Fox News' Chris Wallace Blatantly Shills for Big Oil

In a segment ending with the disclosure that "Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace is brought to you by "The People of America's Oil and Natural Gas Industry" and immediately followed by the American Petroleum Institute (API) front group's misleading ad, the Fox News host seized on one of John McCain's more recent flip-flops siding with President Bush's recent call to rescind the ban on offshore oil drilling and asked over and over why McCain won't cave all the way to big oil and also allow for oil exploration in the Alaskan Arctic Wildlife Refuge, ANWR.

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In the process of spewing talking points on behalf of his show's sponsor, Wallace brings Obama into the discussion by joining the growing list of conservative dittoheads in the media who have been repeating this same false claim made by McCain last Tues. about oil spills and Hurricane Katrina:

Wallace: Obama talks about environmental damage from drilling offshore but the fact is the moratorium was put into effect in 1981. There's been a lot of technological advances since then. We had Hurricane Katrina go through the heart of the Gulf of Mexico and ravage these oil rigs and there were almost no oil spills, so what's he talking about?"

As ThinkProgress points out, that's not true at all.

The truth is that Hurricane Katrina caused oil spillage so significant it was clearly visible from space. It also wreaked environmental havoc near the scale of the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster. ...

As Sen Reid correctly pointed out, this recent push by George Bush & John McBush represents "nothing more than a cynical campaign ploy that will do nothing to lower energy prices, and represents another big giveaway to oil companies already making billions in profits." and the NYT went further to note that "the only real beneficiaries will be the oil companies that are trying to lock up every last acre of public land before their friends in power -- Mr. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney -- exit the political stage."

In fact, the oil industry has yet drilled in just 19 percent of the more than 40 million acres they already can that are not covered by the current ban -- 40 million acres that represent 79 percent of America’s technically recoverable offshore oil reserves. Using generous estimates from the latest analysis from Bush's own Department of Energy, allowing for unlimited drilling both offshore and in ANWR "would lower the price at the pump by less than 6 cents by 2025."

How much do you reckon a gallon of gas will be in 2025, with or without the hypothetical $0.06 a gal. savings?



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97 comments

fr1st!

Wallace is a fuckin punk!

hey, we need to stop being so negative and start working with the oil companies to come up with new ways to find oil.

it's not like there's alternative sources of energy out there people!

(for the sarcasm impaired, this is sarcasm)

we need a crash program to turn this around and get on alternative fuels asap!!

wonder if obama will backtrack on this too?

Do FAUX News pay chris wallace in shillings?

Mike Wallace must be so proud.

When McCain gets beat in November 2009, will he blame Bush?

Your math is wrong

It's .06 every DOLLAR, not every gallon. If it's $10+/gal, that's a fucking lot of money you save.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, is pushing back by pointing out that oil companies already have leased 68 million acres on and offshore, capable of producing 4.8 million barrels of oil a day, which have not yet been developed. She plans a vote on a bill to bar oil firms from bidding on new leases until they start tapping the acres they already hold.

"Why should we be giving big oil additional leases to drill when they have 68 million acres under lease already that they're not drilling on right now?" Pelosi said.

I feel sorry for Mike Wallace.

Wallace's dad must be so proud.

PS - Fascism is here:

http://rawstory.com/rawreplay/?p=1337

Main line... "she [Condi Rice] was actually here [CNN] for an editorial meeting that we both attended...

I would challenge anyone to first take a trip to Galveston first and go to the Beach.
Look around and see the tar balls on the beach and the stink, the brownish look to the water.

Next take a trip over to Naples Florida or say Ft. Lauderdale beach.
Notice the difference, no stinks, NO Tar balls sticking to your feet, water so clear you can see the bottom.

Drilling will only do these things:

Take away the initiative to find other sources of power.
Increase the US addiction to oil.
And thirdly and most important ... it will put money (lots of it) into the pockets of the already greedy and fat Oil Corporations and do little or nothing to lower the price of fuel.

Obamamite @ 3:

hey, we need to stop being so negative and start working with the oil companies to come up with new ways to find oil.

it's not like there's alternative sources of energy out there people!

(for the sarcasm impaired, this is sarcasm)

Other countries, like Japan, have made big pushes into alternative fuel sources. Why haven't we don't that in America? Answer: The oil companies don't want us to.

We need to get the thieves out off office as quickly as possible. They are draining this country dry.

Chris Wallace is an assh#le. There have been
over 80 oil spills in the last two years.

Few are reported.

How would like to have one at your favorite beach or campsite?

It would make better sense if Chris Wallace begins his monologues by addressing the audience as the "25%ers". Then we'll know he's not really talking to real humans.

And the ignorant clueless morons will go for it! Yeah, give them good guys at EXXON the whole f-ing country so they can bring down the price of gas! Just like they did in Iraq!

If human beings are the only species mother nature gave higher order thinking too, she needs to go back to the drawing board!

Wolf Blitzer spouted the same hooey on his Sun. morning interview with Robert Wexler...

Check THIS out y'all!
http://tinyurl.com/4juqq3

Nick @ 7:

Your math is wrong

It's .06 every DOLLAR, not every gallon. If it's $10+/gal, that's a fucking lot of money you save.

A 6% discount is not that much. It barely covers the taxes. 60 cents off $10? Big deal. It's still $9.40 a gallon and people will refer to it as "$10 gasoline". So instead of $4.50/gal it would be $4.23/gal. BFD.

Fact of the matter is that it's not going to cut fuel prices in by 1/4 or 1/2 which is what people are thinking they're gonna get. It's gonna go back to "normal" in their brains. Not.

Here is the link I posted yesterday to the report to which Pelosi and Bill W. are referring.

http://resourcescommittee.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=388&Itemid=70

In just 7 1/2 years since 5 conservative activist judges installed the Bush Big Oil Cartel in power gas prices have doubled any previous record. Coincidence? I don't think so http://www.aztlan.net/oiltanker.htm

Everything else is background noise, distractions and diversions designed to distract Americans from seeing the truth as to why they are paying through the nose at the pumps.

It looked to me like Wallace was simply pointing out McCain's hypocrisy in drilling off-shore but not in ANWR. I think you guys are getting a bit carried away with this one. Showing the entire clip will be more helpful than just this edited out portion.

"...Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace is brought to you by “The People of America’s Oil and Natural Gas Industry...”

Do we need to say MORE???

LOL!

Why did the post about the Midwest flooding disappear?

Cut the technical mumbo jumbo about exatly WHEN we can see the first drop of oil if we start drilling this afternoon as well as the massive $0.06 savings. Republicans are putting up one of their patented black&white issues with no facts attached and are selling it to the American people who are just dumb enough to swallow it all.

This is a well manufactured issue on their part. Sure the facts on the ground dont jive with the rhetoric but the American people are easily fooled. Dems should call their bluff, allow offshore drillinga nd open up ANWR but if gas does not IMMEDIATELY drop to less than $2.00 per gallon the day the first drop of oil comes out of ANWR or any new offshore rig, then the oil companies are responsible for the difference. With the 'oceans of oil' their promising us from ANWR and elsewhere, they should make a killing, even at $1.99/gallon.

Time to:
1. Nationalize the oil industry (at gunpoint via the Nat'l Guard, if necessary).
2. Release the oil reserves that Cheney has his claws wrapped around, to lower the prices temporarily.
3. Reinvest the money we are spending on foreign wars for oil. Spend it on fuel cell technology instead.

(oh, and time for me to buy a motorcycle)

Maybe instead of looking for new sources of carbon to burn, we should figure out how to make the most of the sources we have.

Companies like Intel should be lauded and encouraged for coming up with things like this:

http://www.intel.com/products/processor/atom/index.htm

The new 'Atom' processor uses 2 watts and has all the horsepower of a 25 watt Pentium 4 processor.

If every other component in computers were redesigned for this sort of power savings, we would save an enormous amount of energy.

Google currently uses as much electricity as an aluminum smelter. The equivalent of an entire electrical power plant is required to power their search engine.

We can do SO much better with smarter thinking.

Nick @ 7:

Your math is wrong

It's .06 every DOLLAR, not every gallon. If it's $10+/gal, that's a fucking lot of money you save.

Umm check your math sir, it is 0.06 per every gallon, not per every dollar. Every estimate that I have seen has put it in the 0.06/gallon range, and never have I seen the 0.06/dollar, well unless you count the studies done during the Clinton Administration when gas was $1/gallon.

♠Bangkok Bob♥ @ 11:

I would challenge anyone to first take a trip to Galveston first and go to the Beach.
Look around and see the tar balls on the beach and the stink, the brownish look to the water.

Next take a trip over to Naples Florida or say Ft. Lauderdale beach.
Notice the difference, no stinks, NO Tar balls sticking to your feet, water so clear you can see the bottom.

Drilling will only do these things:

Take away the initiative to find other sources of power.
Increase the US addiction to oil.
And thirdly and most important ... it will put money (lots of it) into the pockets of the already greedy and fat Oil Corporations and do little or nothing to lower the price of fuel.

When we lived in Houston we visited Galveston. Once. Our neighbors asked us how we liked it and we were politely honest. The reaction? "But y'all are from Michigan, right? Galveston is much cleaner than the Great Lakes! Everyone knows how dirty they are!"
We couldn't convince them, even with PICTURES. I couldn't believe these people were there twice a month and actually swam in that water.

ECHE:

The gas prices would drop immediately. Not because of natural market swings, but because the industry voluntarily lowers their prices for a short while. The American people wouldn't see this as a ploy: they would see the drop in gas prices and think, "Thank God, we made the right choice". The oil companies would pat us on the head for a short while, before raising the prices again and saying, "So, how much do you love Alaska......?"

They would call our bluff and win, unfortunately.

The media is failing miserably at countering the prodigious amount of misinformation the right wing corporate shills continue to spew on the airwaves.
How many times have we heard that the evil environmentalists are blocking all efforts to build more refineries? If only we built more refineries, they laughably pronounce, our problems would vanish.

First, if refineries were the problem, the symptom would be shortages at the gas stations. We have seen no shortages at the pump, while prices continue to soar.

Second, it is the oil industry that doesn't want any excess capacity at the refineries.

Third, if refinery capacity was the bottle neck, you would see them running at full capacity. Funny thing, that. According to the Energy Information Administration, refinery capacity is running between 83-89% this year. Substantially lower than when gas was selling for a $1.25 in the mid 90's.

http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/pet_pnp_unc_dcu_nus_m.htm

Crooks and Liars needs to bring to people's attention the Bakken Oil fields in North Dakota.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bakken_Formation

There would be no problem drilling there and would supply enough oil that drilling off the coast wouldn't be necessary.

What else do you expect from the RNC news channel?

Hahaha. What a bunch of baloney! They play oil and gas commercials right after a segment where Wallace is pushing for drilling???? If people don't smell the bulls**t in all this, then I don't know what to say! These Fox news viewers are STUPID, thats all I can say, I mean...what more can I say!? And the oil companies know that they are stupid, that's why they get away with this.

JimboSlice @ 27:

Nick @ 7:

Your math is wrong

It's .06 every DOLLAR, not every gallon. If it's $10+/gal, that's a fucking lot of money you save.

Umm check your math sir, it is 0.06 per every gallon, not per every dollar. Every estimate that I have seen has put it in the 0.06/gallon range, and never have I seen the 0.06/dollar, well unless you count the studies done during the Clinton Administration when gas was $1/gallon.

It's Faux News math.

There is a delusion fed by the profiteers to the effect that our home team is playing for us. Therefore, ExxonMobile is good, OPEC is bad. Actually, I don't really believe you can achieve world records in corporate profits by passing along savings to consumers. At the pump, it matters not from whence the oil came; each agency will milk and bilk to the last dime.

Allow me a couple of questions:

Do you believe that if they opened up ANWR for oil, they would ask for less than the current market price for the oil?

With the growing middle class in India, China and Thailand does anyone believe that oil prices will ever go down again?

If they do open up offshore and ANWR, oil is not expected for about 10 years. What will the price per barrel be by then?

China and India had very few phone landlines, and the phone explosion there is going wireless. We need to get off oil and develop alternative fuels for Asia to grow into alternative-fueled automobiles and electrical power and not even think about oil-based power.

Why are they not drilling in the 60,000,000 acres that are already leased? Could they be waiting for higher prices per barrel?

Go to PBS and watch last Friday's segment of NOW, which deals with the growing Asian middleclass expected to be a billion strong by 2025 - with automobiles for all - or most. The world's oil supply will not be able to support that, much less by lowering prices.

It's the same program as using 9/11 to invade Iraq. They've always wanted to drill in ANWR - expensive gas is their excuse. 210 days left of this criminal administration.

The problem with nationalizing the oil industry is that we could only assume control of their US operations. These transnational giants are also embedded in many foreign countries. Their entire top-level staff would be out of the country before the takeover even started, leaving empty shells that would be utterly dysfunctional. It takes smart people in key places to run an oil company. They would use their overseas influence and power to squeeze us, as we would still be beholden to foreign countries for our oil.

The car neurotic meathead bloc is already in advanced tizzy state about the evaporation of the happy motoring lifestyle. Local 'reasonable' fascist talk radio shills at ugly WBZ here have been spewing mightily about this inexorable price spike.

And yet, a counter current story line is the beginning of abandonments of many kinds. Some are bailing on recreational boating as the regions marinas are abandoned. Smoe are ditching two stroke gardening things such as mowers and blowers to rediscover exercise in push mowing and rakes.

Some are bailing on cute country farm house rentals and losing the commute by moving closer to work. Public transit ridership is increasing faster than system capacity and bicycles run in a regular stream along the city street even as the parking lot baron sees his plans for parking revenue vaporize here and a Brinks truck must make daily visits to the gas station to cart away misappropriated wealth from working stiffs stuck burning their money into the air.

BREAKING NEWS :

A high level republican politician was caught not being engaged in deception or criminal activity. We'll give you more details as the story comes in. And now back to our regular programming.

The other question is, how far down the supply chain do you want to nationalize? Do you want a Homeland Security creep looking in your windows as he delivers your home heating oil? Do you want the clerks at the Quickee Mart to be government agents?

If drilling in ANWR or offshore is so important, I suggest this: how about we return 100% of the profits to taxpayers? Then we'll approve overturning current bans. How does that sound?

Chris Rich is actually a piece of software I wrote in 10 minutes that spew random phrases and glues them together into incoherent sentences.

Consider the disaster capitalism perspective. Not only does this lie provide a potential for profit down the road via oil. Such a lie also plants the seed that our gulf coast is OK for tourism again. No environmental clean up. No tar blobs on the beach. Just rebuild on the land the rich are stealing from the poor and they're back in business.

We have an oil administration in power and gas has gone to $4 a gallon.

If we had a president who's family fortune was made in the sugar business, who's inner circle was all connected to the sugar industry, and if sugar prices just happened to doulbe while the sugar industry administration was in power, wouldn't most people be able to put 2 and 2 together?

What's so hard to figure out why we have $4 a gallon gas?

Fran Taylor @ 37:

The problem with nationalizing the oil industry is that we could only assume control of their US operations. These transnational giants are also embedded in many foreign countries. Their entire top-level staff would be out of the country before the takeover even started, leaving empty shells that would be utterly dysfunctional. It takes smart people in key places to run an oil company. They would use their overseas influence and power to squeeze us, as we would still be beholden to foreign countries for our oil.

The point in nationalizing an industry is to have accountability. The oil indusrty has been driving US foreign policy far too long. We would do the world a great favor by nationalizing and investigating the asshole CEOs. They have corrupted politics, education , science, forein policy etc....You just don't get any dirtier than this.

Charles @ 41:

If drilling in ANWR or offshore is so important, I suggest this: how about we return 100% of the profits to taxpayers? Then we'll approve overturning current bans. How does that sound?

Or stipulate that all oil drilled offshore or in ANWAR go into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

Either way, I'd bet drilling never starts.

Oil companies barely pay any income taxes. They funnel all their loot into leases land deals and off shore investments. Bush give Exxon $12billion for Ethanol research.
Here what bothers me silly, Canada nationlized it's oil holdings--Petro Canada.Then once free trade was passed, Petro Canada and Sunoco were sold back to USA's interests--5cents to the dollar. Now with freetrade,the oil companies ship Canada's oil to USi---no export tax. America gets 80% it's foreign oil from Canada. I'm told it costs$5/ barrel to retrieve the oil.Note big lie; hardly no oil comes from Saudia Arabia into USi
All Canada is also owned by USA oil companies .Sucks!

Powkat @ 36:

It's the same program as using 9/11 to invade Iraq. They've always wanted to drill in ANWR - expensive gas is their excuse. 210 days left of this criminal administration.

210 days until the next criminal administration takes over.
I don't live in the U.S. anymore....and to be honest ...I'm excited about seeing which heavy -handed techniques the Repubs use to steal the next election. There are many nice advantages - for one thing -President McCain will help create lots of good comedy material for Jon Stewart and Colbert. I think the country I'm in is one of the few which will get benefit from the collapse of the U.S. economy. That's another wonderful thing about President McCain. It doesn't matter how ethical or articulate Obama is. He won't win. Bush stole the last two elections and Americans just focused on Brittany Spears, Paris Hilton and reality TV shows, porno, and pro sports. The next president could have been a democrat but Nancy Pelosi has gone to great lengths to protect Bush. Please everybody - After McCain becomes president - send your Thank you Emails to Nancy Pelosi for her dynamic efforts to empower Bush. She promised "There's a new congress in town!" Ya ! Bring it on Nancy !

The OIL co's PR machines are on MAX POWER until they get EVERYTHING they want. They know they have just a few months to get Congress to bend over and give them the rights to all OUR OIL on public lands.

Some facts I have gleaned over the last two weeks. (Not a 100% exact)

They ALREADY have leases to millions of acres that they have NOT explored / drilled. They have gotten TWICE the number of LEASES in the last five years.

They have explored only a fraction of the land that is already AVAILABLE to them.

The OIL companies are NOT motivated to LOWER the price of OIL at this time because; now it has hit $4 a gallon nationwide ($4.69 in CA) the public opinion has already swayed from 43% to 57% now in FAVOR of giving them EVERYTHING they need (WANT?).

The OIL SPECULATORS have more to do with the increase price of a barrel then the increased demand. A week ago, Friday, in ONE DAY, the price of a barrel went up $11 a barrel. Thanks to the OIL SPECULATORS.

The OIL COMPANIES (like ENRON was) are in the OIL / ENERGY SPECULATION BUSINESS! Thank you Congress. (The ENRON LOOPHOLE.)

IF BUSH would release some of the OIL from the STRATEGIC OIL RESERVE it would DISARM the OIL SPECULATORS, BUT he WON'T. Thank you, Geo. Bush!

The VALUE of the Dollar has a HUGE amount to do with the price increase. Some 35 - 40%. The dollar's big decrease in VALUE is because of the MORTGAGE / BANKING debacle, thanks to CONGRESS for DEREGULATING that business, too.

Have you noticed the CAMPAIGN to get us worried about the Chinese in CUBA drilling on the Continental Shelf and STEALING OUR OIL? (Their not even drilling on their land yet.)

And, if they find some real OIL / GAS there, I am sure the OIL COMPANIES with the help of the NEOCON'S, will find some reason for us to go there and LIBERATE the CUBANS and OCCUPY them until THEIR OIL is all sucked up to support "our way of life to continue". OR, some reason to protect us from some big new scary SECURITY ISSUE.

This ADVERTISING / PR is big - REAL BIG! GETTING OUR OIL FROM OUR PUBLIC LANDS is a bigger BONANZA for them then the Mideast. How much MORE profit can they make on OIL that costs them to just explore / drill here W/O paying the $140 / barrel premium they pay for oil on the open market? The price of the leases here are relatively cheap for them.

I suggest they give the US people half / fourth VALUE of the oil they extract from OUR PUBLIC LANDS (after they recover their exploration / drilling investment).

The OIL from the northern slope of ALASKA is not even going to us. It is going on the world market (mostly ASIA I understand).

ANWAR is NOT the solution. Drilling on ALL THE PUBLIC LANDS is not the solution.

The OIL companies are telling us we will see a dramatic drop in our gasoline prices if we let them have everything the want. They want us to feel it HAS to be NOW!

They are going to SCARE us in to rolling over, and with the help of our Congress and our OIL President they will PROBABLY get it ALL. This is big folks.

They are ALL doing it.

CNN is a petrol orgy with oil-wonks bobbing their heads to the "moderator's" pro-oil propaganda...

Do you think we need to open up ANWAR so we can have more oil?
Oh, yes I do, good point!

Do you think we should drill off shore to ease the demand?
Yes, another excellent point!

Well, that wraprs it then. Thank you for coming!

With such love in the air, and with FAUX news outcaricaturing themselves, CNN is free to continue their proven and subversive record of being corporate shills.

The transparency of this circus is mind boggling!

- - -- - - - - - - - - - - -- -- - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - -- -- - - - -

The oil indusrty has been driving US foreign policy far too long.

And they would continue to hold us hostage from their overseas positions as they squeeze our supplies in exchange for political concessions, just as they are doing today.

I've always thought that this is not - and never has been about oil - or, for that matter, oil profits. It's too trivial an amount given the total picture. The only reason that ANWR or any other area that is environmentally protected is important to the GOPers and their corporate masters is that all such areas stand as de facto examples of government occuring through acts whose authority is born solely from the sovereign will of the People. Environmentalism is always an exertion of the People's will on behalf of themselves and other People, especially those who will not even be People for another 100 years or more.

Oil companies are not People. Any reminder of that is an intolerable situtation to all corporations who consider that only they are the People and thus only they possess sovereign will over governance of the nation. The GOPers could care less about the oil. If the ongoing attempt by corporate America to usurp the reins of government is to be fully consolidated, ANWR, like any other protected space that is yet pristine, is a place and an idea that they must corrupt and must bring to ruin. More, they must succeed at making that corruption and ruin a feature of our cultural paradigms, a thing that we accept as reality without ever consciously noticing that we, especially those who are yet to come, have accepted. They will not give up on this.

Just an opinion.

Fran Taylor @ 50:

The oil indusrty has been driving US foreign policy far too long.

And they would continue to hold us hostage from their overseas positions as they squeeze our supplies in exchange for political concessions, just as they are doing today.

This is a debatable point but I think it's in our best interest to have our people ( as in answerable to the US people) involved . We'll still have to deal with the inherent corruption of the business but at least the deck isn't as stacked as it is today.

This AM on Morning Joe, Gov. Jon Corzine of New Jersey talked about the oil shortage. He said brokers have stockpiled shares creating a shortage. This is a big part of the problem. Why is nothing being done about this? It was also brought up that gas prices will never go down again. Get used to high prices. We need to stop obsessing about oil and work on alternative methods. We have allowed the big car manufacturers to control things for way too long. Time for a change. Go Obama!

Ruthless People @ 44:

We have an oil administration in power and gas has gone to $4 a gallon.

If we had a president who's family fortune was made in the sugar business, who's inner circle was all connected to the sugar industry, and if sugar prices just happened to doulbe while the sugar industry administration was in power, wouldn't most people be able to put 2 and 2 together?

What's so hard to figure out why we have $4 a gallon gas?

I would have been happy had the price of oil/gas merely doubled. The fact is that oil was between $20 and $35 a barrell when bush first took office. The price of oil is now between $130 and $140 a barrell, a modest 400% to 700% price increase. Criminal.

Put oil firm chiefs on trial, says leading climate change scientist

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jun/23/fossilfuels.climatechange

What a lovely sentiment. YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

This is a debatable point

Nationalizing the oil companies would require a herculean political battle that would distract us for years from many other important issues. Other industries would wonder "are we next?" and pull out their holdings in fear. Watch even more jobs flee the country! It would be Very, Very nasty. The "debatable" advantages are just not worth it. Much better to just cut them out of the picture completely by cutting back consumption massively by conservation, better technology, and exploitation of alternative non-combustion sources.

.

When and how can we shut down FOXPRAVDA?

.

Below find JH Kunstlers apt and excellent summary from this mornings weekly Clusterfuck Nation.

"What they don't get is that even while the world is enjoying the all time peak of production (somewhere around 85-million barrels-a-day), that same world is demanding at least 86-million barrels -- so even though there's more oil than ever, there's not enough."

gov. ridge followed the talking points we have already heard........personally i'm not even convinced this off shore drilling will occur anytime soon if at all........just using this to place blame on dems. for high price of gas. these are the key words: high price, immediate help, dems. enviromentalists.......of course many of realize that this is a complicated issue and speculation is being said to be causing the price jumps......they don't want the public to know that plus....more drilling needed much easier to sell as a wedge issue.

#59 has an excellent point. You don't solve your addiction problem by increasing the amount you consume, or by making the drug dealer move out of your neighborhood.

Fran Taylor @ 57:

This is a debatable point

Nationalizing the oil companies would require a herculean political battle that would distract us for years from many other important issues. Other industries would wonder "are we next?" and pull out their holdings in fear. Watch even more jobs flee the country! It would be Very, Very nasty. The "debatable" advantages are just not worth it. Much better to just cut them out of the picture completely by cutting back consumption massively by conservation, better technology, and exploitation of alternative non-combustion sources.

"Not worth it"? The government has to step in not only because of the wild fire of greed driving the price of oil up but even more importantly global climate change. You think these companies give rat's ass about anything other than increased profits. Hit 'em where it hurts. In the pocket book. Penalize them when they step out of line and monitor them relentlessly. Ultimately I say nationalize. Energy policy is a national trust and at a time like this should not be left to the vagaries of a bunch of greedy assholes.

Speaking before Houston oilmen Tuesday, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) declared his support for lifting the 25-year federal moratorium on offshore drilling. He justified this reversal of his longstanding opposition by explaining that it’s now “safe”:

"As for offshore drilling, it’s safe enough these days that not even Hurricanes Katrina and Rita could cause significant spillage from the battered rigs off the coasts of New Orleans and Houston."

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita Caused 124 Offshore Spills For A Total Of 743,700 Gallons. 554,400 gallons were crude oil and condensate from platforms, rigs and pipelines, and 189,000 gallons were refined products from platforms and rigs. [MMS, 1/22/07]

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita Caused Six Offshore Spills Of 42,000 Gallons Or Greater. The largest of these was 152,250 gallons, well over the 100,000 gallon threshhold considered a “major spill.” [MMS, 5/1/06]

– The Bass Enterprises Cox Bay spill of 3.78 million gallons of oil, the largest spill caused by the hurricanes
– The Murphy Oil spill in Mereaux, LA of 819,000 gallons of oil, contaminating 1,700 homes and the local high school

As the Houston Chronicle reported in 2005:

The quantity and cumulative magnitude of the 595 spills, which were spread across four states and struck offshore and inland, rank these two hurricanes among the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history.

Oil Companies have 98 million Acres of leases they have yet to tap in the United States on and off shore that could produce an estimated 4 million bbls a day.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/19/business/19drillship.html

Dearth of Ships Delays Drilling of Offshore Oil
"...the world’s existing drill-ships are booked solid for the next five years. Some oil companies have been forced to postpone exploration while waiting for a drilling rig, executives and analysts said."

“The crunch on rigs is everywhere,” said Alberto Guimaraes, a senior executive at Petrobras, the Brazilian oil company that has discovered some of the most promising offshore oil but has been unable to get at it.

“Almost 100 percent of the oil companies are constrained in their investment program because there is no rig available,” he said.

"Already, 16 new drill-ships are scheduled to be delivered to oil companies this year — more than double the number delivered over the last six years combined. In fact, 75 ultra-deepwater rigs should be delivered from 2008 to 2011, according to ODS-Petrodata, a firm that tracks drilling rigs."

What's hillarious, and should cause concern at the same time, is that the price of oil is going up even with speculation of Saudi output increase. So if supply is going to increase, and speculation is not a cause of the heightened gas price, what other factor is there?

Hit ‘em where it hurts

You just don't get that this is not going to happen. You really think that our puny little US government has any control over these behemoths? They are above and beyond the law and our ability to control them. Energy policy has MORE to do with CONSUMPTION than it does with SUPPLY. The oil companies do not control CONSUMPTION. We do, each and every one of us, with our cars and and our furnaces and our electricity consumption. If we want to get our addiction under control, we have to work from the CONSUMPTION end.

Ruling Class Rou @ 63:

Fran Taylor @ 57:

This is a debatable point

Nationalizing the oil companies would require a herculean political battle that would distract us for years from many other important issues. Other industries would wonder "are we next?" and pull out their holdings in fear. Watch even more jobs flee the country! It would be Very, Very nasty. The "debatable" advantages are just not worth it. Much better to just cut them out of the picture completely by cutting back consumption massively by conservation, better technology, and exploitation of alternative non-combustion sources.

"Not worth it"? The government has to step in not only because of the wild fire of greed driving the price of oil up but even more importantly global climate change. You think these companies give rat's ass about anything other than increased profits. Hit 'em where it hurts. In the pocket book. Penalize them when they step out of line and monitor them relentlessly. Ultimately I say nationalize. Energy policy is a national trust and at a time like this should not be left to the vagaries of a bunch of greedy assholes.

When the revenues from oil are used for the people, rather than the platinum lining on oil execs slacks, alot of good and useful things will happen. It may take years, but it first has to start. The only wasted effort is no effort.

who owns the most oil in the united states let's see exxonmobil....nope shell....nope try morgan stanley
this needs to get to the public....as we can see republicans trying to dilute this and say it's not the cause
enron loophole was discovered a few yrs. ago b republican
http://www.321energy.com/editorials/fox/fox061808.html

We have been brainwashed by the Republicans for years with their "Supply-Side" economics nonsense. The purpose of this propoganda is to deflect focus away from the Demand side of the equation, which is where the consumer has control, and to make us all think that we can only control markets from the "Supply" side, which is controlled by the elite. Thus we have a drug war that concentrates on dealers and smuggling, while ignoring the addiction issues. Thus we have an energy policy that's completely focused on the oil companies. I could go on and on. SNAP OUT OF IT. Look at the bigger economic picture.

Fran Taylor @ 66:

Hit ‘em where it hurts

You just don't get that this is not going to happen. You really think that our puny little US government has any control over these behemoths? They are above and beyond the law and our ability to control them. Energy policy has MORE to do with CONSUMPTION than it does with SUPPLY. The oil companies do not control CONSUMPTION. We do, each and every one of us, with our cars and and our furnaces and our electricity consumption. If we want to get our addiction under control, we have to work from the CONSUMPTION end.

We dealt with them before and we can do it again.

Energy policy isn't about the market at all. It's about sustainability and the future of the planet. The idea that the market should dictate policy is idiocy.

When the revenues from oil are used for the people

If you think that this country is capable of the political change required to allow this to happen, you are really dreaming. Face the FACT that our oil consumption is a NASTY ADDICTION. What you suggest is nothing more than taking over the operations of the neighborhood drug dealer. The ADDICTION is STILL THERE, and all the expended political agony and drama will do NOTHING to alleviate it.

We would be FAR better off if we nationalized the fiberglass insulation industry and made it free so that every house could be properly insulated.

SURPRISE! Another lie from the liars at fux.

no shit, sherlock!

ok, I'm shocked!

no, really!

can't you tell?

It's about sustainability

And the way you deal with sustainability is that you get your CONSUMPTION under control.

You know it's not that Fox is screwing it viewers behind closed doors and don't care about it, they are doing it DIRECTLY in their collective lapdog faces . How can ANY right winger with a half a brain sit there in front of the screen , watch and except this pro - corporatist, screw the consumer propaganda and keep on WATCHING .
aND IT'S not JUST wALLACE , ITS THE WHOLE CORPORATE MENTALITY AT FOX , that apologizes for the price manipulation of OIL , the obscene amounts of wealth taken from consumers and the dishonesty surrounding this issue .
Fox does it with the WAR , the occupation of Iraq , the fact Cheney and cohorts are profiting from these wars and all the lies they have told EVERYONE .
You know they must be sitting behind closed doors saying , these suckers will be believe ANYTHING we tell them and they probably DO .

karl @ 68:

who owns the most oil in the united states let's see exxonmobil....nope shell....nope try morgan stanley
this needs to get to the public....as we can see republicans trying to dilute this and say it's not the cause
enron loophole was discovered a few yrs. ago b republican
http://www.321energy.com/editorials/fox/fox061808.html

Morgan Stanley doesn't own the oil. They are speculating on a something owned by all of us.

Fox News’ Chris Wallace Blatantly Shills for Big Oil

Shilling for this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRUa_E1CugU

Fran Taylor @ 73:

It's about sustainability

And the way you deal with sustainability is that you get your CONSUMPTION under control.

I would agree thats part of it but sustainability is more about alternative energy practices that account for environmental impact on a long term basis.

Another failed audio clip ... not worthy of being published.

That can be fixed - apparently your site team doesnt know any better.

Here's a modest redress that may be a crowd pleaser to pauperized maxxed out stiffs.

Lets have a Moron Tax. Think of it as a retail application of pollution emission trading.Take every non essential silly putt putt thing and tax the living snot out of it to dampen demand.

Take Winnibago's(sic), Jet Ski's, Snow mobiles, big stupid cars (bloatmobiles), and all the other motorized noisy crap and throw a 25 percent luxury tax at it. Tax the snot out of all stupid status baubles, as they will soon only be affordable for the looter class, and reclaim that misappropriated wealth from the Yacht Party denizons.

Then take the revenue and distribute among states for alternative energy development incentive.

This will dampen demand considerably, redirect the wealth and woods walks will be quieter.

An Other Greek @ 51:
that's the very thing that makes them unbelievable.

even after it was pointed out that speculation is driving the prices and NOT the supply/demand rules, they are still trying to perpetrate the lies.

goebels would be proud.

Fran Taylor @ 73:

It's about sustainability

And the way you deal with sustainability is that you get your CONSUMPTION under control.

the rules of the game have changed. it is not supply vs. demand any longer.

see ENRON LOOPHOLE.

Drilling in ANWR has nothing to do with oil. If they didn't find a drop there's still a big winner:

The "oil services" companies. They're the ones that run the pipelines, bring in the derricks and feed the guys doing the work. Who is one of the biggest (if not the biggest) oil services companies?

If you guessed Halliburton you guessed right. Does that name ring any bells?

Ruling Class Rou @ 75:

karl @ 68:

who owns the most oil in the united states let's see exxonmobil....nope shell....nope try morgan stanley
this needs to get to the public....as we can see republicans trying to dilute this and say it's not the cause
enron loophole was discovered a few yrs. ago b republican
http://www.321energy.com/editorials/fox/fox061808.html

Morgan Stanley doesn't own the oil. They are speculating on a something owned by all of us.

easy..........i am fully aware of that thank you very much

No surprise there with this person. I mean look at the network this guy is on.

karl @ 83:

Ruling Class Rou @ 75:

karl @ 68:

who owns the most oil in the united states let's see exxonmobil....nope shell....nope try morgan stanley
this needs to get to the public....as we can see republicans trying to dilute this and say it's not the cause
enron loophole was discovered a few yrs. ago b republican
http://www.321energy.com/editorials/fox/fox061808.html

Morgan Stanley doesn't own the oil. They are speculating on a something owned by all of us.

Actually karl, I was reacting to the article which perpetuates the corporate brown nose POV that all assets are owned by corps.
easy..........i am fully aware of that thank you very much

If it takes 10 years to see oil from new drilling in ANWR, what will gas be in the meantime? $10-15 a gallon? Why can't we just quit playing the oil companies' games with them, and make cars that work on something else? Or - gasp - have some decent public transit in this country?

You could put on 100% more buses, not build any new roads or rails at all, and make it much easier to use public transit. I know - I used to live in LA where it took me 1 1/2 hours to get to work by bus. When I bought a car, that commute instantly went down to 18 minutes. I also tried carpooling with someone who was unreliable, and acted like they were God's gift to humanity for taking me, and left me 5 blocks from my house. Who wouldn't have a car in that circumstance?

In SF, I didn't have a car, and didn't need one. I took the streetcar, and later the train, to work. Had a monthly pass, and no car insurance and car repairs. It's my understanding that my home town is now buying a lot more buses, and changing the routes. I certainly see more people waiting at bus stops, and the heat is awful. People are already changing their habits for economic reasons.

Anybody have Chris Wallace's email address? Would be nice of we all sent him a link to the sat. photos.

As I listen to the oil pricing hearings on Cspan so far, every expert says with emphasis, there is NO unusual oil shortage causing the unnecessarily higher prices.

They all say unanimously, remove the majority of speculating and the price could go down IMMEDIATLY.

Republicans are screaming over and over, we need to drill more. The experts say drilling more could take an average of 5 or more years before we see any price drop.

Republicans created these excessive profitablity problems with their loopholes and lies. I think I'd rather believe the experts.

Didn't they also created an unnecessary, unjustified war, and are screaming for more of that too?

saudi oil meeting no supply problem....the republicans are trying to dilute this fact.....they don't want the speculation theme catching on like enron did
http://www.reuters.com/news/video?videoId=85087

Nick @ 7:

Your math is wrong

It's .06 every DOLLAR, not every gallon. If it's $10+/gal, that's a fucking lot of money you save.

Um, NO. You are wrong. You could have easily clicked the link first and seen that much before spewing that falsehood.

Offshore Drilling Comes Up Empty

So, if lifting the moratorium on most offshore drilling has double the impact on price as lifting the ANWR ban would, that's only $1.50 off the price of crude per barrel. Combined with ANWR, it's $2.25.

Again, by 2025. Again, little to no impact on the price at the pump, today or tomorrow. [...]

Just to put a fine point on it, lowering the price of crude oil per barrel by $1 is roughly equal to a reduction in price at the pump of 2.5 cents per gallon. So lifting all of the above moratoriums, lowering the price of crude by $2.25 per barrel, would lower the price at the pump by less than 6 cents [that's per gallon] by 2025.

Man thats just journalism 101. Do you think Mike Wallace wonders if Chris is actually his son?

Not surprised and Nuff said.

The link about 19% of the available 40 million acres blah blah blah isn't working. Can you tell me where you got that data? Its a great point, but I like to know where it comes from before I use it in an argument.

Sarah @ 93:

The link about 19% of the available 40 million acres blah blah blah isn't working. Can you tell me where you got that data? Its a great point, but I like to know where it comes from before I use it in an argument.

Oops. The link is broken. Here it is.
http://democrats.senate.gov/newsroom/record.cfm?id=299313&

I fixed it in the post too. Thanks for pointing it out.

they just want to be able to drill there if at some time they DECIDE they want to.
no fucking oil company at present time wants anything to do with getting more oil out of the ground.
why would they??
speculators and commodities brokers have driven the price of oil/gas where it is now. not world demand.
there has been NO disruption in the supply chain for oil in the last 4 years and very little increase in overall demand, yet oil and gas have skyrocketed.
it's all speculation.

this issue is a PERFECT STORM for the Republican mis-information machine.

FOX News viewers STILL think they found WMDs in Iraq... and they believe Obama is a Muslim. In another few days they will ALL BELIEVE that the price of gasoline will be cut in half as soon as new leases are let off shore in the Gulf. And ANWR? Fuck the caribou... and FUCK the Guich'n people. As soon at BP sticks a pipe in the frozen tundra of ANWR... why we'll be able to drive our HUMMERS fer ALMOST FREE.

By the time this is over they will have gop diehards believing that we have more oil than saudi arabia and if it was for those darn kids...

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