Reader Elmer sends a link to Randy Kuhl's interview with the Corning Leader editorial board. The main topic is energy, with Kuhl expressing concern about the effect of the high price of heating oil on those with fixed budgets.
Kuhl also makes the following new claim:
Kuhl disputes that notion saying that while tapping into places such as ANWR would take several years, areas do exist where oil could be reached and refined in a matter of months.
Even Kuhl's latest mailer, which was full of overstatements about the consequences of ANWR and offshore drilling, made no claim about other untapped oil fields. Kuhl has been spinning ever more fanciful stories about short-term fixes to our long-term energy problems. It's hard to see how this new fabrication will help his case.
Comments
There are four capped wells within the area where leases have been issued on the North Slope. The reason given for not pumping the oil is that the pipeline doesn't reach that far east. ANWR is farther to the east. It seems that the game is about getting leases to 100% of the on and offshore land and keeping the oil in the ground. Why sell it now?
Please send a link so I can read about the four capped wells
NO NEED TO OPEN NEW AREAS AND NEW LEASES -- (House of Representatives - June 26, 2008)
From the Congressional record (Thomas)
[Page: H6091] GPO's PDF
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(Mr. DeFAZIO asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute.)
Mr. DeFAZIO. We are going to hear a lot today about the need for new leases. There is no need to open new areas and new leases. Here is Alaska. The former Naval Petroleum Reserve leased by Bill Clinton, authorized by the Republican Congress, has more than 10 billion barrels of oil under it. It is known to exist. The oil industry has the leases; they have drilled 25 wells; they have capped them. They have no plans to connect it to the existing pipeline and bring that oil here to consumers.
But they are saying, no, we want to go over here, we want more leases over here in ANWR. We don't even know if there is any oil under ANWR. How about they deal with the known 10 billion barrels here and provide us some relief at the pump? Then we can talk about other places they might want to go in the future.
I found this:
"the vast Naval Petroleum Reserve-A (later Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 4 and now the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska) in northern Alaska contained oil, but how much and where was unknown. Environmental restrictions have put areas such as the Naval Petroleum Reserve in Alaska off limits to exploration."
here:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/npr.htm
btw - is the Defazio mentioned the Democrat from Oregon? Does he cite any source information?
Right, I never should have represented the capped wells as fact, but I watched several hours of the debate and never heard DeFazio's claim discredited or contradicted. The general tenor of the Democratic argument was that Oil companies are not pumping, drilling, exploring on lands that they have leases for and that they are trying to use the current crisis atmosphere to push for rights on all our land, with no commitment to sell us or anyone else the oil until they are ready.
I find that argument credible. Why spend their resources on all that expensive stuff when they can just keep buying and selling Middle Eastern oil at huge profits? After all, these companies aren't in business to solve our long term energy problems.
Here's one you might like:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbakN7SLdbk
Reminds me of the old joke about how can you tell a politician is lying? His lips are moving. That, by the way, goes for both liberal and conservative politicians.
I will check out your you tube link when I get home tonight.
I don't know what to make of this guy's claims. I'll believe that there's a lot of oil in Alaska, but more than Saudi Arabia?
I glanced at his book - he does talk about nationalizing oil companies. I think that kind of talk is going to increase with the perception that oil companies are holding out on us.
Mr. Williams comes across to me as a nut case conspiracy theorist.
He is not very specific about his sources either. As a clergyman, if he's divinely inspired, he can probably avoid paying tax on his lectures, books, and DVD sales.
Well, he is an ordained Baptist minister.