WaltonIsOne

Did anyone read the Letters to the Editor section of the Walton Sun today? Someone named R Shaffer really hammered the Sun and some of the "tavern bell" types in South Walton.

Shaffer's letter was right on. Maybe the Sun ought to give this person a job reporting on what is really going on in the County, the State and the World.

Not to mention the letter was a pretty good laugh.

The Editor at the Sun must be a good sport for printing that one.

shellak

had to laugh at that one, as well. not really into the 30a posse and how they go out to dinner every night. would rather read about people who do good works - charity - people who "pay it forward". if the posse does it, then write about it. if this columnist wants to stay "social", she can write about the different festivals, artists, musicians in our area. the rest is nonsense.

30ashopper

LETTER: Shame on The Sun and those who won't drill down | column, letter, html - Local News - WaltonSun.com

scooterbug44

I didn't find the letter that great - all they did was biatch and repeat some nonsense arguments.

Find it hard to take someone seriously when they find a small sign about oil drilling more offensive than the actual thing.

Though I do agree about the recycled AP content and gossip column. The Defuniak paper is a good exmaple of a local paper that actually reports local events and only touches on national/global in its well stated opinion pieces.

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Lake View Too

I agree with you. Anybody that thinks more drilling in the Gulf will make one iota of difference in the price of gas is dillusional. It's a world-wide market. Even if we hit gushers, it would be a drop in the bucket compared to the existing available oil reserves. I'm not even sure what that's got to do with the reporting in the Sun. PC people need to just stay in PC.

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30A Skunkape

30-A people who live east of Watersound are dubbed PC people, except for Rosmarians who couldn't let the sun set on that label and built their own post office. If nothing else the letter motivated me to look inside the Sun, and I have not had that urge in a good while.

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30ashopper

Personally if drilling were kept at least 20-30 miles off the coast, and the state received profit sharing from it I’d be ok with this.

Unfortunately this is an issue that tends to evoke a lot of emotion from the enviro types, but little if any fact crunching. (The paranoia level reached a fever pitch recently in the SoWal thread Dave posted about his get together. See http://www.sowal.com/bb/all-about-so...da-waters.html)

Lake View Too

Unfortunately, this is an issue that tends to evoke a lot of emotion from the "drill baby drill" types also. What fact-crunching has led anybody to think that drilling for more oil in the Gulf will have any effect on the price of oil on the world wide market? What difference will it make in our involvement in the Middle East? We didn't get into the war in Iraq and Afghanistan for oil. According to the President of the United States we got into these wars to fight Al Queda and spread democracy. Unless, somebody in the government was lying...pretty far-fetched, huh?

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My mind tends to wander... but fortunately, it's so weak, it doesn't get very far...

Bob

yeah, we spread democracy to kuwait during oil war number one, right?

Bob

everyone is this country should be an enviro type, not a polluto type

shellysphoto

I have to agree that I got a good laugh about the Party Line Social column...Not being a member of the 30-a posse myself I find the weekly updates about what the same 30 people are doing really obnoxious. I don't think I would really want everybody in South Walton to know everytime I went out to dinner or left town! We laugh each week during the 5 seconds it takes to read the Walton Sun....Not much content in the paper. The Beachcomber is a much better read!

30ashopper

You and I seem to be looking at this through two different lenses. I'm concerned about our energy policy, and our energy supply. We need to make changes that have broad based coverage and long term solutions in mind. Conservation, efficiency, local exploration and production of fuels, nuclear energy capacity, and research on alternative energies all play a part. I support additional exploration because it fits my view of what we should be doing now to prepare for the day the last drop of oil gets pumped. Our natural gas supply will play a critical role in this. If we've got resources we can access safely, we should start researching it now. They will get tapped at some point no matter what.

30ashopper

By "enviro types" I mean the folks who react to this subject emotionally without considering the fact or long term consequenses. I agree everyone should be working to conserve use of energy. I certainly am.

Lake View Too

Again, the amont of oil we could possibly get from the eastern Gulf would be a drop in the bucket in the world wide energy scheme of things. I agree, along with T Boone Pickens (who knows a lot more about the subject than I do) that we should be utilizing natural gas much much more than we do now. The problem is converting automobiles to use natural gas is daunting. The reason we should be converting is that we already have found vast amounts of natural gas in the places we have already exploited.

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TooFarTampa

Nice post 30ashop, and I agree about the natural gas. But thinking logically, how certain can we be that drilling off our beaches will not negatively impact our stunningly beautiful beaches?

There is no room for error here. Any oil issues with our beaches -- tar balls of any amount -- would devastate us economically. It would ruin us. Let's just start with natural gas and go from there. Why does that not make sense?

30A Skunkape

Time to ascend the soapbox again on this topic.

I agree with those contending that drilling for oil nearshore or offshore will probably not result in environmental destruction. I base this on my experiences growing up in Louisiana. I have to laugh at those who talk about Louisiana's beaches and wetlands as though they look like Prince William Sound after the Valdez spill. The fact is that the beach in Louisiana is muddy, dank, dirty and the water is brown. Not because of oil, mind you, but because of a certain river you might have heard of named the Mississippi. Does that mean the beach is ugly? Well, that depends on your point of view;they are beautiful to marine life and host what I dare speculate is the richest biomass in the country. They also call like sirens to anglers, crabbers, shrimpers, hunters, birders and naturalists. But they are ugly in the sense that they do not shimmer and glow white like our beloved Florida panhandle beaches.

What is interesting to me is the fact that drilling proponents try to ease our fears by noting that petroleum processing will take place in Louisiana or Texas. Well, let me once again shout it out-Louisiana's coast is DISAPPEARING! Not slowly, but quickly. Why? First, and most important, building levees prevents natural river flooding that naturally would dump sediment into the marshes to renourish them after hurricanes, high tide, etc. Secondly, and more important to note for Floridians, is the effect petroleum companies have had. They have cut a patchwork of canals in the marsh over time, and these certainly have contributed to the washaway. You might figure that the petroleum companies might be willing to step up to the plate and fix what they have damaged, but you would be wrong. Hundreds, if not thousands of these cuts remain today, disappearing only after they have been consumed by open water, along with the terra firma surrounding them. So it makes you wonder, if they are not willing to 'make it right' in light of the devastating hurricanes that have struck Louisiana over the last few years, made deadlier in part by the wetland destruction, what might they be willing to overlook in Florida?

I propose that before ANY new waters be open to drilling, FIX Louisiana's wetlands first! Doesn't that make sense in light of the fact that much of the petroleum scheduled for extraction in Florida is supposed to be brought to Louisiana for processing?

Please take a few minutes to view the attached video to get a better understanding of where I am coming from!

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beachmouse

Counterpoint: the recent giant and difficult to stop oil spill off the coast of Australia in the East Timor Sea:

Huge Australian Oil Spill Raises Questions - CBS Evening News - CBS News

Drilling in the eastern Gulf is also made more difficult (and consequently more expensive) because anyexploration and potential above sea level structures have to gain the approval of the Department of Defense because those waters are considered to be part of the Eglin Range.

30ashopper

The problems we face go way beyond the cars we drive, electricity production is a huge consumer of energy resources - coal, oil, and natural gas power everything. Take a look at the outputs on the right of this graph -



I think we can all agree that increasing anything on the left that is more efficient, easier on the environment, and is produced domestically helps. Especially considering our consumption continues to increase year after year, while our domestic production declines.

FWIW, from what I've read about the Destin Dome, it's a natural gas resource, not oil.

30ashopper

I'm still trying to understand why programs to solve problems like this failed to get any stimulus funding.

Lake View Too

Skunkape: Your post made it sound like their was quite a bit of enviornmental degradation in the marshlands of the Mississippi delta. The videos made it sound like the residents of these states were asking for help, for investment, or something to that effect. There are ambiguities, no doubt, in this issue, but in all honesty, we have to think provincially: why should we completely forfeit our stewardship of this magnificent region, for everyone to come here and enjoy, for the sake of literally drops of oil in the world oil market. I wish all of you could see the Ken Burn's documentary of "The National Parks, The Greatest Thing We Ever Did". I got so choked up and filled with patriotism when I saw the efforts and sacrifices our ancestors endured to preserve what precious parts of this country they saved. We have to think like that...

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30A Skunkape

Yes, and what I don't understand (layman that I am) is how one makes a profit paying to launch this operation, then shipping it so far away for processing. I might be flirting with aluminum foil hat status, but I believe that at some point down the road there will be a call for more refineries to be built (I don't think we have had any built for decades), and why not right here if there turns out to be lots of oil and such easy access to the intracoastal waterway. Think about it!

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30ashopper

The Destin Dome is estimated to be one of the largest offshore natural gas fields in the continental United States. Do some research.

Lake View Too

Let me know where you got that info from, will ya? From my understanding (again, coming from T. Boone Pickens) we already have an outstanding amount of natural gas reserves already found in the continental USA. So why search for more in the Destin Dome?

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My mind tends to wander... but fortunately, it's so weak, it doesn't get very far...

30ashopper

"Drill baby drill! (just not in my back yard)"

That's the whole problem. We are all unwilling to make the sacrifice. So the problem continues to worsen.

Lake View Too

Re-read what I said in post #20. This isn't just "our back yard". We are the stewards of "God's Back Yard" (for lack of a better metaphor).

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Smiling JOe

I happened to read it, too. A note to the writer, that sign is on private property, not the county's right of way.

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shellak

why don't we just decide to stop purchasing giant SUV's like in europe and other countries???? do we really need Hummers, etc.?? i know that gas is just one aspect of our oil issue but there is so little actual conservation by the average joe. we americans don't want to sacrifice any convenience. one of the reasons others hate us (besides the fact we invade other countries....goes back to the "bader meinhof complex" movie at seaside...still very relevant subject matter)

John R

How exactly does the Baader-Meinhof movie relate to domestic drilling off of Florida?

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30ashopper

Ok, so what's the solution then? Take a look at the graph I posted and tell me where the saving are in your plan.

30ashopper

What incentives would you provide to make this happen?

wrobert

If those darn dastardly Republicans had not tied up all the land with those development easements, we could have put a really nice refinery north of Freeport. Talk about full employment in Walton County.

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30A Skunkape

Interesting how hindsight is 20/20, isn't it? Exactly why we shouldn't crap up the economic golden goose this county now enjoys.

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