http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/31/in-an-oil-price-gap-the-scent-of-tar-sands/?ref=science Now we just need to get water rights opened back up in WY, CO and UT to extract our shale oil.
How so? If oil companies had so much clout, their offshore drilling rights wouldn't have been curtailed and their application for water rights should have been granted instead of filling pools in Phoenix.
Stupid way to go because oil sands production emits more greenhouse gases than production of most conventional oil products. And I'm surprised so many fall for the "dependent on the Mid-East for oil" hype. It's called free trade, it unites countries and lowers hostilities between them. They buy our products and all they have to offer us in return is oil. It's a win/win. I'd much rather they ruin their environment with all the drilling than us ruin ours.
Again, I don't get your point. If oil companies had political power, they wouldn't have been bludgened the past few years by this Administration.
I'm less interested in some increased greenhouse gasses than $8/gal gasoline and the effect it would have on our economy.
Not the oil companies, but the countries themselves. A country with massive oil reserves calls a lot of shots. Much more so than if they exported cow manure.
Ah, now I get it. Sorry, I'm a bit slow on the uptake. Oil is the lifeblood of our economy. Those countries have us by the short and curlies. That's why we need to develop as much of the Free World's oil as possible while concomitantly weaning ourselves off of oil for power generation. If we're just using oil for gasoline and lubricants and everything else is nuclear or coal, I'm cool with it.
