Trump administration exempts Florida from offshore drilling expansion

a reply to: MOMof3

Reserving the oil for the US now is thinking, if this has anything to do with "Energy Independence".

But making is about party politics is only divisive when the Two Party's are no different other than lip service and posturing about where and when to drill.

Even Al Gore is an oil man.

a reply to: IgnoranceIsntBlisss

Then why is Inslee from WA state having to sue Trump admin to stop drilling expansion but not Florida.

It seems like storms and hurricanes hit Florida every year, many have been quite destructive. I wonder how safe or wise it would be to put oil rigs in those areas?

I sure would hate to see them in CA, but CA doesn't seem to get the same type of storms. Just another good reason to embrace alternative energy and wean off oil dependence as much as possible.

a reply to: Southern Guardian

I thought offshore drilling was nice and safe and necessary for energy independence? So explain why this Republican governor from Florida so concerned when it comes to his own state? But it's perfectly fine for other states to be subjected to more drilling?

Ask the Kennedys the same thing when they wanted to build a wind farm of Martha vineyards.

and the Mar O Lago?

Not likely to have anything todo with it as from your own map all the reserves are on the opposite coast.

originally posted by: MountainLaurel
It seems like storms and hurricanes hit Florida every year, many have been quite destructive. I wonder how safe or wise it would be to put oil rigs in those areas?

I sure would hate to see them in CA, but CA doesn't seem to get the same type of storms. Just another good reason to embrace alternative energy and wean off oil dependence as much as possible.

Same as any other place in the gulf. It's not as bad as you think. It's got to be one hell of a big one (cat 5) to do damage. I think the last one that actually did damage (other than just pushing the rig to another location) was Katrina where it sunk a floater.

During hurricanes, all crew are taken off the rigs except for emergency staff and that's only on rare occasions. So the rig personnel are taken off and put in a safe place away from the storm. More often, the rigs (since they really are just really odd shaped ships) pick up and move to safer areas until the storm passes.

Continuing its effort to unravel Barack Obama’s environmental legacy, the administration announced last week that it would open virtually all offshore waters to oil and gas exploration — a stark reversal of Mr Obama’s move to prohibit energy extraction across hundreds of millions of acres of ocean.

Well that's a lie.

The Obama era policy was just to ban American offshore drilling leaving foreign competitors free reign.

Unless Disney invents a world where safe nuclear power is PC there aren't many other alternatives.
And we all know how PC pest removal works..

a reply to: StallionDuck

Again you are defending the drilling industry as if you have a vested interest in it.

Hurricane Ike caused oil rig damage:
www.reuters.com...

It will happen again.

originally posted by: IgnoranceIsntBlisss
Okay you got me curious, but I couldnt find a map of 'Florida's off shore oil reserves'.

......Meaning what good does se all those Louisiana platforms do any of the residents there?

Makes the land sink and goobers up there shoreline with oil blobs.
But can they see the bright side in it?
Noooooo.....

I have my home in Cocoa Beach.
I know about what drilling has done to the Gulf Coast states from Florida to Texas.

They should drill right off of Mar-a-lago.

I'm sure it would go over very, very well.

originally posted by: RomeByFire
They should drill right off of Mar-a-lago.

I'm sure it would go over very, very well.

splinternews.com...

“The key to effective trolling is understanding your target. Filmmaker Michael Moore clearly understands that Republicans only care about environmental threats when they happen in their backyards.”

Oh man... It really sucks being interested in more than one post at a time. I can spend a whole day on just one thread! lol So, sorry I've been neglecting these responses.

originally posted by: jrod
a reply to: StallionDuck

Again you are defending the drilling industry as if you have a vested interest in it.

Hurricane Ike caused oil rig damage:
www.reuters.com...

It will happen again.

Of course. I work in it. It's my bread and butter but that's not why I'm defending it. If it was a crap shoot, I would honestly say so. I'll even admit there are issues in the oilfield that need to be addressed but in this thread there is a big misconception.

For instance... If you worked say, as a computer tech and someone put down one brand of processor over another and they were not a computer tech... who better to respond and correct the misunderstanding? You or the TV repair guy? Both of you are used to working on electronics... I will say even that not all oil field hands agree with other oilfield hands but on the basics and facts, we all agree.

As for rigs getting damaged or sinking in the gulf, of course it will happen again. Just as no matter how well you fix a road, there will always be wrecks on it.

The rig wreck you linked to is a platform. They pretty much pull and process oil from the ground or a lot of times they will store it till it is needed. When these platforms are damaged in a storm, they're most often purged and safeties put into place that keeps it from causing a disaster should they fold or sink. Once in a great while, there are accidents which as I mentioned, simply can't be avoided.

On that note, I must stress.... There are OFTEN folds and crevices on the floor of the gulf (and the oceans) that bleed oil, natural gas, various chemicals and gases naturally. This is a normal occurrence under water and even on land. Remember the Beverly Hillbillies? Oil does bubble up to the surface naturally. You can say that the tar/oil mentioned in another response here was from an oil rig and you can say that it came from the bed of the gulf naturally. For that you can't be sure without proof. You have a much higher chance that it was naturally occurring.

Another point I'd like to make. Having a platform fall to the bottom of the gulf is a bonus for all of the critters living under water. It's more so a bonus as much as it is a negative for the oil company for loosing a multi million dollar facility. Also the company will have to replace it which means they're going to spend more money in the US to have it built. Yes, they are made near by, much of it in south Louisiana.

Those facilities are kept spotless... They have to be because OSHA says so! So when they crumple to the floor, sea life will use them and sea life does flourish with and on them. It doesn't actually harm anything but it DOES help sea life in a lot of ways.

originally posted by: grubblesnert

originally posted by: IgnoranceIsntBlisss
Okay you got me curious, but I couldnt find a map of 'Florida's off shore oil reserves'.

......Meaning what good does se all those Louisiana platforms do any of the residents there?

Makes the land sink and goobers up there shoreline with oil blobs.
But can they see the bright side in it?
Noooooo.....

I have my home in Cocoa Beach.
I know about what drilling has done to the Gulf Coast states from Florida to Texas.

What has it done? Oh you mean that spill some years back that caused a lot of issues with the coasts? You do know that rig was WAAAAAY offshore when it happened right? Yes, it did wreak havoc but unfortunately we need that oil so we have to drill for it and accidents do happen. We can't just wave a magic wand and one industry vanish completely and suddenly everything is solar. Guess what, every single thing around you right now... everything, uses or is made of oil to create in one way or another. Everything!

However... I will add that the rig in question didn't follow protocol and we let them off way too easy! Safety designs were supposed to be put in place and working but the rig (was not a US operation....) ignored them.

.....and no... It does not make the land sink. Even if it did, so some little spots in the gulf would be deeper. Do you play on the bottom of the gulf? Are you afraid of falling in a hole at the bottom of the gulf? Tripping or stumbling? I'm scratching my head on this one.

So other than that, what has drilling done to the coasts? Nothing comes to mind. Educate me.

originally posted by: MOMof3

originally posted by: RomeByFire
They should drill right off of Mar-a-lago.

I'm sure it would go over very, very well.

splinternews.com...

“The key to effective trolling is understanding your target. Filmmaker Michael Moore clearly understands that Republicans only care about environmental threats when they happen in their backyards.”

Phhhahahaha! Did you really just bring up Michael Moore? Seriously? You were saying that in jest, right?

originally posted by: marlbblacks
a reply to: StallionDuck

That also doesn't look like the ocean blue, kinda the ocean brown.. I'm sorry I really liked texas when my family took me there, Now they need a straight jacket cuz I'm going to Bikini Atoll..

Depends on where you are along the gulf. The water color has nothing to do with oil rigs what-so-ever. It's called sediment. When you take a boat and go out a couple miles, the water turns more and more blue the further out you go. It becomes extremely clear some miles out. You can see barracuda and shark, oh and the beautiful schools of tuna many many feet down. It's a beautiful sight.

Now.... With so many drilling rigs THAT FAR OUT, don't you think that water around the rig would be so blue and clear? No...

It's sediment you are seeing. It's more clear around Florida because of the way the stream flows, and you have the Atlantic right there. Look at the Mississippi delta. Is all that water mucky brown because they're drilling right there? No... it's sediment. Again, Galveston is more clear and blue as well as some places in Louisiana and Mississippi because of the gulf stream and which way the sediment is flowing.

To be continued in the next response

originally posted by: jrod
a reply to: StallionDuck

You have yet to provide any evidence that this is good for Florida. Oil rigs might provide a few thousand jobs, many of those jobs not going to Florida residents while risking the inevitable oil spills that will hurt tourism on the beaches.

[snipped]

Wgo benrfits here? Certainly not the citizens of Florida!

Me? A shill? Hahahaha That would be more believable if I were a democrat. Man... If I'm a shill, you can bet that I would be taking all that money I would be making and driving a brand spankin new Corvette with all the bling instead of a 2008 C6 LS3. Id be in a $500K house instead of a $1200 apartment. I would only be interested in one subject instead of the hundreds that I've posted myself.

Florida benefits, surrounding states benefits, all classes benefit and the country as a whole benefits.

originally posted by: IgnoranceIsntBlisss
a reply to: StallionDuck

Too bigly for FL beaches.

a reply to: StallionDuck

Okay so 500 rigs = how many jobs | total added income for Florida's workforce?

And who else does all that ordeal benefit (besides the tycoons & cronies)?

ok... Lets say they're the smallest rigs across the board. Id say the absolute minimal would be (and this is a very loooooow estimate) 4 people per crew - 2 crews - 3 3rd party - pusher - company man - galley 4 - work and crew boat 2 - electrician 1


So lowballing at 20. 20x500 = 10,000 people. Now I don't think you're going to see 500 rigs in that one spot, even across the whole gulf. You have less than 100 there now. So lets just say it would open it up to 20 rigs tops...

20x20 = 400 jobs. Now all those people wont all come from Florida. However... Since those rigs operate at hundreds of thousands of dollars a day each... and only a few will be jackups and the rest so much larger with way more crew.

I'd say it would employ around 2000 people on the rigs as a whole. Maybe a lil less. I doubled this number because crews change every 7 days to 2 weeks so you have 2 rotations a month, usually so the numbers are always double.

Now... It goes beyond. If those rigs are porting out of Florida, there would likely be a port built which employ more. Though, I'm honestly not sure where the drilling would take place so it could benefit Mississippi or Alabama more or all 3. But it benefits more than just the people on the rig. So many industries play into this. People who make clothes, restaurants, gas stations, food stores, rent, hardware stores, just anything and everything. The economy in general. It benefits everyone.

I personally don't believe tourism would be affected because it wont affect the water or the beaches. It's just one bureaucrat against another for their pocket's sake. Who's money is going to fill his pocket more? Tourism or Oil? That's really what it boils down to.

a reply to: Southern Guardian



How's that offshore wind farm around Martha's Vineyard doing?



ETA; interupt42 beat me to it. YAY!!

a reply to: StallionDuck

Yet here you are, flooding this thread with pro drilling responses....

The residents of Florida do not want drilling in our waters.

Oil is coming an outdated commodity. We have better alternatives and they are becoming increasingly less expensive. However the oil industry is still a powerful lobby and they want to keep selling us the oil.

For once I thank Rick Scott for standing up for the residents of Florida and not letting Trump bully him it to allowing drilling off of Florida.

Which side will they be on?

Gulf or Atlantic?

Will they be using old crappy platforms or new ones?

Drill baby, drill!

Interesting timing. Just a few days ago:

Documentary filmmaker Michael Moore has threatened to start fracking off the coast of Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort, in response to the Trump administration's proposal to increase off-shore drilling.

www.iflscience.com...

Because, Ducky, Deepwater was bad enough, Floridians don't want to run the risk even CLOSER to their shores. Also, no interest in having tar balls like Texas is blessed with on their shoreline.

I don't live down there anymore, and the state has little going for it, but one thing is felt pretty unanimously & VERY strongly down there -- don't f# up the water any more than BP already did.

originally posted by: jrod
a reply to: StallionDuck

Yet here you are, flooding this thread with pro drilling responses....

The residents of Florida do not want drilling in our waters.

Oil is coming an outdated commodity. We have better alternatives and they are becoming increasingly less expensive. However the oil industry is still a powerful lobby and they want to keep selling us the oil.

For once I thank Rick Scott for standing up for the residents of Florida and not letting Trump bully him it to allowing drilling off of Florida.

I'm here because it's a topic I know very much about and obviously you don't. Do you work in the oil industry? No? I rest my case. I do. I've been in it for nearly 20 years. You're welcome to have an opinion about something you know nothing at all about and I'm very much capable of telling you you're wrong.

Surprise... It's NOT YOUR WATER. Just because it surrounds Florida doesn't mean it's yours. Federal jurisdiction covers navigable waters to the high tide mark, meaning most beaches fall under federal jurisdiction. States can say they own waters all they want but even under state jurisdiction, they can only police 1.5 miles from land. Most rigs aren't that close. So, fail again!

Oil will never be an outdated commodity. Everything around you is oil based or created in some way by the use of oil. Even if our entire power grid was solar and all vehicles were solar or hydrogen, even if every single thing needing power had zero connection to oil (which is impossible), oil will never be an outdated commodity. It's used in EVERYTHING. When I say everything, I literally mean everything. You name one thing to me that's not related to oil in some way and I'll show you how it is.

You're simply not educated on this topic one bit. I can say with the utmost confidence that you are 100% incorrect on your assumptions.

Oil is only less expensive 'right now' because of the abundance. If for some reason it becomes a rare need, again, impossible, but lets just say in your world it does, that means that the price of oil will skyrocket, not plummet. It does so because without a need, no one provides. With no providers, when you do need or want it, you wont be able to afford it.

Rick Scott, I assure you, is only "Standing up for the residents" because it allows the tourism industry to shovel money in his pockets where you cant see it happen. Shame on you for actually believing a politician. Do you honestly think a republican politician will turn down oil (money) for tourism if there was no money involved? That's an oxymoron. You don't need more than a 4th grade education to figure that out. It's money vs money. What matters to him is who's going to give him more of it!

No politician ever did anything selflessly for the people without getting something in return...


duh!

originally posted by: burgerbuddy
Which side will they be on?

Gulf or Atlantic?

Will they be using old crappy platforms or new ones?

Drill baby, drill!

Platforms don't drill Platforms just sit there on a well and suck - refine - push the flow - store the product. Usually most platforms I know of only have a crew between 2 to 8 people. Only drilling rigs (ships) drill for oil/gas.

But yes... Drill Baby Drill! I'd like to continue to have a job till retirement and actually have a decent 401k to live off of. Billy Bob keeps his job, he can buy a house, a truck, prezzies for his kids, buy food, eat out, go out with his wife and friends, drink some beers, help his brother who needs truck repairs... Everybody wins!