GULF OIL DISASTER
Commission Is Stumped on Future of Offshore Drilling
"...commissioner Cherry Murray, the dean of the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, said, "The hazards of ultra deep-water need to be spelled out a little bit more."
Commissioner Frances Ulmer, the chancellor of the University of Alaska Anchorage, urged the seven-member commission to challenge the idea that "we can get to some imaginary goal of completely eliminating imports."
"If you went to all electric cars, 70% of our oil usage would go away," responded Ms. Murray.
Mr. Reilly then discussed how the media might interpret the panel's findings. "I was just thinking of a headline that says: 'Offshore drilling commission, responding to the blowout in the gulf, recommends the expansion of offshore drilling.' "
Replied Commission Frances Beinecke, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council: "Let's not do that."
Offshore oil drillers find confusion over worst-case spill
WILDLIFE, HUMAN AND ECOSYSTEM IMPACTS
NOAA Reopens Nearly 7,000 Square Miles in the Gulf of Mexico to Fishing
ALTERNATIVES TO OIL
Pentagon going green, because it has to
"Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, a former ambassador to Saudi Arabia, has set a goal of having renewable energy account for 50 percent of power for the Navy and Marines by 2020."
RFK Jr. speaks on water issues, sustainable energy
"What we need to do is to create in this country the same thing Eisenhower did in the '50s and '60s (building the interstate highway system)," Kennedy said. "We need to build a national supergrid." Kennedy said that's just one of three keys needed to make sustainable energy a reality in the U.S. He also called for a national marketplace for energy, letting those whose homes generate more electricity than they use sell it to power companies at full market rate.
And, he said, the county needs to end what he called subsidies to incumbents. Kennedy said taxpayers not only subsidize oil and coal companies, they also pay to clean up the wastes they leave behind and increased health care costs due to pollution."
API: Modestly better US oil demand reflects general economy
It should come as no surprise that the American Petroleum Institute equates economic recovery with increased demand for their petroleum products, but does it have to be that way? The Union of Concerned Scientists estimates that we can cut America's projected oil consumption by 2030 in half. This would save tens of billions of dollars at the gas pump and provide for a safer, more diverse, and more secure American energy future. We could have a strong economy and a cleaner environment. Oh, I forgot, one problem - Big Oil wouldn't be quite so rich. FLORIDA
"Even though oil spilled far from Florida's shores, our tourism and seafood industries received an economic blow. We simply cannot afford another spill. Florida is a tourism state, not an oil state, and Floridians deserve to have the opportunity to choose whether we allow drilling off our beautiful beaches, by way of a constitutional amendment."
EUROPE
Stop Oil Spill (Surfrider Europe petition and video)
Note: Oil Drilling News will be on vacation next week and will return on October 25.
