Schwarzenegger withdraws support for offshore drilling

Zyphlin said:

The long term benefits of allowing off shore drilling both for our economy and our security far outweigh the negatives from what is essentially a rather isolated occurance.

Click to expand...

First of all, the long-term costs of this spill could be enormous. Dont' underestimate them,. It could destroy 1/3rd of our nation's fishing industry for several decades, and majorly hurt tourism, shipping, and even make flooding worse (by destroying wetlands). It remains to be seen though.

Second, the long-term benefits of offshore drilling are tiny. The amount of oil available simply isn't enough to make a dent in prices. Our demand dwarfs it. We consume 26% of annual world production of oil, but we have 3% of reserves. Even if we find alot more, it's still a tiny part of world reserves.

Ultimately I can't really blame or be surprised by Arnold though. He's being a politician and simply playing off that fact of human nature.

Click to expand...

My respect for Arnold has grown over the years. When he sees he is wrong, he changes his mind instead of being stubborn and ideological about things.

Porchev said:

Not driving an SUV doesn't help. With population growth, there still will be a growing need for oil that effects far more than just driving your vehicle. Prices of everything will go up with an increase of oil prices, since it is used to transport food, make fertilizer, make everything that is plastic, asphalt roads, roofing, tires, etc, etc. Oil touches every industry, every technology, every business, every home, and each and every one of us in one vital way or another, every single day.

Click to expand...

Which is exactly why higher oil prices is the only solution. The solution to all oil related issues is to use less oil. And if it were more expensive we would. Just like Europe does. We don't need to drill. We need to use less oil. The sooner we start the better because eventually we will have no choice.

Zyphlin said:

Is it something that regularly occurs on a every 5 year basis? No.

Click to expand...

List of Major Oilspills compiled by George Draffan

[ame=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_oil_spills]List of oil spills - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]

Major Oil Spills to Coastal Waters

Are oil spills something which occur every 5 year? No. They actually occur a lot more regularly than that though they're not always reported. As our consumption of oil has grow, so has the occurrence of oils pills on a global scale. The point is not that they occur every now and then. The point is that they occur and the consequences cost billions of dollars for everyone who uses those waters - in the most dire of cases - to "fix". You have to remember that a single oil spill can ruin the livelihood of thousands of people at a time. Just look at what the Exxon Valdez did.

stekim said:

Which is exactly why higher oil prices is the only solution. The solution to all oil related issues is to use less oil. And if it were more expensive we would. Just like Europe does. We don't need to drill. We need to use less oil. The sooner we start the better because eventually we will have no choice.

Click to expand...

High oil prices increases the cost of everything. The price of oil is already high, drilling more would keep up with the growing demand just due to population growth. Looking toward Europe is not always a good idea; their economic growth is slowed from extremely high taxes...such as their extremely high gas tax.