R. H. Lee said, "We have enough oil reserves in the continental U.S. and Alaska to make us independent of reliance on foreign oil."
I just really do not believe that. We're importing over 50% of our national daily/annual usage. That's much more than the one million bpd estimated to be had from ANWR, and the offshore possible oil is another one or few million bpd. "New" oil from Alaska and from offshore fields isn't enough to make up the difference. It would probably help reduce current pricing, yeah. But that's all.
There is a fix, drill where there is oil and tell the left wing tree huggers to go to the hot place. They shouldn't be allowed to completely destroy everything, but there are so many restrictions to drill and set up a refinery it is ridicules. Also we have a lot of farmers that are on hard times, switch them to sweet corn, tomatoes, other things high in sugar that are good for ethanol production. Ethanol can be made relatively cheaply, we have plenty of farmland and giving the farmers that have hit hard times a profit again would be a damn good thing, and it burns cleaner in your car anyway. Maybe not enough for a total switch but enough to blend into gas and make us much more self sufficient and not have to rely on the mid east nearly as much. Even in the winter I would rather rely on states that remain at a high enough temperature to grow crops like Florida and California then having to rely on the middle east.
The thing is, its not even a question about drilling on native soil anymore. There are only a few countries that haven't reached peak oil. Russia reached peak oil in the 70s or 80s, can't remember which, CONUS just headed over the peak oil hill (and I believe that included Texas). Iraq may only contribute something like 7 percent of the worlds oil, but its one of the only countries in the world that hasn't reached peak oil, it has recently been embargoed and not fully developed, and certainly is not being fully exploited right now for various reasons. Saudi Arabia is one of the countries that hasn't reached peak oil yet, but it's soon coming due to the harmful methods they use to extract oil. I think they have until 2025. Iran and Iraq are set to be major players in the future world of fossil fuels, as is our ally Saudi Arabia. The country that has ties with both has the power to control the world.
Lets make one thing clear, if this war is about the oil, and I think its clear that at least in part it is, we are fighting for the future. The future of the United States, possibly as much as a half century into it. Its clear that our current leaders are aggressive about the United States staying a superpower. Drilling on US soil is a relatively short term deal.
festivities in Iran will begin in march.
Lovely, thats my birthday.
Israel will not allow Iran to have Nukes.
The American reaction depends totally on what happens with Israel.
The next US administration is an unknown.
The answer to one nuke is two.
Americans are not going to approve of invading another ME country without extreme provocation.
The China/America trading partnership has increased by 1000% in the past 20 years.
The press will be on the side of the Iranians.
The Mullahs control Iran in spite of the fact the majority of their population is young and not actively anti-American.
The Arab street is fickle and mostly bluster.
I see a couple of questions...
Is Iran mature enough to treat with as we did the Soviets?
What government will come to power in Israel now that Sharon is gone?
What do China and India think is better...Iran holding their energy needs at will, or the relatively short interruption a war would bring?
Iran is not mature enough to treat with as we did the Soviets, clearly demonstrated by the fact that we declared them as a rogue state. I'm not sure what that last question means, could you rephrase it and perhaps go into it in more detail please?
Your statements show some excellent insight into the truth. I don't believe there will be a full scale ground war, if there is it will be followed by the big D.
The Mullahs control Iran in spite of the fact the majority of their population is young and not actively anti-American.
True. Perhaps fertile ground for a coup if you ask me, the Iranian youth is thirsty for western goods and practices.
Call me a tinfoil hatter, but I don't believe the next presidency is an unknown. Not what with is at stake now, the future of America, so much time, effort and thought has already been poured into this project. If we pull out of Iraq now far too much could be lost. I think either the candidate set to win will accept current policy concerning the matter, or will befall an unfortunate accident involving dead male hookers and a goat, or as a last resort, a bullet.
If I were president I would order F-117 Nighthawks and B-2 Spirits to strike all aboveground facilities associated with Iran's nuclear program with conventional munitions, then assassinate key political and military figures and coup the government. I would ensure the government was at least semi-friendly to Chinese and Indian interests, staying loyal to the previous administrations contracts. China has a variety of revenges for us if we decide to nix their main source of fossil fuels, everything from state sponsored counterfeiting to dumping currency, or fiddling with the national debt and nuking us.
Then again Iran is a country that would be particularly hard to coup. For one thing their Revolutionary Guard would be a formidable foe. This coup couldn't be a haphazard thing, it would have to be thought out in great detail, prepared for and carried out perfectly and swiftly.
Great post, Ghost Squire. I knew that China and Iran were in bed together, but I din't know that they were having a threesome with India.
One glaring problem is, whatever Israel does, we'll likely publicly back them if not actively participate. Either way, there will be hell to pay from the rest of the Islamic world for the USA.
Thank you, and you're right about Islamic backlash. The problem is everything that benefits us, makes the Islamic world hate us.
Funny, I read
http://www.energybulletin.net/7707.html only after I had made my first two posts in this thread, yet I see many of my views reinforced by it. It also brought to my attention some things that I find very interesting, thanks for linking me.
Hmmm... maybe someone should start a thead entitled, "If I were president", and everyone would chip in and say what they would do if they were president.
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