Oil excreting bugs

Umm.. are you saying that the Democrats in congress are against finding alternative fuel sources? (Including those bugs, if it works out)?

And are you admitting that there IS urgency and there's not this secret huge ocean of oil that'll fill all our needs for the foreseeable future under our own soil?

Alternative sources is exactly what is being looked into. You showed resistance to offshore drilling, but are talking about research into oil excreting bugs, as if one is equivalent to the other, and that somehow not allowing the first means they didn't allow the second.

Do you have a single piece of legislation out there that shows Democrats in Congress have attempted to stop this research?

If not, there is no 'getting around' that needed to be done, and that would be a false statement regarding that research.

The "bugs" in this case are microbes. Numerous fermentation and photosynthetic generation techniques have been investigated at various times over the past century (and earlier) for fuel and chemical feedstock production.

I probably wouldn't have started with yeasts and E. coli. There are other microbes better suited for industrial production environments. Maybe these species were chosen because the genetic manipulation is easier.

Sorry, China is not drilling off our shores, or Cuba's, for that matter. This was debunked several days ago., on the floor of Congress, by a Republican. Among others.
Yet another example, as if more were needed , of the right wing crazymakers lying to the public. They know their audience will believe anything.
We have, in the USA, 2% of the world's oil reserves, and use 25% of the oil. You are not going to drill your way out of this , try as you may. And the oil companies are already sitting on a lot of domestic reserves that they are not drilling. Why should they- there's plenty of time. And they haven't built new refineries because they don't need to. Their own internal memos show this. Why should they build more refineries, increase supply, and drive down their own price? They have us right where they want us.

"Democrats were against this kind of bio-oil"

Rob, my suggestion to you is that you actually read my posts, not just criticize them. If you had, you would have seen I never said that. I said that the Democrats and the environmentalists are standing in our way of drilling for oil.

You said, and I quote 'researching ways to get around the Democrats'.

The only way, and reason, to 'get around' someone is if they are standing in the way. And since it was the 'research' that did so, what does that have to do with, at all, off-shore drilling?

BECAUSE THEY PUT UP ROADBLOCKS TO DRILLING!!!!!! I didn't say because they put up roadblocks to research! See:

"their willing accomplices in Congress put roadblocks in our way to drilling for gas"

Certainly the Democrats are the most diligent in making our energy mess worse, but the Republicans haven't been helpful either.

The main problem is that the Big Government mentality mixes with the University elitists to emphasize picking and subsidizing technologies. The result of this is that we are buying up corn tortillas before they make it to the tables of Mexican peasants to fuel our SUVs. Meanwhile, some are arguing (plausibly) that it takes more than 1 gallon of foreign crude oil to get one gallon of corn ethanol into a car. Brilliant. On the solar front, we burn 1.5 tons of Australian coal in China to smelt silicon and produce a solar panel that will save 1 ton of coal in the US over a 30 year period - thereby stopping global warming!

If we want to stop burning fossil fuels, the thing to do is to slap a consumption tax on oil and get the government completely out of the technology picking game. Leave it to entrepreneurs and private investors.

The Dept. of Energy has developed the technology to refine oil from algae...yeah, pond scum.

The technology is fully developed and at today's fuel prices, it is financially viable. Since the algae is constantly reporducing, it is an essentiall inexhaustible source. And while it is producing petroleum, it is taking carnon out of the atmosphere and replacing it with oxygen. It is a green fuel source. It even produces an edible and nutritious byproduct. (Okay, if you don't want to eat, give it to the livestock.)

The scientist in charge of the project has said that greenhouses covering an area 10% the size of New Mexico (which wold be a good site for them) would produce enough oil to meet the transportation needs of the US.

Domestically produced oil that is clean and inexhaustible.

If that seems like an impractically large building project, I would suggest you look at the effort that goes into building those massive deepwater, offshore rigs which you are so eager to build.

All this requires is the will and the vision to think in a new way. In spiritual circles, we call that repentance.

mccain:

* voted YES on disallowing an oil leasing program in anwr (A2358 to S1932) with 3 other republicans
* voted YES on banning drilling in the anwr (S AMDT 168 to S.Con.Res. 18) with 3 other republicans
* voted YES on removing consideration of drilling anwr from budget bill (S.Con.Res. 23) with 4 other republicans
* voted NO on drilling anwr on national security grounds (S.517) with 5 other republicans

mccain is a republican, not a democrat. and apparently bush doesn't think this is that important, like domestic spying and torturing muslims from foreign countries, because he broke the law for those.

stupid people keep looking for the same bad solution to an old problem. drilling for oil in anwr and offshore will take years to produce results while new and clean technologies are already here to reduce or eliminate our oil addiction. honda is rolling out its hydrogen fuel cell car next month.

"...even though China is drilling off our shores..."
do you believe everything that darth cheney says? hahahahahahaha! suckered.

Except he's recently in mid flip-flop on the issue. During Bush's latest push to drill, McCain (biiiiig surprise here) is moving himself into lockstep.

"On Monday, McCain made lifting the federal ban on offshore oil and gas development a key part of his energy plan. McCain said states should be allowed to pursue energy exploration in waters near their coasts and get some of the royalty revenue.

Obama retorted that the Arizona senator had flip-flopped on that issue."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25241280/page/2/

You think that ANWR and CS drilling will 'eliminate our oil addiction'?

Or are you claiming, as you stated you were NOT, that Democrats were standing in the way of new, clean alternative energy research?

Because only one or the other is the only way anything would be 'if it weren't for the Democrats'.

So, which is it you are claiming the Democrats were doing? That standing in the way of drilling ANWR is going to 'reduce or eliminate our oil addiction'? Or that Democrats were somehow preventing the oil eating bug research?

"Obama retorted that the Arizona senator had flip-flopped on that issue.""

Obama mistakes leadership (realizing that the price of oil is so high that something has to be done), with flip-flopping.

Obama demonstrates the same lack of compassion that the commenters on this blog do. Yeah, you people really care about the poor, don't you? You must all ride bicycles or can take the transit because I can't see anyone who would be stupid enough to support paying this much when there is a way out.

Actually, rising prices might argue for not tapping ANWR at this point. Right now its effect would be negligible. Those reserves are a commodity that will only increase in value and strategic importance over time. Perhaps holding back would be a better option than pissing it all away for limited, short-term benefit. The Machiavellian in me says "exhaust the easy oil in other countries first".