Offshore drilling is the right thing to do for the United States.

To lay out my plot, I'll begin with refutations, then contentions, and lastly, a few things I would like to point out to the audience. Refutations 1. My opponent has stated that my first contention in round 1 is contradictory and ironic. He or she claims that oil drilling is the cause of increased emissions which apparently somehow leads to an energy crisis. This is false. An energy crisis is when energy resources are running out and demand and prices rockets up. Certainly, everyone has seen gas prices increasing because we don't have much oil. With offshore drilling, oil and petroleum can be found and used for our cars, which means lowered prices, which means NO ENERGY CRISIS. He or she also talked about President Obama supporting renewable energy sources and clean energy. Then why did he support this plan in the first place? To quote the President, "But the bottom line is this: given our energy needs, in order to sustain economic growth, produce jobs, and keep our businesses competitive, we're going to need to harness traditional sources of fuel. .. " Even the President who supports clean energy recognizes and knows that offshore drilling is necessary. In Obama's speech, he basically states that he does support renewable sources, but also supports offshore drilling. 2. He or she concluded from my 2nd contention in Round 1 means that "imported oil vessels are more dangerous than America, or home grown oil tankers. " That is not what I am stating. My 2nd contention means that oil rigs that have developed dangerous methods are still safe. "This does not prove that they do not crash. " he or she says. It certainly can and does. They (oil rigs) continue to run their operations even with risky methods, but when was the last time you've heard of a recent oil spill? Not recently. .. This shows a pretty nice environmental record. My opponent has asked for some examples of technological advances. Here is 1 of my sources. . http://www.anwr.org... This articles states that new tubing technology has benefited oil rigs by reducing the amount of money spent on an old oil rig. The new tubing technology also reduces friction from sliding which creates a safer rig. Other advances include Horizontal Production Wells, Coiled Tubing Units, Multilateral Wells, and Designer Wells. Think of this. Could an oil rig from the 1960's withstand a hurricane like the oil rigs we have today? Certainly not. Thus, my point is not an opinion. 3. What my opponent is saying here is that we need to drill. My opponent says "it makes little sense to keep the most promising areas under 'lock and key. .. '" I didn't state that we could only drill in certain areas! This topic is about offshore drilling in the United States. Anywhere near the United States borders is fine. I'd like to thank my opponent for pointing out that we could get even more oil by drilling in other places! :D If with those heavy limits, it's significantly, then without those heavy limits, it should be extremely contributing. 4. The sight-seeing. My opponent has stated that Obama's plan could allow drilling as close as 3 miles to the shore. He has also stated that the average man can see 4 to 7 miles out to sea from shore. Obama has many other choices to put rigs. According to the United States Census Bureau, all Americans live within 100 miles of the coastal border. If an oil rig was put, say around 60-90 miles in coastal borders, no one could see it. Thus, sight-seeing is still possible and we don't have limited areas to put our oil rigs. 5. The poll. I am just showing that even people in Florida, a great sight-seeing place, support offshore drilling. I am also just showing that most of the Americans support the idea, seeing as we live in a democratic republic. New Points 1. Where does much of our oil come from? It comes from foreign countries, not even very close to the US, in the Middle East. The United States currently has a very high foreign oil dependence and there are many problems with that. 1) We pay the Middle East, even in our current economic situation, to give us oil. What's wrong with that? What's wrong is that we are funding our enemies that we fought in war! A lot of the countries we purchase oil from are hostile towards us. We buy their oil, they get rich and can buy bombs and rockets to shoot at us. 2) We spend $750 BILLION a year on foreign oil. That is too much money that we're wasting when we could simply gt oil in our own borders. 3) When looking at the countries we purchase oil from, we have some serious problems. For now, Canada is a great ally. But if we so much as break the tiniest rule in our trade agreements with them ( b/c of the "Buy American" rule in the Recovery Package), there will be a huge price to pay. Mexico is on the verge of collapse and if that happens it will be run by the drug cartels. Saudi Arabia is a friend AT THIS MOMENT. But they're unhappy with our solid backing of Israel. Who knows what might come of that? Then there's Venezuela. Chavez hates us. The only thing that might keep him in line is the fact that oil prices keep going downward. Venezuela survives only because they have oil. Iraq and Colombia are unsteady at best and the OPEC countries are some of the most volatile in the world. Any of our "allies" can just quit on us! 2. Offshore oil production makes economic sense. It creates jobs and helps fulfill America's vast energy needs. It contributes to the gross domestic product and does not increase the trade deficit. Higher oil supply helps keep a lid on rising prices, and greater American production gives the United States more influence over the global market. . http://www.washingtontimes.com... These are my new points. My other points are in Round 1, so please look to them for reference. Two things I want to point out: 1. My opponent has failed to further his case or to even mention his points and only refuted mine. 2. This debate is not about Obama's plan. It's about offshore drilling in whole. What I put in the background is just to show what spiked this debate back up.