You might be surprised to learn I make my living in the oil and gas industry. So from a personal point of view, I’m happy to see Bush and McCain suggest to the American people that we can drill our way out of this crisis. Drilling the reserves described above won’t have an impact until 2030 and even then, according to the US Energy Information Administration, the impact on wellhead prices will be “insignificant.” So go ahead and drill. Hell, drill ANWAR, too. That’ll take about 2 CENTS off a gallon of gas.

As a solution to our energy crisis, this proposal is a joke — and I’m laughing all the way to the bank.

But given your screen name, I’m thinking you mean something else.

http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=481B8538-A92A-47FC-81FB-D56217D4F6B4

With oil over $55 per barrel, this process become feasable and makes the United States energy self sufficent. The process was developed in the 1920′s and was used by the Germans in WW 2 to fuel their war machine because Germany had no oil. Now if we just had politicians that were not in the bag for the Arabs so that we could use our own resources.

Our main problem is that we have people in Congress that are looking for the demise of the United States so that it can morph into the world government scenero that they envision but first it must be broken; energy costs will do that. If the Democrats continue with the obstructionism of energy development we will soon be a historical footnote. Listen to what Obama is saying, he’s not running for just President, he’s running for a position in the World Government which the political elitists have planned.

“McCain must show himself to be the “younger” man by thinking more creatively. He should lead the way on innovation and dismiss Obama’s “change” for the silly rhetoric that it is. One possibility is to challenge America with a solid and detailed “Manhattan Project” for energy independence.”

June 17:

“John McCain is making sense with his new energy policy, opting for off-shore drilling (I’m pretty sure this means way off shore, i. e., out of sight) over ANWR.”

Who’s shopworn now?

As for Roger’s “please no spilling,” how many hurricanes have swept through the gulf oil fields without a spill? Not even Katrina resulted in a spill, so I wouldn’t worry about it much.

This answer assumes that by “state,” you mean one of the 50 United States, not a state in the sovereign, international sense. Either way, the answer is the same.

Simply put, no, a state cannot ban certain vessels and allow others. International law takes precedence on that one. While the United States has not ratified the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention, it is U.S. policy to abide by the treaty’s principles, with limited exceptions which mostly involve continental shelf resource rights.

As a result, the United States recognizes innocent passage rights through territorial waters, defined by the LOS Convention as extending 12 nautical miles from the low water line.

Now, within territorial waters, and out to 24 NM (the contiguous zone), vessels can be stopped and inspected for the enforcement of customs and other laws, but in the absence of a violation of U.S. law, vessels exercising innocent passage rights can proceed on their way.

Individual U.S. states have jurisdiction up to 3 NM from shore, so long as the exercise of that jurisdiction does not conflict with federal law. Innocent passage is recognized under federal law.

So in short, no coastal state could restrict innocent passage through territorial waters without running afoul of long-established and customary tenets of federal and international law.

Taken from Powerline.com:

Congressman Roy Blunt put together these data to highlight the differences between House Republicans and House Democrats on energy policy:

ANWR Exploration House Republicans: 91% Supported House Democrats: 86% Opposed
Coal-to-Liquid
House Republicans: 97% Supported
House Democrats: 78% Opposed

Oil Shale Exploration
House Republicans: 90% Supported
House Democrats: 86% Opposed

Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Exploration
House Republicans: 81% Supported
House Democrats: 83% Opposed

Refinery Increased Capacity
House Republicans: 97% Supported
House Democrats: 96% Opposed

SUMMARY

91% of House Republicans have historically voted to increase the production of American-made oil and gas.

86% of House Democrats have historically voted against increasing the production of American-made oil and gas.

Bushitlermccain