intangible child

Tomorrow, the new House leaders will take on our Big Oil energy policy. They will take a long overdue first step toward real, sustainable energy independence. And the best part: it won't cost us a dime. Instead, the House plans to pay for it by reversing the $14 billion handout that previous Congresses lavished on Big Oil.
But taking on Big Oil won't be easy. We need a massive vote in the House tomorrow to gain momentum going into the Senate. For that we need your help.
Act now. Contact your representative before tomorrow's vote and urge him/her to pass the CLEAN Energy Act, to take back the $14 billion giveaway to Big Oil and invest it in renewable power.
That's right. The previous conservative Congress of Tom DeLay decided that we weren't gouged at the pump enough and that Big Oil's record profits were insufficient. So, they took $14 billion of our money and funneled it to their political patrons in the oil and gas industry.
But here comes change: tomorrow's legislation will take back the Big Oil handouts and invest it in a brand new renewable energy fund. What can $14 billion potentially do? Power 4.2 million homes with wind energy. Create 29,000 jobs in the solar industry. Or fund incentives to help 5.6 million Americans purchase hybrid cars.
We need your voice to rise above theirs. Contact your representative today -- before tomorrow's vote -- and urge him/her to pass the CLEAN Energy Act, and put Big Oil's ill-gotten gains into a a clean energy future.
The CLEAN Energy Act is only a down payment on complete energy independence. We have much more work to do to realize the full vision of our Apollo Alliance program, which would create three million clean energy jobs and kick the oil habit for good.
But today, you can lay the groundwork for a clean energy future. Tell your representative to stand up to Big Oil, change the direction of our energy policy, and pass the CLEAN Energy Act.
Your efforts count. Already, the House has started to change the direction of our country by raising the minimum wage, requiring Medicare to negotiate for lower drug prices, and passing new ethics rules that ban gifts and junkets paid for by lobbyists. Tomorrow, with your support, we will make another change in course, and start down the path to a clean energy future.

ApolloAlliance.org :: Take Action: Pass the CLEAN Energy Act

Peace, spread it around, Please.

__________________

Live the Light, Give the Light,
Bring Heaven to Earth Every Day!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=jBcwAJZGX...=john%20denver


The ancient Greeks used to say, "You shall know a man by the friends that he keeps." Given the nature of his friends and advisors, what are we to conclude about George W. Bush:
Stop the madness before us it stops!
Σταματήστε την τρέλα προτού να μας σταματήσεϊ Greek

sgtdmski

Get your facts straight. The previous contacts were negotiated by the Department of Interior in 1998.....Hmmm whose department was it at this time? How quickly we forget, Bill Clinton's.

These leases were negotiated in good faith by the oil companies with the government. Now the government is attempting to go back and change them. This is not a way to do business. Nor is it a very legal manuever. If this passes the Senate, I find it highly unlikely it will pass judicial review.

dmk

__________________
Conservatism, I repeat is not an ideology. It does not breed fanatics....But if you want men who seek, reasonably and prudently, to reconcile the best in wisdom of our ancestors with the change which is essential to a vigorous civil social existence, then you will do well to turn to conservative principles
-Russell Kirk-

tyreay

Lets see, who was in control of congress in 1998? Republicans. (not to say that the Democrats aren't possibly just as guilty)
Negotiated in Good faith? You mean paying senators and reps big money(through 'donations' to there campaign funds), or being given perks by the oil lobbiests. It is a legal manuever if the original 'negotiations' wheren't influenced by anything other than the people of the senator's or reps given area, which is not three case.

__________________
Politics, it seems to me, for years, or all too long, has been concerned with right or left instead of right or wrong. ~Richard Armour

There are many men of principle in both parties in America, but there is no party of principle. ~Alexis de Tocqueville

Antithesis

Nothing is done in Congress out of "good faith," and even less so by oil companies. Their motivation is to make money and satisfy shareholders, not to be nice. This doesn't mean they have the right to offer inflated prices.

There's always something under the surface. You should know better than to trust politicians. Even this action is probably just to gain popular support for the Dems (everybody loves low gas prices) before they choose someone to run for the presidency. They need to beef up their credentials, and this is an ideal opportunity to do so. Then again, at least in this case the ends justify the means.

__________________
"Every time I hear the phrase 'Christian nation' I run to my car and blast a Slayer album at full volume." - Me

sgtdmski

News Flash, the contracts were negotiated by the Department of Interior, and department within the executive branch. So how did politicians and Congress get involved with this endeavor???? The last time I checked the members of the Department of Interior were bureaucrats. Again, it is easy to assume anything.

The in good faith means that two entities entered into negotiations and came to an agreement, an agreement in which both parties had expectations to fulfill. Now after the fact, we see that the government wants to punish the companies for upholding their end of the agreement. Unless the companies are willing to pay for being successful in order to obtain new leases, they will not be granted the new leases.

No one complained when the contracts were agreed upon in 1998, everybody was happy to have a source of oil available, but lo and behold, suddenly OPEC stiffened the flow and prices increased, and now Congress is bent out of shape.

Our problem remains our dependence on foreign oil. Perhaps if we had more domestic oil this would not be a problem. But god forbid that we actually drill the oil we have in this country, cause when it comes down to it, the life of a caribou is always more valued than the life and livelihood of the poor.

dmk

__________________
Conservatism, I repeat is not an ideology. It does not breed fanatics....But if you want men who seek, reasonably and prudently, to reconcile the best in wisdom of our ancestors with the change which is essential to a vigorous civil social existence, then you will do well to turn to conservative principles
-Russell Kirk-

tyreay

I did some research and found out that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is part of the Department of the Interior Bureaus! The DOI is run by Dirk Kempthorne:
Bush names Idaho Gov. Kempthorne interior secretary
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush picked Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne on Thursday to be his new interior secretary, selecting a pro-development Western Republican to push for more oil and gas drilling from the Gulf of Mexico to Alaska's North Slope.
Read the article here:
USATODAY.com - Bush names Idaho Gov. Kempthorne interior secretary

It turns out that DOI manages 68% of our nations gas and of our nations gas and oil reserves.


Kempthorne May Offer Areas in North Aleutian Basin, Central Gulf of Mexico for Leasing; Increases Royalty Rate for Offshore Oil and Gas Leases
Read this article here:
U.S. Department of the Interior - News Release -Kempthorne May Offer Areas in North Aleutian Basin, Central Gulf of Mexico for Leasing; Increases Royalty Rate for Offshore Oil and Gas Leases
The areas were withdrawn from consideration for leasing through 2012 by President Bill Clinton in 1998. By modifying that Presidential withdrawal to remove these two areas, President Bush’s action allows the Secretary of the Interior the option of offering these areas during the Minerals Management Service’s next five-year OCS oil and gas leasing program (2007-2012).

“Both OCS areas – one in the North Aleutian Basin of Alaska, known as Bristol Bay, and the other in the Central Gulf of Mexico – would receive thorough environmental reviews,” Kempthorne said. “There will be significant opportunities for study and public comment before any oil and gas development could take place in these areas.”
More information, including a fact sheet, maps of the areas and the President's memorandum, on this is at: Minerals Management Service Home Page

Thanks for point this out to me as I actual thought congress had some say in what went on at the DOI. I have learned something. I have learned that as soon as Kempthorne took control he attempted to hide the truth, by removing the link I posted from the Fish and Game Service. It is totally apparent that Bush didn't like the ecological facts the Fish and Game people were sharing will the public. Can you say Greed and Corruption,,,,,AGAIN?

As for the Polar bear, we both know they'll be in the endangered species list within 6 months. Soon to follow will be the walrus.
This is from your DOI's own website as is most of the info in this post:
BOISE, Idaho) – Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne today announced the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing to list the polar bear as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act and initiating a comprehensive scientific review to assess the current status and future of the species.
The Service will use the next 12 months to gather more information, undertake additional analyses, and assess the reliability of relevant scientific models before making a final decision whether to list the species.
Read the full Story:
U.S. Department of the Interior - News Release - Interior Secretary Kempthorne Announces Proposal to List Polar Bears as Threatened Under Endangered Species Act

I agree we this: The answer is alternate energy not domestic oil. I mean, it's it apparent that, in the long run, pumping all that oil out of the ground and converting it into CO2 to pump into the our air is doing far more damage to humans' and our inter-connected eco-systems, than it will do to help them.
Wind. Water. Solar. Biofuels. This is what these companies should do with the money they want to spend drilling. All the big oil companies must be run by a bunch of pussies that want to make the sure buck at any cost to human and animal life and the biggest profits possible!

__________________
Politics, it seems to me, for years, or all too long, has been concerned with right or left instead of right or wrong. ~Richard Armour

There are many men of principle in both parties in America, but there is no party of principle. ~Alexis de Tocqueville

Rod

Do you know what your alternate fuel source is costing at the moment and where it is coming from? Do you know who is skimming the funds that have been alloted thus far? These are the issues you should be looking into.

Dirk Kempthorne is not the first secretary of state from Idaho. Nor will he be the last I am sure. The fact is Idaho has a vast amount of BLM land, just as Alaska, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado lands that are owned by the public. The Department of Interior manages these publicly owned land and that is the major reason the choices for this department came from Idaho. Besides I think the choices for the Secretary of Interiors have been fine choices for the last 20 years have been good choices. Dirk Kempthorne from my recollections is a fine person and a good choice also for the Department of Interior.

Trying to accuse party lines on this issue is wrong and truthfully does not help anyone in the long run.

I have to agree with dmk altering contracts after the facts causes problems and is wrong.

Links change all the time on sites with new management in these agencies. Write them and ask why it is no lobger there.

The additives to the fuels are a major pollution factor and these cause cancer.

Search Results - THOMAS (Library of Congress)

The more informed people become about the damages from chemicals. The better all will be. In the meantime there are a lot of good people looking for solutions that will benefit everyone.

There are a lot of things that can be done to improve energy sources. For now use what we already own and get on with developing the things we waste each day. Use a system to clean up pollution and provide energy. Start putting in systems that use waste we create to utilize it for energy. You have to spend this the money twice now. Once for treatments and landfills and then later it has to be cleaned up due to the pollution in the ground and the water ways. There is no reason not to start cleaning house now and using what is already there. There are example facilities already working in the nation that use waste to create energy. Improve and expand these to each city.

sgtdmski

Yet the fact of the matter remains, that the action Congress is taking is in regards to contract negotiated under the Clinton Department of Interior, for they were negotiated in 1998, not in 2001. There was no attempt to hide any truth. All one has to do is look at any government website and one will see that after a time, certain items, studies, and news releases are archived. The same held true here. Nor do you ever mention that the same arguments being used today were used when Prudhoe Bay and the Alaskan pipeline were first being debated. Those arguments were proven false and extreme then, and today there is no difference.

Furthermore, like so many you ignore the fact that improvements in technology and exploration have led to safer methods of removing oil from the ground, coupled with the desire of companies to restore to balance the environment when they are finished with their endeavors.

Instead of having the question placed into the hands of the people who will be involved in the drilling, instead it remains left to politicians, who on one side have the oil industry that supports them, and on the other side those who have the environmental industry.

I believe that under the topic of ANWR regarding the bill that would forever ban drilling, I submitted a link to the page of the people who actually live in the area under question. The same people who have stated through their site the fact that the people from the oil industry have remained willing to work with them and have shown a concern for their issues and well-being, whereas, those who oppose drilling, have not once cared about them or their thoughts. Sometimes environmentalists seem to forget that the human species is a part of the environment.

Again, the polar bear would become a protected species and not an endangered one. However, with any investigation, the facts have to come in and we will see if the scientific models are correct, or whether those who actually live in the area and understand the environment are correct. On the one hand the models say the polar bear is in trouble, and on the other, they say the polar bear is increasing.....Model or actual observation?????

All major auto manufacturers offer forms of hybrid engines. The studying of alternative fuels is also being conducted. However, a company also must weigh in with a Cost/Benefit analysis. Unfortunately at this time, the costs outweigh the benefits. What point does it make for a manufacturer to make a product that average people cannot afford. Until such time as the cost of these alternatives become reasonable they will not be produced. Not everyone can afford the price tag of the $90,000 electric sports car. So are we to say those who can't should not have an auto???? So much for sentencing the poor to more poverty, all to say the environment.

dmk

__________________
Conservatism, I repeat is not an ideology. It does not breed fanatics....But if you want men who seek, reasonably and prudently, to reconcile the best in wisdom of our ancestors with the change which is essential to a vigorous civil social existence, then you will do well to turn to conservative principles
-Russell Kirk-

Jefferson

As usual, you're right Sarge.

The fact is that the automakers are demand driven. They will NOT invest hundreds of millions of dollars in R&D for something they KNOW the public is NOT going to buy.

The "Big 3" have spent the last 20 years designing, and making, huge gas-guzzling SUVs because that's what the public is demanding!

I just got back from a cross-country drive with one of my sons. I saw what I see EVERY time I'm on a long trip. MOST of these huge SUVs and trucks have ONE PERSON IN THEM - and that one person is usually a woman who is yakking on a cell phone, speeding, and weaving in and out of lanes.

This is STUPID. I'm driving along in a Volvo, getting 28 mpg, while Soccer Mom is pounding the pavement in an SUV getting 8-10 mpg. But Soccer Mom demands to be in that huge beast, so that she can be "King of the Road."


Until Americans are willing to change our driving habits, we need to shut up and stop complaining about the environment, the cost of gas, and the auto-makers.

tyreay

The average Joe can convert a diesel engine to burn bio-fuel for under a couple hundred bucks. Yet it is too expensive for a car company? Please. Once again it is your stock options talking.

__________________
Politics, it seems to me, for years, or all too long, has been concerned with right or left instead of right or wrong. ~Richard Armour

There are many men of principle in both parties in America, but there is no party of principle. ~Alexis de Tocqueville