chew on this, (just don't puke)...After reading this, why doesn't everyone put puke8 on IGNORE. Copied from the Calgary Sun, May1, 2001
DRILL TEAM PLEA
U.S. wants Alberta onside
By CHRIS NELSON, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
TORONTO -- U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney sent a "drill till you drop" message to the Alberta oilpatch yesterday.
In a blistering show of support for the development of future energy supplies, Cheney said the U.S. is desperate for all types of fossil fuel.
"In the 1970s, 36 percent of our oil came from abroad. Today, it's 56 percent and growing," he said.
"Our natural gas demand by 2020 will grow by two-thirds and we need to build 38,000 miles of new pipeline in that time.
"To keep up with demand in electrical power, we need to build one new power plant per week for the next 20 years."
In a bid to ward off what American legislators have described as a looming energy crisis, the George W. Bush administration is developing a new energy policy that will call for aggressive increases in oil and natural gas production from fields on the continent.
In his address to the Canadian Newspaper Association meeting in Toronto yesterday, Cheney promised "a mix of new legislation, executive action and private initiatives" to cope with rising energy prices and growing demand, the details of which will be announced by President Bush later this month.
Cheney also said drilling for oil and gas in Alaska was definitely on the Bush agenda.
"We cannot go through what California is going through with rolling blackouts," said Cheney.
Following its move to deregulate its power industry, California has been gripped in an electricity shortage that has nearly bankrupted utilities and has forced the state government to cap electricity rates.
Cheney said the U.S. will not ask citizens to do more with less as they did during the energy crunch of the 1970s, but would do everything in its power to increase the amount of oil, gas and electrical power available throughout the U.S. in the years to come.
That means the re-establishment of coal and nuclear power as important energy sources for power plants, he suggested.
Cheney's comments further bolster Canadian hopes and expectations that any U.S. drive to find energy will be a boon for the oilpatch north of 49th parallel, a petroleum industry official said.
"This is the continuation of the message we saw a emerge a few weeks ago ... in that their economy is very dependent on energy and they'll need more energy from a number of different sources," said Greg Stringham, vice-president of marketing and fiscal policy for the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers.
"This is more than just an opportunity for the oil and gas industry -- it's an opportunity for Canada as a whole. As their economy falters, so does ours -- and as their economy flourishes, ours does as well."