President Obama issued an order banning drilling for oil and gas in a large swath of the oceans, but Congress may reverse him. Does the GOP want to be known as the party of environmental destruction? Aren’t conservatives supposed to be in favor of conservation?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I read that it can’t be reversed by Congress.
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I hope you are right.
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“The declaration’s fate will almost certainly be decided by the federal courts.
It’s never been done before,” said Patrick Parenteau, a professor of environmental law at Vermont Law School. “There is no case law on this. It’s uncharted waters.” NYT
I guess there is our answer, everything will be overturned by right wing courts that will keep us trapped for a generation.
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To answer your question: Yes, but what are called conservatives in the GOP and the Tea Partiers are not conservatives but regressives who want to live in a fantasy world of the past of their making. We have no conservatives of its historical meaning in national politics these days.
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Well lets see who was it that took the solar panels off the White house
http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/thepresidentandcabinet/tp/History-of-White-House-Solar-Panels.htm
They have been Wackos since Reagan
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The indigenous people of the North Slope need to be heard. Warm waters are robbing them of traditional seal and whale hunting grounds. In order to keep their communities, they are accepting oil development as a necessary evil. Rather than rebuilding the all American Pipeline (where 90% goes to Japan ), we should consider a spur to tie in to Canadian development in the Mckenzie delta that delivers the product to Edmonton and then to the Midwest through existing infrastructure. The New Yorker published an excellent article on the subject this December.
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By keeping the U.S. from drilling in those locales it makes sure there is a steady flow of money through countries that support terrorist activities with those funds.
Obama’s ban exceeds the intent of the original law. The law banned drilling in small specific locations in order to protect a walrus population, so at some point it will be challenged and overturned.
It looks like “original intent” for legal challenges could become one of the surefire ways to reduce overreach from a number of administrations going back decades.
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As a NJ person, I am very happy that Obama banned drilling in the mid and north Atlantic area. Just one oil spill could devastate the environment, the beaches and the animal life that flourishes in that area. Not to mention, NJ has a very lucrative $43 billion tourism industry.
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Then he should have done it correctly and not misused an existing law. If our laws are constantly undermined like that the will become useless…both for us and the environment.
It did not look like the areas involved were likely to impact NJ one way or the other.
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And a large refinery and petrochemical business.
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Teddy Roosevelt was the Republican leader for conservation, more than a century ago.
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Gee agreed,
but even Nixon saw a little something wrong with the rivers burning and created the EPA. and Clean Water Act.
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The security detail I was referring to was. The NYPD which is not being reimbursed by the Feds. Yank them Melania wants to live in Trump tower get a mask.
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Melania should move to Moscow with her son. Vladimir would protect her.
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the NYPD
No wonder Little Fingers wants a private security service to protect him.
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Lloyd Lofthouse
Why you picking on the NYPD . Nobody is going to be able to sell a loosie within a block of Trump Tower . They also specialize in violating the first and fourth amendment rights of Americans . Have been known to riot when denied the right to pillage in minority communities or fix traffic tickets. Together with Rudy it is a perfect security detail for the first _ _ _ _ _ and baby little hands . I’ll let you fill in the blank.. I was not going to be very PC.
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The NYPD weren’t trained and/or meant to be bodyguards for Little Fingers and his family. The NYPD’s mission statement is to keep the peace and combat crime for all of New York City for the benefit of millions.
Do you have any idea how difficult it is going to be for the NYPD to protect Little Fingers when those little fingers are running all over the place groping sexy, voluptuous women under 35, managing a con-man’s business empire; texting lying, bully Tweets, and doing chores for Russia’s power-hungry Putin, and the extreme Alt-Right in the U.S.?
Wait a minute!
I’ve changed me mind. Maybe the NYPD would be the perfect bodyguards for Little Fingers.
Okay, let’s give any Secret Service agents not guarding former U.S. Presidents and their families an extended vacation and send them to Hawaii to bask in the sun and surf. Even better, send them on a year-long world tour, and let Little Fingers hire members of the KKK or American Nazi Party to increase the number of bodyguards in addition to the all-minority NYPD officers assigned to that protection detail.
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“The NYPD weren’t trained and/or meant to be bodyguards for Little Fingers and his family. The NYPD’s mission statement is to keep the peace and combat crime for all of New York City for the benefit of millions.”
Yep.
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Diane, there’s a piece on one of the charter promotion sites that refers to you.
This paragraph is just not true:
“The idea that operators see a profit motive in charters, which are by law organized as charitable corporations, is fanciful.”
Whether they’re “organized as charitable corporations” or not, there are lots of opportunities for profit in charter schools, as we all know because of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Ohio.
Is ed reform now claiming there are NO for profit charter schools? They’ve now just gone to complete fantasy? The plan is just to deny they exist?
http://educationpost.org/public-charter-schools-are-not-the-same-as-private-school-vouchers/?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Choice&utm_content=TWChoicePublicCharterSchoolsNotTheSameSw2
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Public school advocates will have to keep a close watch on this:
“Online charter schools are widely regarded as among the country’s worst-performing, plagued by abysmal test scores and sky-high student turnover rates.
They’re also gearing up for a boom during the Trump administration, judging by where investors are placing their bets.
K12 Inc., the online charter school industry’s largest and most controversial player, has risen in value by more than 50% since November 8. The shares hit a 2-year high last week.”
DeVos and Jeb Bush won’t push to open new online charters. Charters aren’t a big enough market.
Instead they’ll push to cram K12 Inc. garbage into existing lower and middle class public schools.
Local schools boards and public schools can actually make a profound difference here. We don’t have to buy this crap. Simply resist the ed reform sales pitch. Don’t spend money on this. They’ll push it like crazy but there’s no law that say public schools have to buy it, and it’s a product. It has to be purchased.
When ed reform sales people come knocking just say “no sale” and send them packing.
We still have the power NOT to buy something they’re selling. Use that power. Don’t get bullied into buying this crap.
https://www.buzzfeed.com/mollyhensleyclancy/online-charter-schools-prepare-for-a-trump-era-boom?utm_term=.dk56ALD9Xn#.tsxXrVGwMQ
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“Charles Barone @CharlesBarone 18h18 hours ago
Charles Barone Retweeted Michael Petrilli
True. And they don’t need to wait for Trump to do it either. Both House and Senate are currently below Obama’s $350 million for FY 2017 CSP.”
DC is planning another big charter funding push.
Does anyone in DC do anything other than push charter and private schools?
Thousands of public employees and paid advocates and hundreds of lobbying orgs and public schools are never on the agenda.
I know our schools are unfashionable but this is ridiculous. Is there a single adult advocate in that city who works on behalf of the tens of millions of kids who attend the (disfavored) public school sector?
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Barone works for DFER. All in for charters.
No daylight between DFERand DeVos
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(Let me preface my remarks, by saying that I have worked in the Petroleum industry at ARAMCO in Saudi Arabia, I know a great deal about the oil business)
(Soon to be ex) President Obama has invoked an obscure provision of the The Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, created on August 7, 1953. (see: https://www.boem.gov/ocs-lands-act-history/)
The OCSLA can be amended, modified, or repealed, at the pleasure of Congress, just like any other legislation. It has been amended several times, most lately in 2005.
President-elect Trump will have the authority to rescind the action by President Obama, without approval of congress.
Unless the government mucks it up, the USA is on track to be energy-independent. Perhaps as soon as 2020. It is “tantalizingly close” see : http://money.cnn.com/2016/08/09/investing/us-energy-independence-oil-opec/
The USA (and other nations) have been extracting petroleum in the Arctic for decades. There has been no environmental calamity (excluding the Exxon Valdez crash, due to the captain’s drunkenness)
Additional drilling and petroleum extraction, can proceed in the Arctic, with minimal disruption to the environment.
With energy independence, our nation will no longer be subject to the control of OPEC, and nations which bankroll terrorism, with petro-dollars. Jobs will expand here, see the employment rate in North Dakota, one of the lowest in the nation.
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Cema4by, why not drill under the Grand Canyon. Leave no place undisturbed in our hunt for fossil fuels
Volunteer your home in Virginia
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The underlying rock strata in that part of the USA, where the Grand Canyon is, is probably not conducive to the collection or extraction of petroleum. There are some national parks, which might contain oil. One is the ANWR (Arctic National Wildlife Refuge) . see http://anwr.org/2013/08/how-much-oil-is-in-anwr/
The ANWR is about the size of South Carolina. The potential drilling area, is the size of Dulles Airport. Congress has “locked out” this area from drilling and oil exploration.
This new administration, may be more agreeable to oil exploration in our national lands. I hope so.
I agree, that our nation should begin immediately, to get on the path of energy independence. There are many areas in the USA, which might yield petroleum.
Three weeks ago, I was paying $2.05 for gasoline. Now I pay $2.23. OPEC cut production, and my gas bill jumped 10%. The sooner we are free of OPEC, the better.,
No one really knows if there is oil, anywhere, until drilling occurs. It is a little-known fact, that the first six(6) wells drilled in Saudi Arabia, were “dry”. The first producing well in Saudi was Dammam #7. I worked at the ARAMCO Main Camp, in Dammam.
As far as my home, I would be delighted if oil was discovered there. I could be like “Jed Clampett”. Bring it on.
Some years ago, there was oil exploration near where I live. There is a rock formation off the eastern shore Maryland and Virginia called the “Baltimore Canyon” . Original estimates were that there was a potential Kuwaiti pool, in the Baltimore Canyon..
Some exploratory wells were drilled, but nearly all were unproductive.
see
https://www.onepetro.org/conference-paper/SPE-9525-MS
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After oil wells are drilled, business parasites take people’s land for pipeline access, or transport oil through inadequate means. Standing Rock showed the rich, that backlash, is building and, there are people awakening and smoldering in every segment of society. The people of Oklahoma may be willing to have their water supply contaminated and their homes toppled due to fracking, but not for long, no matter what the job situation is.
Recently, one of the richest 0.1%, spent $500,000 for security on his Hawaiian palace. History shows us, the most lavish palaces aren’t safe, when anger boils over.
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With the dramatic rise in fracking in Oklahoma, there has been an unprecedented number of earthquakes in that state. Leave the land alone. It doesn’t like to be fracked.
See the documentary “Gasland” to learn about the horrors of fracking. It destroys the water supply.
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Cemab4y,
Bring it on, huh? Like these people in Wyoming?
http://m.asumag.com/indoor-air-quality
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Better link to story of school that sits in oilfield in Wyoming. It has been closed due to gases affecting students and teachers.
http://trib.com/news/local/casper/educators-eye-fall-for-return-to-midwest-school/article_40f2d7fe-1901-570d-b5f9-0a368fc08bb1.html
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“With energy independence, our nation will no longer be subject to the control of OPEC, and nations which bankroll terrorism, with petro-dollars. Jobs will expand here, see the employment rate in North Dakota, one of the lowest in the nation.”
That does sound good, cema4by and I appreciate you contributing from your area of expertise.
On a related note: I’m curious about your views on what are, at this point, referred to “alternative” and/or “renewable” forms of energy.
One of the talking points is that other nations are further along than we are in the R&D and implementation of the technologies in that area. The idea that we could be leaders in this push but are, instead, choosing to continue a reliance on fossil fuels/shale with investments in alternative methods at a minimum, comparative to other nation’s efforts.
I want to get more info before forming a solid opinion. It seems an important topic.
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I am always delighted to contribute! Keep in mind, I am a telecommunications engineer, not a geologist or a petroleum specialist.
I am 100% for alternate/renewable energy. The cost (per kilowatt-hour) of electricity derived from solar power is coming down. The cost of electricity derived from more traditional sources (fossil) is going up. When the cost per kilowatt-hour for alternate forms of energy drops below fossil-fuel, then the market will have done its miracle.
I have spent over 16 years of my career in foreign nations. In most cases, energy development has originated right here in the USA. The first commercial oil well was drilled in Titusville, PA.
France is way ahead in nuclear power. The French developed the Super-Phenix, Liquid metal fast-breeder reactor. See
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superph%C3%A9nix
The plant closed, because it was uneconomical.
The USA is the “Saudi Arabia” of wind. the wind that blows in our great plains, has the potential to produce a great deal of electricity, with minimal environmental disruption.
Before you get too excited about wind power, keep in mind, that it would take a wind farm, the size of Connecticut, to power New York City.
Stay tuned.
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I think the idea is to use multiple sources of energy production. Not just wind. I’ve read pros and cons on tidal energy and of course there is solar as well as individual smaller scale wind powered turbines in the shape of small trees.
There’s a difference between waiting for these technologies to become cost effective vs large scale investment in creating that scenario as a company representative of our nation. Oil companies do what they can to prevent environmental calamities, but it’s a dirty business and accidents do and will continue to happen.
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Conservatives seek to conserve America’s traditional values, including our tradition of cutting down every tree we see and drilling holes to get whatever we want out of the ground.
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You obviously don’t know many conservatives. Conservatives ABHOR waste. Do you think all of these companies are operated by conservatives? Such blanket generalities are not the sign of a well thought out persuasive argument.
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It was a joke intended to highlight what the “conserve” in “conservatism” stands for. And “conservation” is not conservatism stands for.
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“Conservatives abhor waste”
Pardon me while I roll on the floor roaring in laughter. Conservatives in 1900 are not the conservatives of 2016. Conservatives started the conservation movement while the conservatives of today deny climate change as an excuse to pollute every element of the environment to increase profits.
Waste to a modern day conservative is paying into unemployment, Social Security, Medicare, Obamacare, (that was originally a Republican idea), SNAP, etc.
Waste is anything that gets in the way of increasing profits.
Waste is a labor union that stands up for workers when they are abused in anyway and protest poverty wages without benefits or any due process rights.
Waste is not having every citizen a consummate, addicted consumer willing to go into debt to increase profits of corporations.
Waste is having to pay humans for labor when you can get rid of human labor and replace them with automation/robots.
Waste is equal rights for women.
Waste is taking away a woman’s right to make decisions about her own body.
Waste is wasting time and money in an attempt to alienate the suffering of poverty or end poverty.
Waste is educating every child equally.
Waste is protesting child abuse.
Waste is protesting sexual abuse.
Waste is not waging wars when an opportunity presents itself to start another war that will feed profits into the largest private sector weapons industry in the world.
Waste is paying taxes to repair, replace and/or modernize the national intrastucutre.
Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Eisenhower, and even Nixon and Reagan (I never imagined I’d ever say this for Nixon or Reagan) were not like the conservatives leading the GOP today. Little Fingers is not fit to even follow the shadows of these former conservative presidents. Reagan would vomit his disagreement and digust over Little Finger’s worshiping Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
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Well said, Lloyd. Since Linda “ABHOR[‘s]” waste so much, I’m sure she’s recycling her tin foil to make more hats for herself. Notice she never defends or justifies her positions.
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tinfoil would be too thin. She wears a fifty-pound lead bucket over her head to keep all that radiation from leaking out.
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Typo, must have hit the ‘ key without noticing.
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FWIW: I was listening to the NPR interview with Gingrich this morning. What he said that stuck with me the most regarding some of Trump’s cabinet choices was the classic Republican line: to reduce the role of the Federal government in what should be decisions of the individual states. The idea that the Fed has become too “imperialistic”. So they want someone like Perry in an office that he’s totally not equipped for because the office shouldn’t be that important in the first place.
At least…that’s the upshot I got from that segment of the interview.
I see the same line coming at us regarding Obama’s executive orders. Less Federal oversight. Get rid of those “burdensome regulations”.
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