Rep. Shimkus: ‘If drilling is good, drilling and mining is better.’
Rep. Shimkus: ‘If drilling is good, drilling and mining is better.’
During a House GOP press conference today, Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL) used the power of logic to push for increased coal mining as well as increased oil drilling. To help make his case, Shimkus held up a lump of Illinois coal and even displayed the jersey of the Southern Illinois Miners:
You know, if drilling is good, drilling and mining is better. … It’s drilling and mining and using great resources like Illinois coal. You all follow the congressional baseball game. I wore this uniform proudly. It says, ‘The Miners.’ The mining industry and coal is part of the solution.
Watch it:
Yglesias writes, “It’s true that if we think we should give zero consequences to the environmental, economic, and public health harms caused by the resource-extraction activities of the fossil fuel industry then we really should go beyond mining in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge and all along America’s coastline — why not tear up as much of the country as possible looking for coal?”
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44 Responses to “Rep. Shimkus: ‘If drilling is good, drilling and mining is better.’”
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What part of 'we only have 3% of the world's oil supply but use 25%' don't these morons comprehend?
It's simple, third-grade math!
August 18th, 2008 at 12:49 pmWhat is it with these people. They want to rape the earth and give nothing back. And when our resources run out and the earth is hopelessly polluted, they will all hold up their hands and say "It wasn't me".
August 18th, 2008 at 12:50 pmNon-Renewable Resources:
Yeah, that's a good thing to stake your future energy needs on.....
August 18th, 2008 at 12:51 pmAnyone who thinks coal is a good idea should be forced to visit China in August for three weeks.
Aside from the fact that they can't own the sun, or tax the electrons it gives off as light and heat, what's their problem with solar energy? Someone still has to make the panels, install them, and maintain them. Plus, it's clean, renewable, and if the sun isn't here, then neither are we.
August 18th, 2008 at 12:52 pmJust another Republican idiot. Republicans seem to have cornered the market on stupidity.
August 18th, 2008 at 12:52 pm.
Because nothing says good stewardship of the planet like the deforestation, mining, drilling, burning and raping of the planet... eh Daryll?
.
August 18th, 2008 at 12:53 pmYou know, if drilling is good, drilling and mining is better.
Okay, that doesn't really follow logically, but let's give him that point for argument's sake.
What if drilling isn't good?
What then?
August 18th, 2008 at 12:54 pmYou know, if drilling is good, drilling and mining is better.
ralph the wonder llama: Okay, that doesn’t really follow logically, but let’s give him that point for argument’s sake.
What if drilling isn’t good?
What then?
If fishing is good then dynamiting fish is better.
August 18th, 2008 at 12:59 pmIf oil company campaign contributions are good, oil and coal company campaign contributions are better.
August 18th, 2008 at 1:10 pmI see... thanks for the insight, 5th. I have so much to learn...
August 18th, 2008 at 1:11 pmbob hussein lablah Says:
If oil company campaign contributions are good, oil and coal company campaign contributions are better.
Game, set, match.
PEACE
August 18th, 2008 at 1:12 pmMark Foley heard on the radio that Congressional Republicans were looking to do good things for "miners" and he got angry, thinking they had booted him out of the club for that very same thing
August 18th, 2008 at 1:13 pmSounds like Shimkus is worried about his re-election, despite the fact that he represents an overwhelmingly Republican district, even though it's in Obama's state. Making comments like this is transparently whoring himself to the coal industry.
Wonder how much coal money he's getting?
August 18th, 2008 at 1:13 pmRep. Shimkus: ‘If drilling is good, drilling and mining is better.’
And who exactly , outside of the oil companies and their bought and paid for operators in the GOP , has ever claimed that drilling is "good" .............?
August 18th, 2008 at 1:17 pmNice prop. It effectively illustrates the sponsorship that this particular Congressman receives. If you could bottle sunlight and sell it for profit, would he be holding a 'Sunbottlers' jersy?
August 18th, 2008 at 1:18 pmuuuhhhhh gawd...
this idjit is my rep... the foley-pediphile-sheltering former head of the "page program"...
running AGAIN, for the SECOND time AFTER promising to only TWO (2) terms...
and the best the dems here can do is put up a young puppy "pro-life" candidate...
sorry...
August 18th, 2008 at 1:18 pmAnd the main reason Illinois coal mining fell off in recent years was because it has some of the highest sulfur content of any coal in the country. This causes destruction of forests, streams, wildlife and damages the health of people downwind from the power plants that burn it. It is very expensive to build the scrubbers needed to take the sulfur out of the smoke, so many plants converted to natural gas or to cleaner coal from Wyoming and Montana.
But none of that matters to a Repug; just rape the earth and Cheney the future generations.
August 18th, 2008 at 1:18 pmYou know, if drilling is good, drilling and mining is better. … It’s drilling and mining and defacing great resources like Illinois. You all follow the congressional baseball game. I wore this uniform proudly. It says, ‘The Planet Rapers.’ The mining industry and coal is part of the problem.
There, fixed it up all nice like.
August 18th, 2008 at 1:18 pmYou know, if drilling is good, drilling and mining is better.
You know, if drilling is good, drilling and mining is better, and drilling and mining and lying is even better.
You know, if drilling is good, drilling and mining is better, and drilling and mining and lying and killing is even better yet...
August 18th, 2008 at 1:19 pmYo! Schmukus!
How about we strip mine your backyard?
Yeah, you'll have to relocate your bathroom, but it's for the common good.
August 18th, 2008 at 1:21 pmIf drilling is good, then the environmental consequences are acceptable
If the consequences are acceptable, then mining is good.
Drilling is good.
Therefore, mining is good.
if D and M, then (D & M)
August 18th, 2008 at 1:25 pm.::. D & M
You know, if drilling is good, and drilling and mining is better, then drilling and mining and burning everything to the ground is even better.
August 18th, 2008 at 1:26 pmWhere would Jesus strip mine?
Oh, forgot, he saved the Earth so now we don't have to.
August 18th, 2008 at 1:27 pmYou know, if drilling is good, drilling and mining is better. …
If stupidity is good, insanity must be better. Really, the logic of clowns like this defies comprehension. How exactly did this country become the leader of the free world with morons like Shimkus running it.
http://progressiveworldreview.com
August 18th, 2008 at 1:31 pmYou know, if drilling is good, drilling and mining is better. … It’s drilling and mining and using great resources like Illinois coal. You all follow the congressional baseball game. I wore this uniform proudly. It says, ‘The Miners.’ The mining industry and coal is part of the solution.
So if wearing shirts that say “The Miners” is good, then wearing multiple shirts that say The Miners is better!
Interesting argument, but what about a shirt that says “The Miners” lots of times?
Or does Shimkus mean that the solution to the problem of amateur baseball team uniforms is an alliance between coal and mining industries?
I for one just don't have the intellectual skills to fathom such weighty issues.
August 18th, 2008 at 1:34 pmI am still trying to wrap my head around an inconsistency here. Somebody tell me -- am I being unfair?
If a family is having a difficult time living within their means, and their income is less than their expenses, the conservatives will bray about "personal responsibility" and suggest that this family lower their standard of living so they can live within a reasonable budget. Of course, this might mean that this family will have to choose between rent and health care, or between food and saving for retirement, but them's the breaks. They should manage their money better.
Now, if a country has an addiction to energy and can't live within their energy means, it's perfectly OK to loot, rape, and pillage the earth without any regard for the future. The very idea of spending energy no faster than acquiring it is an ungraspable concept. And if we use up all of our resources, no problem -- we'll just invade other countries and steal it from them. If the entire planet runs out, that's also no problem, since that will be something a future generation has to deal with.
If the struggling family operated on the same mindset, they would be out robbing banks to have enough for their spending needs -- hardly an acceptable practice by anyone's standards. But it DOES seem to be an acceptable practice to address energy shortages.
Why is personal responsibility and conservation the recommended practice for the poor, but not for the energy greedheads?
August 18th, 2008 at 1:41 pmWhat part of ‘we only have 3% of the world’s oil supply but use 25%’ don’t these morons comprehend?
Oil is sold on the open market to the highest bidders.
Recall 7-11 dropping CITGO as their supplier for gasoline in response to Chavez calling Bush an alcoholic devil:
• While CITGO is a major Venezuelan investment in the United States, several American oil and gas companies either have significant investments in Venezuela or purchase Venezuelan crude oil to satisfy the needs of their customers. This list includes ChevronTexaco, ConocoPhillips, Valero and others.
August 18th, 2008 at 1:44 pmoops, LINK
August 18th, 2008 at 1:47 pmThe "opposition party", a.k.a. The Democrats, will be caving on this subject shortly.
See Pelosi.
August 18th, 2008 at 1:56 pmMcWars The Killer Llama Says:
Minning....
August 18th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Better trolls please, TP.
kthnxbai
August 18th, 2008 at 2:01 pmoh, and by the way... FutureGen is back in the news here in illinois... (remember that? the proposed "clean coal" power plant that was awarded to Mattoon IL - with 2nd place being Texas - and then the Dept.of Energy pulled the plug on the whole deal, supposedly...)
it is understandable that shitkus is is mainly trying to bring those mining jobs back to his district... just as obama is including coal in his plans...
i found out recently that my great-great granpa died the next day from injuries he received in a mining accident, in east-central illinois, danville...
the only good thing about illinois mining is that it isn't as obviously destructive of the view as in appalacia... now THAT is some seriously sinful mining...
August 18th, 2008 at 2:17 pm‘If drilling is good, drilling and mining is better.’
If voting out Republicans is good, voting out Republicans and Conservatives is better.
August 18th, 2008 at 2:19 pmCoal is part of the short term solution. But ONLY if we capture and store the CO2
August 18th, 2008 at 2:20 pmExcuse me while I fire up my coal-powered car...
The real syllogism is:
If the populace will actually swallow more drilling as a solution for gas prices, they'll swallow more drilling and strip-mining as a solution!
The only reason acceptance for more offshore drilling is as high as it is, is that it isn't viewed as an automatic evil, but merely not useful.
Here's how I'd approach this phantasm:
"All right, Senator McCain, you say drilling will lower gas prices right away. Are you going to put your money where your mouth is?
August 18th, 2008 at 2:28 pmHere's the deal: we pass a law allowing offshore drilling anywhere in the US. We also pass a price cap on gasoline at $3.50 a gallon, effective six months from today.
If what you're saying works, then you should be confident enough that the oil companies won't suffer from this, because supplies will be up, and prices will of course go down.
OK. Senator? Is it a deal?
Put up or shut up, Mr. McCain."
Drilling will begin in each of McCain & Romney's 7 houses.
Subsequently, each Republic's backyard will get an oil or coal rig.
All profits from these activities will go into a general trust fund for renewable energy.
Drill there. Now.
August 18th, 2008 at 2:34 pmRep. John Shimkus (R-IL) and alot of his buddies, will be kicking the bucket just when the next generation fully appreciates the environmental irreversibility of what they have done for them.
August 18th, 2008 at 2:38 pmAside from the fact that they can’t own the sun[...]
~unbelievable
And therein lies the problem.
See, they can't copyright, buy, and/or sell our sun -let alone trade it at the NYSE, or speculate with it. How are they supposed to make a profit if they can't bottle and sell a natural resource that belongs to all of us -like say, oh, water? I mean, really...
/sarc off
August 18th, 2008 at 2:52 pm@ #38, Phenix Says: Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL) and alot of his buddies, will be kicking the bucket just when the next generation fully appreciates the environmental irreversibility of what they have done for them.
August 18th, 2008 at 2:38 pm
wouldn't it be nice if the former circumstance were because of, not merely coincident with, the dawning appreciation of the fate the kids were left by their greedy, fawning, sycophantic elders...
August 18th, 2008 at 3:34 pmDo all these kiddies get their sucker when they go home at night? Even Hoax-tra couldn't keep a good face when he and the stepford wives 'n wannabes spoke today. Talk about the urge to regurge.
August 18th, 2008 at 5:04 pmAside from the basic ignorance shown in this remark, it isn't even grammatically correct. "Drilling and mining" make for a plural subject, so "drilling and mining ARE better" would be the grammatical way to express this.
August 18th, 2008 at 7:39 pmOf course, Illinois may loose its tourism industry if there were off-shore drilling there. But as they're in the middle of the country they don't have to worry.
Can I suggest drilling in the good Rep's living room, then mining, then closed in a room with the emissions, and finally live out his live in a mine spoils tailrace ?
August 18th, 2008 at 8:58 pmAre these yokels still in DC doing the drill, drill, drill dance? Good for them. Just think about all the fund raisers they are missing and all the opportunities to meet with their constituents they are missing while their Democrat opponents are cleaning up back home. Hey Repubs - please stay in DC. While you're at it, you might want to start packing up your DC office.
August 18th, 2008 at 9:37 pmOops - meant to type Democratic not Democrat.
August 18th, 2008 at 9:38 pm..."Another factor in maintaining balance involves the element of time. As we peer into society's future, we – you and I, and our government – must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering for, for our own ease and convenience, the precious resources of tomorrow. We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without asking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage. We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow."...
Eisenhower's Farewell Address to the Nation
August 18th, 2008 at 11:45 pmJanuary 17, 1961
http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/ike.htm