Irregular Times Diaries: Unfit Discussion

First thing I see when Yahoo pops on is this little gem of a story.

Bush to lift executive ban on offshore drilling

By BEN FELLER, Associated Press Writer 24 minutes ago

In another push to deal with soaring gas prices, President Bush on Monday will lift an executive ban on offshore drilling that his stood since his father was president. But the move, by itself, will do nothing unless Congress acts as well.

The president plans to officially lift the ban and then explain his actions in a Rose Garden statement, White House press secretary Dana Perino said.

There are two prohibitions on offshore drilling, one imposed by Congress and another by executive order signed by former President Bush in 1990. The current president, trying to ease market tensions and boost supply, called last month for Congress to lift its prohibition before he did so himself.

But Perino said Bush no longer wants to wait. She pinned blame on the leaders of the Democratic Congress, noting that no action has been taken on this issue.

“They haven’t even held a single hearing,” Perino said. “So we are going to move forward, and hopefully that will spur action by the Congress.”

Asked if Bush’s action alone will lead to more oil drilling, Perino said, “In terms of allowing more exploration to go forward? No, it does not.”

The president, in his final months of office, has responded to record gas-prices with a series of proposals, including more oil exploration. None would have immediate impact on prices at the pump, according to White House officials, who say there is no quick fix. But starting action now would help, they say.

Bush’s proposal echoes a call by Republican presidential candidate, Sen. John McCain, to open the Continental Shelf for exploration. Democrat Barack Obama has opposed the idea and instead argued for helping consumers with a second economic stimulus package including energy rebates, as well as stepped up efforts to develop alternative fuels and more fuel-efficient automobiles.

“If offshore drilling would provide short-term relief at the pump or a long-term strategy for energy independence, it would be worthy of our consideration, regardless of the risks,” spokesman Bill Burton said in a statement. “But most experts, even within the Bush administration, concede it would do neither. It would merely prolong the failed energy policies we have seen from Washington for thirty years.”

Congressional Democrats have rejected the push to lift the drilling moratorium, accusing the president of hoping the U.S. can drill its way out a problem.

Bush says offshore drilling could yield up to 18 billion barrels of oil over time, although it would take years for production to start. Bush also says offshore drilling would take pressure off prices over time. In addition, the president has proposed opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for drilling, lifting restrictions on oil shale leasing in the Green River Basin of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming and easing the regulatory process to expand oil refining capacity.

Congressional Democrats, joined by some GOP lawmakers from coastal states, have opposed lifting the prohibition that has barred energy companies from waters along both the East and West coasts and in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. A succession of presidents, from Bush’s father — George H.W. Bush — to Bill Clinton, have sided against drilling in these waters, as has Congress each year for 27 years. Their goal has to been to protect beaches and coastal states’ tourism economies.

Surprise, surprise, an oil barron is gonna lift a ban on offshore drilling and then lay the blame on the Democrats.

“I didn’t wanna do it, they MADE ME do it!” Schoolyard reasoning from our Commander in Theif.

And Obama wants another round of checks? A wonderfully bad idea, if you ask me. Throw money at the problem and see it go straight into the oil companies’ pockets rather than actually providing a meaningful solution to the problem.

This warning about Hurricane Dean was given by the National Weather Service just a few hours ago: “Dean could become a potentially catastrophic category five hurricane at any time before it reaches Yucatan.”

Surely, passing over the Yucatan will diminish the power of Hurricane Dean, but only after pounding the Yucatan again.

Am I right in remembering that Hurricane Katrina was only a Category 2 hurricane?

In reading the National Weather Service forecast, it looks as if they’re predicting that Hurricane Dean will reach the Yucatan Penninsula in about four days… but could it turn north, to hit Texas?

Only one computer model predicts that Hurricane Dean will hit Texas, but the National Weather Service notes that that particular computer model <i>”has had a very reliably track record”</i>.

Watch out, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico! Get the hell out of Yucatan!

A Tornado Hits Brooklyn

The violent rainstorms that hit My Fair City yesterday morning including a little package that no one expected: an F2 tornado. Now you know what those things are like and can do in the Midwest and Southwest. Consider that Brooklyn, alone, has 3 1/2 million people.

Imagine the effect if this thing had hit Manhattan, with its hundreds of towers of glass and steel.

Such violent storms are a predictable result of global warming.

RED DAVE

There’s news today that some people are accepting as a confirmation of global warming. Others of us, however, are willing to look beneath this superficial interpretation, and see what’s really going on up at high altitudes.

Experts say that the Aletsch glacier in Switzerland is retreating, and fast. For example, Laudo Albrecht of the environmentalist group Pronatura says, “It should retreat, but not so fast. The glacier is in rapid retreat.”

These environmentalists purport to have some explanations about why the glacier is retreating, but I never hear them really ask the question that would provide a reasonable description of what’s going on. Sure, the Aletsch glacier is retreating, but these so-called experts never ask what the Aletsch glacier is retreating from.

If these people would look at the map of the region around the glacier, they would see the answer right away. Look at the map yourself, and you’ll see, clearly marked, the word “Munster”. As everyone knows, munster is the Swiss word for monster. The Aletsch glacier is retreating from a monster. Well, wouldn’t you?

What is this monster like? We can’t say, because the environmentalists are keeping it secret from us. They’re afraid that if the world knows what is really causing the Aletsch glacier to retreat, they’ll realize that global warming is just a conspiracy theory dreamed up to conceal the presence of monsters lurking below glaciers around the world.

I found an article that really hits the nail on the head when it comes to the whole Al Bore global hot air thing. It’s called Why is it always the Planet with Environmentalists?

I am so sick of environmentalists talking about the planet. Planet this, planet that. Blah, blah, blah.

I’m tired of hearing about how much planet Earth is in trouble. Why should I work to save the planet when Osama Bin Laden is plotting to blow up the shopping mall down the street from me?

Well, this article asks the question, but it doesn’t have enough guts to get to the real answer.

Environmentalists are always talking about the planet because they’re really just a planet-worshipping cult. They believe that the Earth is a godess, and they hold orgiastic rituals to worship her, in what was foretold in prophecy as a sure sign of armageddon to come. Environmentalism is a cult, and its followers are a bunch of weirdos.

As for the planet, I say we allow market forces to determine whether it’s really worth keeping.