulf of Mexico going on when the oil companies have tens of thousands of miles left untouched?

O.K. CNN, are you and all your corporate buddies and talking heads gonna call McCain out on this flip-flop (one of about twenty in the last couple weeks) and begin to deconstruct his alleged "maverick" image, or will you continue going soft on his behind and call this "a bold and visionary stance for the future demands of our domestic energy policy"?

Obama seems to be the biggest FLIP-FLOPPER there is!

It is better to dig in our own back yard for our energy resources, than staying depended on foreign countries. It is not going to make our country any worse off, but if we continue to import our energy resources, we will go from importing 70% to 100%, then they will be able to control us like puppets! Is that what Obama wants?

Drill NOW! END our dependence on foreign oil!

BUSH is an idiot, it's NO wonder why McCain fits in so nicely with him…. They are two indiots peas in a pod!!

I am a girly man I mean an oil man says Mr. Bush.

BIFF HUSSEIN, what is being lifted here is a symbolic ban from the executive. The Democratic House will still have to vote to return the right to consider off-shore drilling to the states. Right or Left has nothing to do with the oil lobby because it is ultimately the state legislatures that will contract out drilling. I believe that it should be the right of each state to manage their own natural resources.

I do agree with you that there is a degree of corruption at the federal level. However, what better way to combat that than by granting more power to the states?

All Conservative Republicans need to be destroyed before they destroy our country.

I'm sorry, but Obama's statement says it all about politics in this country. There is no short term benefit. Short term is all they ever think about, and its high time we told them that we want someone in washington who's willing to think about past his term, or even lifetime. We need to stop saying conserve only, because it won't work even in the short term. That's a long term solution that won't see any results until 2012 or beyond when we start to get big wind and solar farms, when NIMBY fails and we re start nukes, and when Obama looses his senate seat because all of his ideas turn out to be fraudulent. How about we get someone who cares about getting the job done, not about getting politics done. Some say McCain's too old and he may die in office, so what at least we know he isn't trying to build up a resume for some speaking tour or book tour after his run in the oval office.

Everyone likes to reference 'thousands of acres of undrilled land leased by oil companies' – I work for an oil and gas company, and I support alternative energy – first and foremost, every drilling rig in this country has a backlog of a few years worth of wells to drill. If there is a rig – it is drilling. Second, the topography and geology of those thousands of acres may not support drilling – land gets leased, and then carefully researched to study the formations underneath it – if it supports oil or natural gas in large enough quantities, it will be drilled.

Offshore oil fields give us a mid-range solution for our energy needs – it may be 3 to 5 years before they are substantially developed, but they will provide energy to last us through to a more long term solution – and once we have a long term energy solution – we will still need petroleum for other purposes – plastics, lubricants, etc.

Geology and the techtonic sciences must meet archeological biology and primordial plate movements for tracking the prime oil reserves in the Pacific, as a majority will be coal or compessed to a natural gas.

So, when this thing with Iran escalates into a full-blown war and we're paying $10 per gallon for gas, I'll think back to when we should have begun drilling for oil in our own back yard.

Democrates Untie!!!!

Sorry $10.00 a gallon—
BTW–Loretta–your an idiot–!!

Hey Biff….

They tried to do it…remember the Anwar bill that got defeated by the dems….and yes Mccaine was wrong on that one too! Get some facts before you speak Biff

McSame——–I know that Senator Obama is opposed to lifting the ban on offshore drilling. I believe the states should continue to decide,” McCain said, according to a pool report. “I hope that, as he has on several other issues, that Senator Obama will change his position and now support offshore oil drilling

YOU be careful you old over the HILL ……you know the last time you said Obama didn't show up for a vote …you were a no show as well…. you can barely keep up with yourself ……OLD HOG JAW!!!!

Hey Terri in Butte, you hit the nail on the head. But God willing all this pressure will bring about more refineries and not all on the Gulf Coast where transporting from MT or the DK's is to expensive and also where they are a sitting duck all together in one place so what ever hurricane or terrorist can take them out in one swoop.

Sean–In tne meantime gas goes to 10.00 a Barrell—
What then–
If there is a chance they woulfd lower prices because of the threat —then we should do it—
Even out of Obama's mouth last week—he said by the YEAR 2030 we will only be 35% relying on foreign Oil–
That's 22 Years from now

If reducing our dependence on foreign oil is so important to our national security then why isn't President Bush asking people to conserve oil?

Vig, McCain already flip flopped on this one, he have voted against it several times..

By the time they get the oil up they will sell it to highest bidder anyways, so why even risk the nature on this ??

The democrats are wrong on this. We need to drill here, drill now! Let's get started on every method of improving our energy independence NOW!.

If any of you "if we'd done this earlier….." people had read the article, you'd see that Duh-bya's father had supported the ban on offshore drilling so don't start with the blame game on the Democrats alone. Duh-bya's brother Jeb (hee-haw) had also been against drilling off the FL coast as a way to win his b-u-t-t into office

This is a small but important step towards becoming energy independent. We need to show the oil producing countries that we are committed to being done with them. That means drilling, wind, nuclear, ethanol, natural gas, and everything else. The biggest threat to our nation in not physical terrorism, its economic terrorism. By continuing to send dollars to those who hate us, we give them more power to mess with our markets. The sooner we make these moves the better. I hope congress wakes up and realizes this. They seem to be too worried about making sure the republicans are wrong, instead of worrying about the country being right

By the time Obama gets around to the reality that we need to start drilling now and building refineries, the election will be over. Oh, wait he can't be for drilling on our own lands, he mind offend the Sierra Club and Greenpeace. Don't worry Obama go ahead and take a position, you can always change it tomorrow and hope that your faithful followers were not listening.

We won't have to worry about California. Governor Arnold said NO and I believe him.

Bush is doing all of this stuff hoping it will make him look better. America, he doesn't care about us.

Bush and the rest of the republicans are laying the groundwork for Jeb to be VP and then they will oust mccain.

Bush waits 7 months before time for him to lift the ban! Why did he not do this years ago when he saw the price of gas increasing, why wait until it gets to over $4 gallon? He obviously is doing this to help Senator McCain push his agenda.

Lets face the real issue–
Obama has come to the middle on a lot of things but the real reason he opposes it is because if ( I say if ) it works then he's done but if he gets elected and does it—it becomes a feather in his cap–
It's all political—
What we really need is to get all the Senators and Members of the House under a law that says –no more than 12 Years ( Term limits)
Things would get done–
Get rid of all of them—
Bushs rating is at 32% Thats terrible but Congree approval is under 10%—
Easy to see where the problem lies—
Not in the President but in Congress–

Bush should be locked in the white house, and congress should prevent him from making any more dumb decisions. We have suffered enough from his stupidity already. Just lock him somewhere. We are tired of this stupid, nonsense games. He says we are fighting terrorism day and night, when he is the real terrorist. He is terrorising the U.S. economy. We went to Iraq for no reason.

Serious questions are not being asked in this debate. What kind of oil will it be? Sweet, Sour, light, heavy, etc…this makes a HUGE difference on the cost. Plus, what's the API? Do they anticipate water cut? It's easy to just say drill or don't drill, but there are complex questions that need to be addressed before ANYTHING should be done. First off, they should ask why the oil companies aren't drilling on the already leased land they have and then go from there.

Give it up Obama!

We should have been drilling long ago. It is imperative that we drill now!

This should have been done yrs ago. No one seems to realize that oil is a VERY large part, if not the main part of our National Security.
There are 6 states east of the Rockies that we could get to very fast for oil. They are pumping some but there is so much more it could keep the US going for hundreds of yrs. And it is easy and cheaper to get to. We have to start someplace and the quicker the better. The longer we wait the longer before we get any of our oil on the market.
We also have the reserve up by ANWAR that was put aside during or just after WWII. Back then they new oil has to be part of our national security. Then we got the ecology people in action and they have been eroding this country and making us rely on other countries.
I have thought for yrs that all this wild ecology crap that is trying to put this country back 200 yrs is an old communist plot to bring us down.
Does anyone know about other countries drilling off the Gulf Coast taking what we should have had. A then Russia is getting ready or is already in the Arctic to start drilling. China also has a vast amount of oil.
Every country needs oil for their national security. And being self sufficient is the answer.
Who ever is ready to get busy and drill and put put people to work as well as look for the security of this country will most likely get my vote,
Independent old grandma bets they won't post this either.

Why can't the oil companies drill on the entire idol drilling platforms all around the U.S.? There are several in OK, TX, KS and CO. Why do they need to go out into the ocean to just explore when they aren't even sure if there's any oil? Drill on the platforms we already have.

If we had only listened to Carter in the late 70’s we probably wouldn’t be in this current situation. I’m old enough to remember him sitting in the White House wearing a sweater and asking all of us to conserve energy and to start looking for alternative fuel sources.

To all the Republicans out there that keep blaming the environmentalists and the Democrats, it's time to refresh your American history…Bush Sr. was the one who signed into law the stopping of all off-shore drilling. I find it so interesting the GOP’s want to rewrite history and push the blame to someone else. It's time to stop the point of fingers and come together as Americans working TOGETHER for a solution! Over the last 7+ years we have become a nation greatly divided and full of intolerance.

I am an oil man…..my name is George Bush……I must protect my interest.

DEMOCRATS UNITE!!!!

LETS SEE IF THE U.S. WON'T HAVE TO DEPEND ON FOREIGN OIL NOW!!!!

I find this "debate" to be beyond bizarre, and to demonstrate why, I'll offer an analogous situation:

A friend is addicted to cocaine. His habit is bankrupting him. Do you:
a) perform some form of positive intervention (i.e. rehab)?
or
b) help him set up his own greenhouse so he doesn't have to pay for cocaine anymore?

Is it just me, or do we need a hardcore intervention rather that making more of the "drug."

BHO wants us to continue being controlled by Middle East countries and their monopoly on Oil. Drill , Drill, Drill until there is so much oil, the Arabs can't give it away.

Si Se Puede, Hispanos Por Juan McCain. Viva McCain el Patriota.

Obama has flip-flopped again!!!

Substance over Hype!!! McCain '08

Whether or not off-shore drilling will lower the price of gas is irrelevant. What is important about this decision is that we limit this wildly socialist central government and start returning power back to the states. Corporate bailouts, interest rate manipulation, heavy regulation, oversight, government take over of production only prolongs the inevitable. Trust in the free market and the invisible hand of capitalism will guide us back to prosperity.

Yes, it is a red hering isnt it.

I am all for drilling as long as we equally or more develop new means of energy at the same time. Just drilling is very narrow minded.

WAKE UP PEOPLE THERE IS NO OIL SHORTAGE… LOOK AROUND YOU ARE THERE ANY GAS LINES NO!!! IF THERE WAS AN OIL SHORTAGE THERE WOULD BE GAS LINES .!!! THE OIL COMPANY'S WANT YOU TO BELIVE THIS BULL SO THEY CAN HAVE ALL THE OIL AND GAS TRACKS THAT ARE OFF OUR SHORES SO THEY CAN STICK IT TO YOU WERE IT REALLY HURTS THEY ARE NOT YOUR FRIENDS AN DON'T GIVE A DAMM ABOUT HOW MUCH YOU PAY AT THE PUMP THE HIGHER THE BETTER!!! AND DON'T BELIVE THEM FOR ONE MINUTE!!! (YES OBAMA CAM)!!!!

For all those accusing Mccaine of flip flopping….yes he did!!! But does anybody here find our energy crisis in the same condition as it was when he took his original stand. Thinking people change their minds when they can use logical thought to justify it! If we start drilling now then gas will remain 4.50 a gallon….if we don't say hello to 10.00 per gallon.

Oh wait and plus the percentage of profits Obama wants to take from the oil companies because we know that will be added into the price…..yeah that's a brilliant plan Barack! Thanks for thinking so hard!

Let's destroy the environment for the sake of the SUVs, Hummers and other abomination. Great world (or what's left of it) for our children and grandchildren.

drill, drill, drill, that is all we here from the right wing.

Our refineries are at capacity, which means we could have all the oil in the world but it wont do any good until we build more refineries.

Build more refineries to increase supply and lower costs.. then we can talk about more drilling.

drill, drill, drill = pander, pander, pander … but does us no good.

America doesn't set the price of oil becuase of high demand in asia. We can drill all we want, since overseas demand is going nowhere but up we'll never successfully lower the price.

Utter stupidity.

#1. Nice shot at Obama, maybe you should stop pandering long enough to look in the mirror. Didnt you shift to 'whichever way the wind blows', on this very issue?

#2. Really? Are people that dumb to think that if this ban was removed we would start seeing oil in the market right away. 3-5 YEARS before we would see a single barrel. 10 years for full production! I would think we would be able to ramp up alternatives well before then, if our government was truly interested in it.

And that doesn't even speak to how they would regulate it. Do you think the oil producers would just mark all of that oil for the US only? No, it would go into the global market, and would not make as big of a dent as they are acting like it would.

sheesh.

First of all, I want to hang the moron in 2004 who popularized the term "flip flop". Life was so much better before the inane Bushy concept that changing one's tactical approach to an issue or allowing any nuance was somehow a sin and a weakness.

Obama is absolutely right; drilling will do nothing for decades and will damage the economy every time there is a leak or spill (I am sick of this false idea that there is a conflict between protecting the environment and the economy).

The problem is that, like Kerry and Gore and Dukakis and other Dems before him, he tends to use more words when fewer will do. He (and his team) should get to the point, and then (if necessary) elaborate. His response should have been precisely as follows: "If offshore drilling would provide short-term relief at the pump or a long-term strategy for energy independence, it would be worthy of our consideration, regardless of the risks…. BUT IT WON'T WORK!" After that, he could elaborate. The way he and his team talk, the key point gets missed.

Like it or not, this is a world of soundbites.

By the way, there are millions of acres offshore and on-land that have already been leased to the oil companies for drilling, but haven't been touched. Why?

What about the 65 million acres that has already been released for drilling that hasn't been touched yet~!!! I think this is still another one of those artificial quick fixes, that will amount to nothing but a temporary bandage if that….it will amount to nothing~ Bush could always release some of the emergency strategic oil reserves, as Bill Clinton once did as president to ease peoples' hardship. Bush is a stubborn, arrogant oil man, who really isnt interested in helping the public….he is only interested in increasing energy profits……McCain is just another enabler in that concern~

Just another target for TERROISM……

Why not run a magizne cover with screaming and flesh burning women and children with Mcwar singing in his jet, dropping Napalm. He could be singing bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran. This would be an outrage to the GOP right wing rethuglicans.

I CHALLENGE 'ANY' OF YOU RIGHT WINGERS TO ADDRESS THIS…

The Republicans had control of all branches of government for 6 of the last 7 and 1/2 years. WHY DIDN'T THEY DO THIS IN "THAT" TIME?

The oil companies current hold the leases to millions of acres where there is proven oil….THAT THEY ARE NOT, AND HAVE NOT drilled on..

WHY…… AND ……. WHY?

Answer A: because their masters in the oil lobby did not tell them to. (BECAUSE THEY DON'T "WANT" TO).

Answer B: because it is NOT cost effective for them to do so, it is NOT in the best interest of their company's bottom line and there are no other means to refine or ship (which are at capacity).. (Why invest money in new refineries or barges that will only serve to LOWER THE PRICE of a barrel of oil…. DUH)

MY CHALLENGE STANDS.
offer a rational explanation of these FACTS without resorting to name calling. (if you can).

Those of you who are for this: Do you not realize that – even companies starting moving forward on this today – we would not see any of that oil make its way to consumers for 8 – 10 years.

8 – 10 YEARS!

If we are going to waste 10 years and millions of taxpayer dollars on helping the energy crisis, I would prefer it be to make alternative sources viable, not pumping out more oil.

I think Dr. No is a fair way to describe Barack Hussein Obamas solution to this problem. Even if it takes 30 years to drill and get the first drop of oil I would still say drill immediately, not go around and say its just a gimmick. The drilling creates jobs, and oil and lowers the requiremnts of importing oil from the middle east. The pathetic democratic party will finds ways to stall and Barack will say it is just a gimmick. I think Barack is the gimmick of nothing more than a merchant of change. Yea, change of Dr. No on energy and Dr. Yes on taxes.

Attention all Repubs: ya'all dont have the *alls to admit your man is a feleonious flip flopper that you cant admit it…go ahead I dare ya, double dog dare ya…just making half brained nasty declarations on his behalf….ya'all know he is going down in Nov, it only takes a EC vote to 270 to win and as of right now, Mclame isnt even close!

good thing that when Obama wins, you won't have to worry about McLame keeping the same ole politics in Washington that we've had the last 8 years, I am sick of it, no off shore drilling!! STAY AWAY FROM OIL PEOPLE! and Obama has not changed positions that much compared to McSame, the guy that jabbed Obama for something he did too and didn't even realize it, he is a joke!

This off shore drill is a political hoax to help Mccain. We all should know by now that the price of gas/diesel is not going to drop one penny because of this announcement. Look American people, the price of oil is not going up because of our dependancy oil foriegn, as the economists are leading us to believe. Just think for a moment, it's just the opposite, the price of oil is going up because of us NOT depending oil as our energy source. If we would stop buying foriegn oil tomorrow, Wall street would crash. Large Institutions and Pension programs would go belly up. Why? Because those intities are buying oil reserves as a hedge. If our Government was so keen on our dependency, why aren't they looking into this proto-type auto that runs off solar energy as was shown on CNN? All you need is a sunny day and you are riding free. This whole energy thing is a high-tech sham.

DEBATE!!!

This is a no-brainer!

McCain (McBush) all for destroying the environment, Obama (says) he is not!

DUH!

This ain't going to work…There is not enough oil to put a dent into anything and by the time it's able to be used, My 2 year old will be going to 2nd or 3rd grade.

In the meantime, More $$$$$$$ for the oil guys.

Isn't it only going to give 10 years of oil? That's alot of money to spend for that. We need to focus on more renewable sources of energy.

The thing is obama cant go back on his word, even if its the right thing to do. Drilling on US soil may not sort prices out straight away, but it is going to make the speculators look elsewhere and foreign suppliers might drop prices – thats in the short term. Long term it will def. reduce prices as the reserves are built up around the world.

Remember McCain just doesnt want off-shore drilling, he wants this as well as looking at other ways of renewable energy.

Unfortunatly for the Dems the republicans are right on the ball here and are in line with most Americans .

Yet another confirmation that McCain and Bush are united in their goal to systematically destroy America's Economy, Military, Reputation and now Environment. But that is nothing new, what we forget is:

The republicans have had at their disposal MORE open territory to explore/drill in then this move to lift the ban will actually free up. They have failed to tap into what is available, let alone produce any results. Using the argument of "7 years, start now" how about "it's been 8 and you've had more land then you are currently freeing up…what have you done with it?".

If the republicans, McCain and Bush had chosen to do something productive then, we wouldn't be in this mess. Lifting this ban is nothing more then 'Psychological' (which is a valid point that I will give to McCain), because it will yield nothing so long as the republicans are at the helm. It is a psychological political tool, falsely using it as a charge of action when in truth it is HIDING their inability to take action long ago when it should have been taken.

Don't be fooled, go find out how much territory is already available and how LITTLE has been done with it. And then ask yourselves "Why do they need more, when they have done absolutely nothing with all that they already have".

These people are pulling the wool over your eyes. Don't be fooled. The best answer is to get them out of office so they can no longer sit around doing nothing with what they got other then crying about needing more to do nothing with.

Obama '08

It will take 10 years for the U.S. to see a major effect from drilling. Hopefully by then we'll have alternative energy sources

why cant we tap into our reserves they are there for emergency im not against drilling but wont that take years for an effect what about refineries????? i think its time for the republicans and democrats to put aside their diffrences an come to some kind of agreement drilling now is not going to lower the price at the pump

Why is Bush Jr. undoing all the work his father did in office? When is Bush Sr. going to switch sides and come out and endorse Obama?

“If we can show that we have significant oil reserves off our coasts, that will clearly affect the futures market and affect the price of oil. I urge Sen. Obama to change his position on this issue," (McCain). Well, first McCain acknowledged much of the gain in drilling off shore would be 'psychological' but now he wants to claim it could reduce gas prices with the stipulation we need to show we have significant oil reserves. This plan better produce a lot of oil to make up for the price of gas once we invade Iran like McCain wants to…

What would the benefit be, exactly? Will gas go back to $2 a gallon? Will my heating bill go down? Or will Exxon top $75 billion in profits this year while I have to figure out what's going to give- daycare, groceries, health insurance, or gas? Then, when its all said and done, we'll have the same problem at the end of '09 and '10 and '11 and on and on until we make a real commitment to alternative energy sources. Really, folks, this isn't the answer. You should think further out than your arms can reach.

Obama is the one of hope and change. Do nothing and HOPE things get better? Then CHANGE his mind?

Didn"t McCain flip flop on off-shore drilling? Mcflipflop is a liar.

Watch your back, Obama. When McCain's done drilling every last ounce of oil from the Earth, he's gonna drill Uranus.

Oh, and to all McCain/Hillary people who said that the New Yorker cover is simply laying bare the truth… you're also laying bare your plain racism. Period.

I understand your fear of Obama, but didn't the horrors of the Bush Administration teach you that that same fear could be warranted from your own kind? Obama's a politician, yes, but on the politician's trust scale, I think he's ten times more trustworthy than Hillary or McCain, both of whom could get an Economist to trust them if their lives depended on it.

Are there enough refineries in this country to do anything with oil if it is actually drilled ?? Someone who knows what they're talking about, please answer this.

Obama'08

Seeing how the refineries are already operating at 95 to 100%, what are they planning to do with it. It's just another grab by big oil and Americans are being fooled AGAIN.

This is about slowing down alternative momentum. Relief for a year can null that spark in alternative energies for generations. Its exhausting watching them battle back and forth for something that is going away.

This is the ignorance of OBAMA and his desire to keep the American people in a pinch for oil. The continued high prices for gasoline that also has driven the food prices up. This fits his plan along with what all the terrorist and our enemies want to do to America. If they can't destroy us externally they will internally. VOTE THIS JACKAL DOWN IN NOVEMBER. McCAIN )8

According to the idiot McSame, I guess the price of gas will drop to $2 a gallon by next week, now that off shore drilling can start,,,

If we had done this 10 years ago, the oil would be on line now. The environmentalists have stopped drilling, stopped the construction of nuclear plants, and done just about their best to make sure we ended up where we are now. Obama is part of the problem , not the solution.

Obama has no energy plan. He does have a plan to increase gas taxes $1-$2 per gallon to cover 'carbon emissions'.

Obama thinks a stimulus check is going to solve our energy problems?

Gawd, go back to your mansion in Chicago and let the working people of this country figure this out!

So even if this does nothing for us for the next 4 years (best case scenario, since even the highest qualified engineers/scientist, not idiots like Hannity, O'Reilly, Dobbs, Beck, and so on, say 7 years) all you right wing extremists would still endanger world we live in even more?! What about the THOUSANDS of leases open and available to BIG OIL not being explored?

Big Oils already holds more leases to land than it drills. How much is enough?

Sheesh! The Dependant-Crat party just doesn't get it. What more evidence do you need to see that it's time to start taking energy matters into our own hands using ALL available means. (ALL means ALL!!!)

DEBATE!

McWar dropping Napalm on the enviornment

Not to worry. Next month Obama will supporting offshore drilling.
And stating that he was always in favor of it.

Wait a few days and Obama will flip-flop on this issue. The Democrats have presented the country with a flip-flopping farce.

So is it Obama's position that off-shore drilling will not increase the supply at all? You can go on and on about the need for "energy independence" and green alternatives, but the need for a nearer-term solution is here now. There's too much carping going on in Congress and on the campaign trail and no action on a solution to the problem at all.

If you don't waste Energy, Mr Obama. You won't need it….
Conserve!!!

Perhaps when McCain jabs Obama's so called chnage in positions, he should list all of his changes INCLUDING THIS ISSUE!!!

DRILL!!! For crying out loud!

DEBATE! Find Obama and bring him to the table!