Start Drilling Now
by Judd WileyApril 30th, 2008, 3:48 pm
Robert Samuelson delivers a slam-dunk op-ed in today’s Washington Post, in which he advocates drilling for oil in areas of the U.S. that are currently off-limits, such as the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and parts of Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico.
By government estimates, these areas may contain 25 billion to 30 billion barrels of oil (against about 30 billion barrels of proven U.S. reserves today) and 80 trillion cubic feet or more of natural gas (compared with about 200 tcf of proven reserves).
What keeps these areas closed are exaggerated environmental fears, strong prejudice against oil companies and sheer stupidity.
Here is what’s going on. Demand for oil has virtually exhausted the world’s surplus production capacity. OPEC has refused to let off any steam by increasing production. Thus, any unexpected increase in demand or threat to supply leads to higher prices in the global markets. This is where we are now.
So what can we do?
Increase our supply. Restrain our demand. With luck, this might widen the worldwide surplus of production capacity. Producers would have less power to exact ever-higher prices, because there would be more competition among them to sell. …
Increasing production also is important. Output from older fields, including Alaska’s North Slope, is declining. Although production from restricted areas won’t make the United States self-sufficient, it might stabilize output or even reduce imports. … Estimates indicate that production from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge might equal almost 5 percent of present U.S. oil use.
Samuelson correctly adds that there are no environmentally friendly alternatives.
On environmental grounds, the alternatives to more drilling are usually worse. Subsidies for ethanol made from corn have increased food prices and used scarce water, with few benefits. If oil is imported, it’s vulnerable to tanker spills. By contrast, local production is probably safer. There were 4,000 platforms operating in the Gulf of Mexico when hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit. Despite extensive damage, there were no major spills …
Bottom line: The oil is beneath our feet. We need it. Screw the environmentalists. Start drilling now.
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Posted in Environmentalism, Gas Prices, Oil, Politics |
i completely agree. it’s ridiculous how expensive gas is. and to think that the oil is right there in alaska, etc. why should we be at the mercy of the hippies who think that the caribou and the spotted owl are more important than people?
What is the footprint of drilling in ANWAR?
IIRC I heard some environmentalist say that it would have the footprint of a large airport.
If so, she just convinced me of her own stupidity- just like those that complain about urban freeways WITHOUT regard to matters of footprint.
For an excellent example of this footprint issue with urban highways, compare these two versions of Washington, D.C.’s un-built cross-town I-66 North Leg:
http://wwwtripwithinthebeltway.blogspot.com/2006/12/1950-62-plans.html
http://wwwtripwithinthebeltway.blogspot.com/2007/03/i-66-north-leg-west-k-street-tunnel.html
I’ve read that drilling would be confined to a space “one-sixth the size of Washington’s Dulles airport.” ANWR, however, is apparently the size of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey, and Delaware combined. So we’re talking about a very small drilling area comparatively.