Should we let the oil companies have free rein?

[Oak]

Congress is poised to hand the energy industry another benefit at the possible expense of America's drinking water. At stake is whether the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency can ever react to a problem if oil and gas drilling companies pollute drinking-water wells.
A prohibition on barring the EPA from regulating an oil and gas field process called "hydraulic fracturing" (also called "fracing," but pronounced like "fracking") was part of the massive energy bill passed by the U.S. House. The provision also is favored by Senate Republicans. If it becomes law, the EPA would be helpless even if the technique pumped pollutants into drinking-water wells. Since state regulation of the technique is weak - usually vested in oil and gas commissions traditionally more interested in energy production than clean water protection - the result would be no meaningful environmental oversight of the process.

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Oak

 

[ELKCHSR]

I doubt very much if "AMERICAS" drinking water will all be poluted by this industry, some may, but you portrayd that the country would lose all of it's drinking water...
If that is really true though, we should be seeing all sorts of lawsuits against the oil companies by "Every one" in America!!!

 

[Nut]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by ELKCHSR:
I doubt very much if "AMERICAS" drinking water will all be poluted by this industry, some may, but you portrayd that the country would lose all of it's drinking water...
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I wonder how the ones who have their drinking water contaminated feel?
Should they just be screwed?

 

[ELKCHSR]

Not in the least, but I don't think it will be as wide spread as is made out and the ones effected should be compensated thru new water soarce if they lose their water...

 

[JoseCuervo]

It would seem that preventing the contamination in the first place, might be a bit easier than finding a second "soarce" for the water.

It is not that easy to move a well....

 

[ELKCHSR]

Your absolutly right, it's also not that easy to be held hostage by foriegn governments either...
So what is the solution to that one...

 

[Oak]

I didn't "portray" anything. Just cut and pasted an article I thought we might want to talk about.

Oak

 

[JoseCuervo]

I have no idea how hard it is to be held hostage by a foreign government. I guess we would have to ask the Tri-Axis of evil what it is like...

For the life of me, I have never understood the urgency to consume our own national resources. I would rather use somebody else's and pay them for their's, and consider our's to be "money in the bank."

Our oil isn't going anywhere, so what is the hurry. And there are plenty of countries that want to sell us our oil, and we keep wanting to consume more of it. I love my V-10, and I trust Bush to keep invading Oil rich countries to keep my rig on the highway...

 

[ELKCHSR]

I'm not sure if it has any bearing on this topic, but I have noticed the gas prices at the pump doing a huge increase. I have also heard that the gas bills for houses will increase by 108% this winter...

 

[JoseCuervo]

Nope, has no bearing on this topic...

And Natural Gas prices are going up because of an improvement to the Distribution system. Two big East West pipelines were finished, so we will have more efficient movement to markets that were under supplied. Not a big deal, unless you were in one of the markets that was over supplied. A free market is a bummer sometimes...