Thread: Natural Gas Found Government Blocks Extraction

Here is an article you won't believe. The big bad oil companies are so big an bad. Our government won't let us have these reserves that Chevron paid millions to find.

Do you know what the Destin Dome is?



The Destin Dome lies 25 miles south of Pensacola, Florida. It contains more than three trillion cubic feet of much needed dry natural gas. Chevron acquired leases at Destin Dome in 1984 during the Reagan administration. But Reagan was out of office before the field could be developed and Bush the Elder came to power. Bush the Elder imposed an ill-conceived moratorium on leasing oil and gas fields off most of the Florida coast.

The initial hydrocarbon discovery on the structure occurred in 1987 on Chevron’s Block 56 leaseholding. In accordance with the Coastal Zone Management Act, Chevron submitted an exploration plan to both the U.S. Minerals Management Service and the state of Florida, seeking approval to proceed with drilling operations. Bush the Elder came to power while the application was pending and the Bush Commerce Department sat on the application waiting for Florida to act.

The plan was rejected by Florida politicians, but the denial was overruled by the U.S. Commerce Department. After delineating the lease, Chevron again submitted a development plan in 1996 and Florida again moved to block them from harvesting the much needed natural gas. Once again Chevron was forced to appeal to what was now the Clinton Commerce Dept. The Clinton administration blocked any ruling by creating a catch 22. Not only did the companies need Commerce to again overrule Florida, they also needed clean air permits from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) before drilling could begin. In 1999, the Clinton Commerce Department refused to rule on the appeal until the Clinton EPA acted first. The Clinton EPA refused to act until Commerce ruled. By setting up this shell game the Clinton administration left the matter to languish in bureaucratic hell, and the much needed natural gas untapped.

Finally disgusted with the Bush and Clinton administrations’ failure to honor their contract, Chevron and partners filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government for denying the companies “timely and fair reviewâ€

The truth is, the United States is awash in domestic oil and natural gas. The Baken Oil Formation that covers North Dakota, as well as parts of South Dakota, and Montana, contains at least as much oil as there is in Saudi Arabia. Other fields off both coasts and in Alaska as well as in our territorial waters in the Gulf of Mexico would also be available if Congress would let us develop them. Our domestic oil reserves are so great we would not need to import one drop of oil if our politicians would stand up to the leftists and allow our companies to develop the fields.

Currently it's the Democrats in the U.S. Congess that are throwing up the road blocks.

Our own government continually works to destroy us. Is anyone going to stop them?

Originally Posted by MW

The truth is, the United States is awash in domestic oil and natural gas. The Baken Oil Formation that covers North Dakota, as well as parts of South Dakota, and Montana, contains at least as much oil as there is in Saudi Arabia. Other fields off both coasts and in Alaska as well as in our territorial waters in the Gulf of Mexico would also be available if Congress would let us develop them. Our domestic oil reserves are so great we would not need to import one drop of oil if our politicians would stand up to the leftists and allow our companies to develop the fields.

Currently it's the Democrats in the U.S. Congess that are throwing up the road blocks.

That's right and I shot off a fax to Pelosi, Reid, my congress member, Boxer, Feinstein. Letting them know exactly that and giving them facts. I think we should all do that or at least call.

Yesterday, "American Solutions" delivered 1.3 million signatures for Drill Here, Drill Now. That's a lot of signatures.