Alaska oil exploration to begin

Source: BBC

By Warren Bull
BBC News


The US government says it will offer exploration rights for oil and gas in a north-western region of Alaska.

The federal Minerals Management Service said it would take bids next month for concessions in the Chukchi Sea, which separates Alaska from Siberia.

--snip--

The Minerals Management Service says exploration will not be allowed to take place any closer than 80km (50 miles) from the shoreline, therefore striking a balance between development and protection of coastal resources.

--snip--

Many protestors are angry at the timing of the announcement, which comes days before the US Fish and Wildlife Service decides whether to list the polar bear as a threatened species.

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7169144.stm

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Under the radar. Sneaking in another one for Big Oil while everyone is occupied with the Primaries.

continues their beloved policy of murder and destruction.

I don't think there would be anything harmful about this in an ideal world. As I understand the situation, it's still cheaper to import higher quality oil from the Middle East than it is to get lower quality oil out of Alaska. So sell concessions and raise some revenue. Better yet, put the revenue towards funding research into cheap alternative energy. But don't require oil companies to develop by an unreasonably early date--let them decide based on their own economics--and don't provide subsidies for development. The only thing I would do is give preference to US oil companies, but not exclude foreign ones.

However, there's about as much of a chance of any of this happening as there is of finding a polar bear in hell, especially given our current federal administration and the corrupt bozos running Alaska. Sigh.

Alaska's oil resources will get extracted at some point unless we develop cheap and abundant alternative energy sources. If that's the case, I'd rather have a market with as few distortions as possible, a strong regulatory framework to protect the environment, and an administration willing to enforce that framework.

http://www.athropolis.com/map2.htm

Look near sector D3.

Not an area that will be friendly to humans.

when the pack ice knocks over the drilling rigs.

This fucking regime has got to go!

The best ROI going.

Political payola, the World's truly oldest enterprise.

**** this administration and its CorpMedia enablers! :grr:

All you get is mental masturbation. It's a cheap thrill without any substance.

...they may want to do a benefit for the penguins :)






(WE know penguins don't live there, but they probably don't) :)

for their Polar Bear fur coat.

I have come to the conclusion that if we need oil I would rather it come from a frozen wasteland than a pristine eco system like Alaska. Now I am unsure if Northern Alaska is the same Alaska that I am talking about but if its anything like Antartica then there isn't much there to screw up, unless were talking about offshore drilling then yeh, that has a potential to impact a ton of marine life. Now the next goal of the oil companies will be to bribe as many people as they can in congress to see who gets the mineral rights and they will surely find just about everyone of them with there hands out ready to be greazed.

a prescription for disaster.

We have a winner.

You don't have clue one.

Assholes.

I see this forum has no problem with cursing. I would think the moderators would at least discourage this practice.

Don't give me this crap about it would be censorship. There is a thing called common decency, which some on this form seem to lack.

> I see this forum has no problem with cursing. I would think the
> moderators would at least discourage this practice.
>
> Don't give me this crap about it would be censorship.

:rofl:

I have no problem with them exploring the potential for drilling for oil there.

I support the need to take every step possible to make sure any oil that they do tap and transport is done as safely as can be done and that the oil should not be pumped until we cannot afford to import what we need at all for our needs.
The fact is I like heat in my home and I like being able to drive to the drugstore to get my meds for my asthma and other things and before anyone mentions take mass transportion I will just point out its not an option since they dont have it where I live.

To anyone who rants, flames and or trys to say I am a facist tool or some such false claim I will just say I have voted mostly democratic for the past 15 years and welcome to perma ignore because I am not in the mood with any nuts.

In summary we need oil, until something comes along to replace it really its our only option but if you want to help then invent something viable to replace it, I know I for one would grateful for something thats cheap and cleaner than gas or heating oil.

> In summary we need oil, until something comes along to replace it
> really its our only option

Why are people getting so worked up about this subject?

Anyone would think that there have never been resource shortages in
previous societies before (e.g., wood on Easter Island, grass in Greenland,
water in Western Egypt).

Don't let those wimpy eco-terrorist nay-sayers distract you.
You go ahead, burn up the oil and discover just how the above all managed
to use technology, human ingenuity & good ol' fashioned know-how to survive.

> The fact is I like heat in my home and I like being able to drive

And there we have the epitaph of homo nonsapiens.

of those situtations in history and yeah it could very well happen to us if we dont find a replacement for oil that or our society will break down to a much lower level of tech until we find some other replacement.
I'm not so much concerned about the oil though in the short term its a minor issue the real danger is the worlds growing population as people breed like blowflies.

with an Administration that cuts funding for family planning Worldwide.

Gotta have the cannon fodder for wars of agression.

especially since our own nation is going backwards towards a pre-1776 condition at an alarming rate.

Gaia will likely now have to fix overpopulation for us, and it won't be pretty.

Problem is, in the short term while your solution works for you and your children, what effects will it have on the generation following them?

Because we have let all of these problem, including overpopulation, inch right up to the cliff, so to speak, we are faced with unpleasant choices.

Either we start changing yesterday with some combination of scale-back (not to the Stone Age, though, there must be some happy medium place), family planning, and education along with a few Manhattan Projects in Fusion, and perhaps a couple other disciplines, or tyhe cost to future generation will be in orders of magntiude of death and misery for every couple years we delay.

This is speculation, but based on available data and trends.

I also have to disagree with you that oil is a minor issue, even next to the root cause of overpopulation, because of oil's massive EROI (Energy Return on Input) compared to all other sources available, makes it irreplaceable.

Not to mention oil and NG being necessary for every piece of plastic, and agricultural fertilizer, and other things not energy-producing.

country fighting to protect alaska except folks in alaska (who get those royalty checks for the oil!)

So the natives can buy a snowmobile instead of having to work to catch salmon to feed their sled dogs.

They become slaves to the system.

living in opulent luxury ..... while exploiting women and boys..... preaching, funding and supporting hate for the decadent west
.. but thats just me.
Eskimo's live in the ice age but like how the internet can link them to the rest of the world.

Saudi's and their minion followers wish life would return to the dark ages.....

but I hate to see native peoples loose their traditional skills and become dependent
on the government for assistance. Giving them access to the Internet and other technology is a good thing but becoming slaves to the system is not.

there is a relaxed,easier way to live in a world beyond the tundra ? I don't have the right to tell native people they are to be denied the right to choose,denied a few more hours a day to nap,put their feet up and chill.
But rather, they must remain stagnant,unchanged because it pleases me from the comfort of my 21st century living standard point of view to do whats best for them.

There are few prehistoric tribes left in the world. The ones in the south american rain forests are being squeezed out by the developed nations surrounding them and tapping into the oil resource along the Orinoco River valley.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_shale_economics



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Venezuela

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orinoco_River

As the world drains the easier access to oil reserves, a decision is be made.



We should force the developed areas of the world to open up drilling if we want the less developed to remain backwater no go zones
;)

to protect the less developed areas of earth

To develop these oil fields now. I'm not against locating them and auctioning off the rights to them, but we'd all be much better off if we put funds towards developing alternative energy sources and let the oil companies develop these fields when it makes sense.

BTW, smart economic development in energy doesn't in any way diminish the possibility of investing money in traditionally less well-off native Americans. I'm all for raising living standards for everyone.

Canada and Mexico. We don't get that much from Saudi.

it's hopeless.

“It’s the height of irresponsibility and short-sightedness for the Bush Administration to schedule lease sales in the Chukchi Sea, which represents critical habitat for polar bears, whales, walrus and threatened wildlife. Even as the Department of the Interior is finalizing its decision to list polar bears as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, the Bush Administration thinks it’s the right time for another power grab by the big oil and gas companies in the bear’s essential habitat,” said Senator John Kerry. “Just a few months ago, the government’s own scientists told us that polar bears may disappear from the United States and our waters entirely by 2050. We should be protecting their remaining habitat, not auctioning it off to the highest bidders. I could imagine few more tragic illustrations of who calls the shots in this Administration, than the way in which this Administration is willing to set the stage for extinction for polar bear populations.”

Kerry was for building wind farms...



... before he was against building them off his home states coastline.


what up with that ?

Why should we continue to bend over for this Saudi oil addiction of ours when action can be taken elsewhere ?




btw
Watch the price Saudi crude drop when the drilling rigs go up in Alaska.
The sooner the drilling starts, the lower OPEC will drop the price.

Please tell me what polar bear is going to be found 50 miles off shore? Yes, whales might be found, but I doubt walrus's would be found. Kerry has an active imagination. Heck, by 2050 we all could be gone off this earth.

I am so sick of people worrying more about animals than the welfare of people. Animals were made the lower order for a reason. Man has domain over the animals.

I bet if all oil import was stopped in the US, you all would be whining about how you need to heat your homes, drive your cars, and my gosh how in the world would you be able to fly your private planes.

You always want to whine about the US buying and importing more oil, but I don't see you all rushing to buy hybrids.

> I am so sick of people worrying more about animals than the welfare
> of people. Animals were made the lower order for a reason.
> Man has domain over the animals.

Bullshit.
Man is just another animal, albeit a very diverse one.
Some of this species have developed intelligence, understanding,
wisdom and restraint. Others just repeat vapid fictions created
centuries ago by greedy manipulative men whilst consuming without
consideration for any other creature (man, animal or whatever).

> I bet if all oil import was stopped in the US, you all would be whining
> about how you need to heat your homes, drive your cars, and my gosh how
> in the world would you be able to fly your private planes.

"Fly our private planes"? Are you sure you're in the right forum?

> You always want to whine about the US buying and importing more oil,
> but I don't see you all rushing to buy hybrids.

Possibly because you don't look (or ask) but just ASSume. You're wrong.

In the end it will do you in, but boy it sure is fun while it lasts...

I'm not sure any of the alternative fuel choices, other than nuke, are really viable at this point. We need to continue to figure out sustainable options, but until then, we need to have our own source of oil. It sucks. The potential for irreversible disaster is high. But the irreversible disaster of fighting war after war to ensure we will have access to mid-east oil poses a higher risk to our country. If we could buy ourselves 50 years, we should be able to come up with a plan. Of course, I also know that if we found such a supply and the price of gas dropped, we would once again see the markets flooded with gas-guzzling SUVs. Conservation would take a back seat to all out consumption.

And doing the deed with the devil would continue...