It begins: Obama shelves Bush plan to open more coastal waters to drilling
posted at 8:18 pm on February 10, 2009 by Allahpundit
Via Gateway Pundit, noting that there’s already a bill to ban drilling in ANWR floating around in Congress. If Palin’s looking for a foothold in the national debate, here’s her chance:
On Tuesday, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar ordered the plan be put on hold while his agency conducts a 180-day review of the country’s offshore oil and gas resources. Salazar’s critical comments about the plan signaled that the new administration will seek to rewrite it if not completely scrap it.
The Bush proposal “opened the possibility of oil and gas leases along the entire Eastern seaboard, portions of offshore California and the far eastern Gulf of Mexico with almost no consultation from states, industry or community input,” Salazar said at a news conference in Washington. “In my view it was a headlong rush of the worst kind.”…
Salazar did not directly address the bigger question: Whether Obama will seek to renew the three-decade-old presidential moratorium on drilling off most of the East and West coasts, which Bush lifted last July amid growing public anger over soaring gas prices…
The plan would have allowed drilling on 44 million acres of federal waters off Humboldt and Mendocino counties, and 89 million acres off San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los Angeles and San Diego counties.
Exit question: Yes, granted, it’ll take years to start pulling the resources out of those waters. Even so, why wouldn’t a guy who’ll be in office potentially until 2016, who’s staring at a multi-year economic crisis and a nuclear arms race in the most critical energy region on the planet, want to plan ahead for bad contingencies by starting to drill now?
Blowback
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yep this is exactly where Governor Palin will remain in the national stage. She has already wrote a couple of op-ed pieces in major newspaper’s urging obama to drill in alaska. I can guarantee that Palin welcomes this debate.
ousoonerfan15 on February 10, 2009 at 8:20 PM
FOOL!
Glenn Jericho on February 10, 2009 at 8:22 PM
Oil will start its climb back up…soon.
And those Obama-loving RV builders in Elkhart will have Obama to blame for their not being able to sell a single one of them this coming quarter…
coldwarrior on February 10, 2009 at 8:22 PM
Whenever oil gets back above $60/barrel the worst of the economic crisis will be behind us. Unfortunately, right now the problem isn’t a lack of oil but a lack of need.
dedalus on February 10, 2009 at 8:24 PM
Obama is trying to drive the market down another 300-400 points. Lord, I hate that man!
All his negativity. His refusal to do what is needed to jump start the economy, i.e., lower taxes. His cheap, very unpresidential shots at republicans. He’s an embarrassment. I want him to go away and go away before he destroys everyone’s life savings and retirement.
Blake on February 10, 2009 at 8:24 PM
I don’t know why we’re complaining, this makes perfect sense.
We are in the middle of an economic crises where we need this type of action. What better way to stimulate the economy than by taking more money from the pockets of the people to pay for what will certainly now mean higher gas and fuel prices?
Stroke of genius!
catmman on February 10, 2009 at 8:24 PM
WTF is wrong with these people who don’t want to do this? Why is it so freaking hard? How much do they want us to suffer? I’m at a total loss here.
4shoes on February 10, 2009 at 8:24 PM
Expected.
We need higher fuel costs so we can save the world and make electric cars and alternative energy sources viable.
Because of the relative impact of higher energy costs on lower wage earners, expect a whole new benefit regime.
Great.
moxie_neanderthal on February 10, 2009 at 8:25 PM
As I write, I am on the largest platform in the Gulf of Mexico. When we are finished, this field will be producing up to 250,000 barrels a day for and estimated 25 years. This is just a piece of the offshore potential. The people who want to ban offshore drilling are just plain idiots.
DAT60A3 on February 10, 2009 at 8:26 PM
This President is, in my personal opinion, a complete and utter moron.
crosspatch on February 10, 2009 at 8:26 PM
ug… good thing im not trying to quit drinking
Drunk Report on February 10, 2009 at 8:27 PM
with almost no consultation from states, industry or community input,” Salazar said at a news conference in Washington. “In my view it was a headlong rush of the worst kind.”…
Did anyone else bust a gut laughing at this; from the mouths of the same dolts who say we need to spend a trillion dollars RIGHT NOW?
Bishop on February 10, 2009 at 8:27 PM
I generally hate it when politicians say “we’re going to study X,” because it is almost always code for “we’re not going to do X. But if we told you that you’d be really mad, so we’ll just act like it’s a temporary delay.”
kc8ukw on February 10, 2009 at 8:28 PM
What a butt muncher!
christene on February 10, 2009 at 8:29 PM
Two words, Steven Chu. A fulcrum by which this economy will be upended.
moxie_neanderthal on February 10, 2009 at 8:29 PM
Its has already started its climb.
-Dave
Dave R. on February 10, 2009 at 8:30 PM
Umm…because he’s either a liar or an idiot? Wait, I actually think he is both a liar and an idiot!
What do I win?
Jaibones on February 10, 2009 at 8:30 PM
2012…..We win.
ThePrez on February 10, 2009 at 8:30 PM
Just wait kids – the whole world is watching. Oil should be back up tp $200 a barrel by June. How many Americans will want to ride a bike to work? Let’s see how the ONE squirms out of this. Alaska & Texas need to form an independent union free of Federal intervention.
izoneguy on February 10, 2009 at 8:30 PM
“why wouldn’t a guy who’ll be in office potentially until 2016, who’s staring at a multi-year economic crisis and a nuclear arms race in the most critical energy region on the planet, want to plan ahead for bad contingencies by starting to drill now?”
because the most important thing to this country-destroyer is getting elected next time, and perversely, stopping drilling will help that.
don’t forget, the idiot press is brainwashed on that topic (and many others)
notagool on February 10, 2009 at 8:30 PM
disgrace, of course it will the oil companies responsible for a rise in prices.
rob verdi on February 10, 2009 at 8:32 PM
Do not worry. Obama is overreaching and will continue along this path. Three weeks and look at what he has done already. There is only so much the rest of the country can take. Once Obama begins going after the First and Second Amendments, there will be blood.
carbon_footprint on February 10, 2009 at 8:32 PM
Well, why would a clueless idiot want to create great jobs for Americans, utilize our resources while we work on alternative fuel supplies, drop oil prices, give Americans a break, promote regime change within with Iran without having to drop a bomb on them and plan for the future? The list goes on.
We all know why. I just wonder what the Brits and Europeans will do when the Dems fulfill their plans to render the US impotent and crippled. They’ll probably throw a fit, organize and murder minorities (again). Or maybe they will deal will Putin like the enlightened souls they profess to be, belt up and pay for their own defense.
Gee…. I can’t wait to find out.
/s
Cody1991 on February 10, 2009 at 8:32 PM
Oil closed at $38.06 today.
DAT60A3 on February 10, 2009 at 8:33 PM
izoneguy on February 10, 2009 at 8:30 PM
What work, all of us will probably be unemployed so oil prices won’t matter.
It’s a win win.
Bishop on February 10, 2009 at 8:33 PM
As someone else said. Expected.
Ken Salazar is the former
clownsenator from Colorado plucked by Obama to run Interior. He along with Governor Ritter effectively closed Colorado to further gas drilling. Of course doing so leads to higher gas prices which have a direct impact on lower income people.In this case it should be interesting to see where the oil futures go from here. Likely they will go up. I predict we’ll be seeing gasoline prices at around 4 dollars a gallon again this summer. When you add the projected 1 dollar a gallon gasoline tax we should be looking at $5 per gallon within the next two years.
All thanks to Obama and his cult.
Mr Gus on February 10, 2009 at 8:33 PM
I’m looking forward to eating squirrels, actually.
blatantblue on February 10, 2009 at 8:35 PM
The President is an economic retard.
BadgerHawk on February 10, 2009 at 8:35 PM
I can’t wait for the coal plants in PA, OH, WV, VA to be shut down. Those idiots voted for him, so let them pay the price. It’s not like they weren’t warned.
SouthernGent on February 10, 2009 at 8:35 PM
We grilled a squirrel that my friend’s brother shot at a Packer tailgate and told everyone it was a cat. Kind of funny, but not that tasty.
BadgerHawk on February 10, 2009 at 8:36 PM
You can buy June crude contracts for about $49. You’ll make a fortune if the price is going to hit $200. Of course everyone is betting that global growth will be dead for much longer than a few more months.
dedalus on February 10, 2009 at 8:36 PM
Where can I buy a car that runs on hope?
AUINSC on February 10, 2009 at 8:37 PM
I’m trying to think of creative things to eat so I don’t have to stand on the coming bread lines.
blatantblue on February 10, 2009 at 8:37 PM
Exit Answer: Expected. Elections have consequences and bring “change.” They voted for this fool and foolishness is what they get. As for why The One is banning off-shore drilling…..It’s their ideology. I think they really believe they’re saving the planet and doing the right thing.
conservative pilgrim on February 10, 2009 at 8:38 PM
Not to sound like an ignoramus, but who’s he?
4shoes on February 10, 2009 at 8:38 PM
He ain’t no wizard on foreign policy, either. He can throw Super Bowl parties, though. And….. oh, yeah….. he sounds great to people who can have an orgasm over a baritone voice and have no interest in content.
Cody1991 on February 10, 2009 at 8:38 PM
Oil off $1.80 today, Dave, to a three month low of $37.55, about $107 dollars a barrel off the high. $107, Dave.
But yes, it will go back up as soon as the panic is over and people start buying things. But our buttsniffing liberal administration apparently hates science, and can’t seem to figure out the difference in energy supply between a $3 million windmill and a $90,000 oil derrick.
So they’ll dump $100 billion into bullshit pretend energy supplies and when oil is $130 a barrel again they’ll act all surprised.
Jaibones on February 10, 2009 at 8:39 PM
Not a chance. $100 is a bit of a stretch for this summer. The good news (politically, not economically) is that because of declining domestic production by the next election we’ll be using even more foreign oil than we are today, which certainly helps the GOP.
BadgerHawk on February 10, 2009 at 8:39 PM
Apparently, he shelved the BRAIN that was supposed to rattle around between those BIG F*CKING EARS of his.
Hide under your desk, y’all—thats all that is left to do…..
seejanemom on February 10, 2009 at 8:39 PM
Ok, I just googled Steven Chu, get it now, yikes!
4shoes on February 10, 2009 at 8:40 PM
I guess we will have time to train and start the peoples Army then.
izoneguy on February 10, 2009 at 8:40 PM
If Israel bombs Iran [sparking a full-blown cluster-f**k], we’ll have oil prices spike up [and maintain] anywhere from 100-600%. We’ll have gas rationing as well as even more fuel for the coming hyper-inflation ass-rape fire.
http://www.israpundit.com/2008/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/obama_carter.jpg
toliver on February 10, 2009 at 8:40 PM
Only the worst president ever can fail in the first month of office.
ballz2wallz on February 10, 2009 at 8:40 PM
I’m trying to think of creative things to eat so I don’t have to stand on the coming bread lines.
blatantblue on February 10, 2009 at 8:37 PM
Try Hope. I hear it tastes like Skittles.
Perhaps you could get a Unicorn license? Nothing like a freezer full of Unicorn meat.
catmman on February 10, 2009 at 8:41 PM
If oil is $200 a barrel in June, I’ll buy a barrel and drink it.
Jaibones on February 10, 2009 at 8:41 PM
My family is preparing for the rolling blackouts when we have to start shutting down plants. We are installing some propane heaters that are efficient and don’t require electricity. I just hope I dont run out of propane. This country is rushing with a smile into it’s own demise. Our children will hate us for what we have done.
boomer on February 10, 2009 at 8:41 PM
I love you , Jaibones. Truly, I do. <3
seejanemom on February 10, 2009 at 8:41 PM
How many jobs would this have created?
This was a completely shovel-ready project.
If people think the “smart grids”, railroad tracks, solar panel farms, and gobs of windmills are going to be more aesthetically pleasing than oil platforms off the coast, they are crazy.
MayBee on February 10, 2009 at 8:42 PM
That is if Russia does nothing. That is if Israel does not attack Iran. That is if Hugo figures out how to drill oil himself. Supplies are going to get squeezed by gigantic geo-political shifts. China & India have probably made the back room deals and the US will get cut-off from oil and from the Chinese money tree.
izoneguy on February 10, 2009 at 8:44 PM
Maybe,somebody should of stuck it
in the stimulus bill!Hehe.
Then watch Pelosi have a melt down!
Btw,doesn’t the Lefties already have
a library of’Enviromental Impact Studies’
of every square inch of possible drilling
areas!
Or is 180 days,no more than a Liberal stalling
tactic!
canopfor on February 10, 2009 at 8:44 PM
At the current rate of oil oversupply and heavy manufacturing shut-down, Israel can bomb fucking Iran all day long, and it wouldn’t make one damn bit of difference.
But, having just elected a nitwit liberal as PM, that doesn’t seem very likely, now, does it? Israel is more likely to bomb themselves in the Golan Heights as an act of contrition.
Jaibones on February 10, 2009 at 8:44 PM
Well, we would never want a headlong (cough-porkulus-cough) rush, now would we? (You flaming pile of…)
Rodent on February 10, 2009 at 8:44 PM
Ya well, we have to have energy to make bread. So, with the coming collapse where is that gonna come from? I know, alarmist me.
boomer on February 10, 2009 at 8:45 PM
Thanks, Mom.
Jaibones on February 10, 2009 at 8:45 PM
Stephen Chu is the new Secretary of Energy who is a Global Warming idealogue.
conservative pilgrim on February 10, 2009 at 8:45 PM
We already do.
****40 year old Xer who blames boomers for just about everything…and will heap more blame on y’all when, in 2010, you all crest retirement age and COMPLETELY BUST WALL STREET WIDE ASS OPEN when you all try to sell at once. THANK YOU Sarbanes-Oxley******
Yeah…I’m bitter.
seejanemom on February 10, 2009 at 8:45 PM
I hope that was a rhetorical question… You, and everyone else (who isn’t an Obama Zombie) has to see what is going on in this country and the world right now.
BTW, it’s obviously not my place to tell you how to run the site, but as a long time reader/commenter I do think I know what your audience craves, and I’m just wondering when we’re going to start seeing some Glenn Beck clips here. He seems to be the only one, even on Fox, who is shouting at the top of his lungs about what is going on.
Please, a lot of people here don’t even watch TV… they need you to fill them in, while everyone else talks about things like Chris Brown or Octuplet lady.
RightWinged on February 10, 2009 at 8:45 PM
Price at the gas pump will be a killer issue for the donks. It will be a fulcrum, I’m sure they know that, and it is frightening because they don’t seem bothered by what will surely be large numbers of very angry people. That four billion to ACORN may be giving them confidence of a very long run.
a capella on February 10, 2009 at 8:45 PM
Hide under your desk, y’all—thats all that is left to do…..
seejanemom on February 10, 2009 at 8:39 PM
You can still fight, and it might just come to that.
Bishop on February 10, 2009 at 8:45 PM
Just another step in the Soros plan to turn the United States into the Sudan.
Percy_Peabody on February 10, 2009 at 8:46 PM
Perhaps. IDK if NY gives those out.
You know how they are.
blatantblue on February 10, 2009 at 8:46 PM
Now that we have a little repreve from the high gas prices the sense of urgency is gone. What was it they were saying, “it will take 10 years before we get any gas out of the ground into your tank”. Now is the time for the drilling/exploration to happen. Why wait until we are at the mercy of the Arab nations again?
DuctTapeMyBrain on February 10, 2009 at 8:46 PM
Obamas solution to this will be to declare war.. ON ISRAEL!!
docdave on February 10, 2009 at 8:46 PM
If it was a body shot and not cleaned right away…yuck!
FWIW… A head shot…then cleaned…and seasoned properly…tastes like chicken…lol!
jerrytbg on February 10, 2009 at 8:47 PM
Full-blown war in the Mideast would shut down the Strait of Hormuz at the very least. Oil will skyrocket.
toliver on February 10, 2009 at 8:48 PM
Here we go again. Gas prices will rise to $5.00 a gallon, and we will start calling for drilling again. And again, the left will say “We won’t see it for ten years.” Good God. Are we going to listen to those fools again?? When are Americans going to SMARTEN UP??? These liberals are destroying our country and the idiots applaud the Messiah everywhere he goes! Stupidity in the most destructive way.
afotia on February 10, 2009 at 8:48 PM
Who are these idiots that want to prevent drilling? They are worshipers of mother Gaia. We can’t be poking holes in her and using her blood to fuel our Gaia destroying economy. Because, those things might get in a whale’s way, and they look ugly.
Buford Gooch on February 10, 2009 at 8:48 PM
OH. It WILL.
And that scares me witless.
seejanemom on February 10, 2009 at 8:48 PM
President Green Theory strikes again.
Betting America’s future on computer models that fail to account for the Chaos theory/quantum uncertainty inherent in all open systems.
Tyro Doofus, Esq.
profitsbeard on February 10, 2009 at 8:49 PM
Ya well, we have to have energy to make bread. So, with the coming collapse where is that gonna come from? I know, alarmist me.
boomer on February 10, 2009 at 8:45 PM
Dutch ovens and wood fires; if you can’t cook it with the dutch, you probably don’t need it. Homemade bread is no problem.
Get out of the city, they will become abattoirs eventually.
Bishop on February 10, 2009 at 8:49 PM
HOPE tastes like chicken.
A BIG, BLACK chicken.
seejanemom on February 10, 2009 at 8:49 PM
0bama is very blatant about destroying this country. I think he heard every word that Rev. Wright uttered in his church. Also, being a student of Alinsky and Ayers helps with his mode of taking down this country.
Then all of his followers are just plain stupid.
cjs1943 on February 10, 2009 at 8:50 PM
You know what is going to happen?
Things are going to get real bad…
Then, someone is going to invent the cure for cancer.
Then “I Am Legend” will come true and we will all be running from infected humans.
At least we won’t have to deal with Democrats in power anymore.
blatantblue on February 10, 2009 at 8:50 PM
Lol. If oil hits $200 a barrel I’ll more than quadrupple the investments I made in it the past few weeks. I’ll then use that money to buy something tasty to drink. Perhaps Don Julio…
That’s an awful lot of assumptions being used to make your predictions. But I’m not trying to get into a pissing match with you. I’m just stating that no matter what happens to supply oil isn’t hitting $200 this year. The demand simply isn’t there.
BadgerHawk on February 10, 2009 at 8:51 PM
Once Salazar had any power, this was ineveitable. He is against any Domestic energy production… and has been for years…
Romeo13 on February 10, 2009 at 8:51 PM
I’m hell-bent on making some money off of this idiot savant in the White House. The other day I was thinking I had it –
Buck Ofama! t-shirts at Meta Cafe.
But now I’m thinking that the one I want is:
The Worst President Ever
Jaibones on February 10, 2009 at 8:51 PM
AMERICA, going to hel* in a hand basket!
foxone on February 10, 2009 at 8:51 PM
And that scares me witless.
seejanemom on February 10, 2009 at 8:48 PM
You have the clarity, now you need the resolve.
Prepare accordingly.
Bishop on February 10, 2009 at 8:51 PM
What will this do to the people of Obama’s beloved Elkhart?
MayBee on February 10, 2009 at 8:51 PM
I do run from infected humans. LIBERALISM is a disease.
seejanemom on February 10, 2009 at 8:52 PM
Got Gold? Got Guns? Got Horses?
Tuco on February 10, 2009 at 8:52 PM
The first way to make our country energy independent is to shut off all of our energy supplies. Coal, oil, nuclear, and any other available in our own country. More expensive energy and fewer jobs while sending billions overseas. It all makes perfect sense…if you are trying to take the USA down a peg or three.
I KNOW, the green jobs will save us…and borrowinf three trillion dollars…yeah that’s the ticket.
jukin on February 10, 2009 at 8:53 PM
LOL!!!
jerrytbg on February 10, 2009 at 8:53 PM
Why would the strait be shut down if Israel bombs Iran or has to fight against Hamas and Hezballah simultaneously? Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabi and Iraq aren’t going to war with Israel, and none of them would care if Israel took out Iran’s weapons program. It would take out their hostile neighbors weapons and allow them to use the Israeli boogeyman to distract from their own domestic shortfalls.
BadgerHawk on February 10, 2009 at 8:54 PM
But how can this be? Why just today I heard Barry O tell an adoring crowd in Ft Myers that he wanted to get us off of our dependance on foreign oil.
Of course he wants us to get off our dependance on domestic oil too it seems.
Just A Grunt on February 10, 2009 at 8:54 PM
Oh, maybe to cripple the nation even further.
johnsteele on February 10, 2009 at 8:55 PM
Then “I Am Legend” will come true and we will all be running from infected humans.
At least we won’t have to deal with Democrats in power anymore.
blatantblue on February 10, 2009 at 8:50 PM
What? Take a look at the inauguration crowd; the infected are already among us.
Bishop on February 10, 2009 at 8:55 PM
Sure. But why would even a major strike by Israeli jets against specific targets in third-world Iran cause “full-blown war in the Mideast”?
I suggest that it would not. Obama will never join them or assist them, and no one else in the middle east wants any part of them, besides the fact that they all hate Iran and fear a nuke in their hands.
Jaibones on February 10, 2009 at 8:55 PM
agreed…
jerrytbg on February 10, 2009 at 8:55 PM
Plus…Irans side of the straights…would be a smoking ember…
jerrytbg on February 10, 2009 at 8:58 PM
That is why I have given up being a paid blogger. It takes too much time to build and ark AND scream into a bullhorn. I picked the one that seemed more urgent. I turned the bullhorn back on myself, so to speak.
When I went deep into the belly of the Beltway Beast FOR A BLOG BASED PAYCHECK, my bowels turned to froth in about six months. So now all I do now is check in to about three sites where they know me —–when I am not counting bullets and band-aids, that is.
I take their (great!) money for boutique work, but I will NEVER , EVER go back to working full timefor the WHORES in our own party…..NEVER.
seejanemom on February 10, 2009 at 8:58 PM
People People as our great leader has said we will all be driving the new Obama mobile in a few years.No gas needed it runs on hope & change and 8 guys pushing.After all we must do as our great leader says not as he does.P.S. for all of you that can not aford the Obama mobile there will be less costly autos .The Biden push car,the Ried scooter and last but not least the Nancy face lift free wheeler.
thmcbb on February 10, 2009 at 8:58 PM
It only took him 1 month to reach the status that Bush took years to reach.
ballz2wallz on February 10, 2009 at 8:58 PM
+11
BTW, toliver, don’t get me wrong. Eventually oil will go up and go up a lot, and this administration should be drawn and quartered for any obstruction of the serious development of oil extraction and refining here. IMO.
Jaibones on February 10, 2009 at 8:59 PM
Well that will remove 160,000 good high paying jobs and 1.7 trillion dollars from government coffers that should give Obama’s stimulus a headache.
We could be tapping oil of Ca.’s coast in less than a year. There are over 2,000 known and mapped natural seepages that leak hundreds of barrels of oil into our coastal waters a day. Plus we just had a major new find in the Gulf when an exploratory hole hit paydirt.
goat on February 10, 2009 at 8:59 PM
That’s because he’s so brilliant.
Jaibones on February 10, 2009 at 9:00 PM
Can anyone name a politician who has ever even been to ANWR to take a look around? (outside of the obvious Ms. Palin)
sherry on February 10, 2009 at 9:00 PM
GO.
SIFT THROUGH THE HYPEBOLE.
BE EDUCATED.
A trip to The Appleseed Project wouldn’t hurt, either.
seejanemom on February 10, 2009 at 9:03 PM
Thanks, it’s coming back to me, I don’t know how the heck I missed that one, but the kids and I’ve all been sick lately sooo….
4shoes on February 10, 2009 at 9:04 PM
because global warming is real, dontcha know? we’ve got to limit carbon emissions!
/sarc
maineconservative on February 10, 2009 at 9:04 PM
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