The Associated Press reports that nearly two million off shore acres of oil and natural gas leases went up for auction today. The area was in the Gulf of Mexico near Texas. The Department of the Interior said they got 423 bids from 47 companies willing to explore for oil and gas. What was not expected, given all of the recent rhetoric from oil companies, congress and presidential candidates that we need to drill, drill, drill, was the fact that only about 10 percent of the leases made available today were actually bid on. You can offer the coasts of the United States to these companies but you can't force them to exploit it.
If what republicans and pro oil people are saying is true, that we must drill our way out of the energy problem, it is not going to get done through the private sector. If this is really what the country needs, then we should nationalize the oil companies and get the job done.
We offered the leases and there weren't many takers. Put up or shut up!
This should tell us all that the oil companies will do what is best for the oil companies and not what is best for the U.S. We need to get serious about alternative forms of energy and stop playing games with the oil companies. They are making record profits and laughing their asses off at all of us dumb citizens that buy into the political bull sh*t.
Nationalize the oil companies or get serious about solar, wind, geothermal and hydrogen.
