Obama Faulted for Tapping Oil Reserves

[caseagainstfaith]

June 23 (Bloomberg) -- Republicans called the Obama administration’s plan to tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve a political move, while some Democrats said the effort to ease shortages may be too little, too late.

The U.S. release of 30 million barrels of oil accounts for half the amount the International Energy Agency plans to deliver to the market to ease shortages of Middle East supplies triggered by civil war in Libya, the Energy Department said today in a statement. Republicans joined the oil industry in saying the release wasn’t needed and more drilling is.

“We should look to develop our true oil reserves in the Gulf, Alaska, the Outer Continental Shelf, and our public lands,” Representative Doc Hastings, a Washington Republican and chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, said in a statement. “The Strategic Petroleum Reserve is intended for situations when there’s a dramatic supply shut down, not to achieve short-term political gain.”

The plan would have been “more timely” had oil been released when Libyan supplies were first disrupted, said Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman, a New Mexico Democrat.

source - www.businessweek.com/news/2011-06-23/obama-faulted-for-tapping-oil-reserves-by-republicans-industry.html

Wow, I bet if Obama cured cancer they would still find a way to try and make Obama out to be the bad guy. This is just getting old and repetitive.

[Smurfette Principle]

[Vene]

Fuck the off shore drilling. It just won't work and will not accomplish anything. See here for why.

[skantaq]

Christ, did the Democrats have the same reactions to everything Dubya ever did?

[Smurfette Principle]

Jun 23, 2011 13:00:33 GMT -5 skantaq said:

Christ, did the Democrats have the same reactions to everything Dubya ever did?

Not to the same mouth-foaming degree, and honestly, the only good thing I can think of Dubya doing off the top of my head is increasing the size of marine protected areas.

[DeadpanDoubter]

NO. NO. Bad government. *hits it with a newspaper* After BP's 'little accident', we're gonna fuck up MORE ecologically sensitive areas? NO, BAD.

[ltfred]

Jun 23, 2011 13:00:33 GMT -5 skantaq said:

Christ, did the Democrats have the same reactions to everything Dubya ever did?

That's an unfair comparison. Bush was the worst president in history. Literally everything he did was either obviously stupid, clearly immoral or immediately turned to shit. Or all three. It's not unfair for Democrats to oppose everything Bush did.

That said, Democrats voted for some of the Bush Stupid Policies (TM)- the Pointless Wars, for instance.

So no, Democrats did not have a comparable reaction to Republican policies.

[Art Vandelay]

Hey, republicans. You want to substantially reduce America's dependence on foreign oil? Two words, oil shale. US has plenty of it, it just lacks to technology to extract it at anything more than an abysmal extraction efficiency. Invest in R&D (or better yet, convince the oil companies to do so), then you'll be far more self-sufficient in the oil department.

[Amaranth]

Jun 23, 2011 11:57:25 GMT -5 caseagainstfaith said:

Wow, I bet if Obama cured cancer they would still find a way to try and make Obama out to be the bad guy. This is just getting old and repetitive.

Someone, I think it was Maher or Stewart, made the joke that if Obama cured cancer the headlines would read "Obama destroys millions of jobs."

[Damen]

Remember kids, we no longer fuck the Earth. We DP it.

[wmdkitty]

Apparently Obama can't even take a shit without some Reich-winger criticizing or complaining about it.

[Armand Tanzarian]

Tapping existing oil reserves = Short term solution, using market forces to reduce the price of oil; No long-term effect.

Drill-baby-drill = Long term shitty solution that'll take at least years to even see a single drop of oil (Takes an average of 6 years AFAIK from beginning research for a good place to drill, to finishing and staffing an oil rig).

One of those things is not like the other.

[Meshakhad]

Jun 23, 2011 17:19:23 GMT -5 ltfred said:

Jun 23, 2011 13:00:33 GMT -5 skantaq said:

Christ, did the Democrats have the same reactions to everything Dubya ever did?

That's an unfair comparison. Bush was the worst president in history. Literally everything he did was either obviously stupid, clearly immoral or immediately turned to shit. Or all three. It's not unfair for Democrats to oppose everything Bush did.

That said, Democrats voted for some of the Bush Stupid Policies (TM)- the Pointless Wars, for instance.

So no, Democrats did not have a comparable reaction to Republican policies.

I disagree. I really liked his ideas on immigration reform - implement a guest worker program rather than just kick out the darkies. And I think it would be hard to find people who didn't support the invasion of Afghanistan.

[HarleyThomas1002]

Jun 23, 2011 18:00:45 GMT -5 Art Vandelay said:

Hey, republicans. You want to substantially reduce America's dependence on foreign oil? Two words, oil shale. US has plenty of it, it just lacks to technology to extract it at anything more than an abysmal extraction efficiency. Invest in R&D (or better yet, convince the oil companies to do so), then you'll be far more self-sufficient in the oil department.

But... But drilling!