Gasoline prices continue to rise, pinching American consumers. It's becoming a major political issue, and could soon become an economic crisis. What is the Bush/McCain solution? Offshore oil drilling in the United States. Even if you think this makes sense, it's the latest example of implementing a policy for the wrong reasons.The issue of the day is whether to lift the Congressional and Executive bans on off-shore oil drilling in the United States. President Bush made a Rose Garden statement supporting a repeal of the ban, and John McCain has made it an issue in the presidential campaign. I am going to throw a bone to so-called "conservatives" who have inexplicably been duped by the oil industry lobby into thinking that ExxonMobil and other big companies care about them; I am going to concede, for the purposes of this post, that there are valid reasons to drill for off-shore oil. (It hurts to write that.) Nevertheless, I adamantly oppose lifting the ban. Why? Am I a stubborn eco-ideologue? No. I just object almost every time to doing the right thing for the wrong reason.
Many on the Democratic/progressive/liberal side like to puff their chests out and proclaim how strongly they supported the US invasion of Afghanistan. I cringe every time. When the Taliban took over and condemned all women to a life of enslavement, some military action might have been justified, with an international consensus. When they destroyed the giant Buddhist statues, some military action might have been justified. But to invade the country only when a band of terrorists based there attacked the US on 9/11/2001 I feel is vengeful, largely unjustified and definitely unwise. The revenge motive leads to acts of retribution, like the horrendous US detention and torture policies that grew from the Afghanistan action. Attacking out of revenge encourages the American population to feel that once we hit them back and slap them around a bit, that's all we needed to do to send a message. Meanwhile, without a serious, long-term commitment and without enough troops, chaos reigns in Afghanistan and the Taliban is resurgent. In Afghanistan today we are witnessing the effects of the right policy for the wrong reason.
With the fear that global warming is destroying the planet, calls for limiting emissions of greenhouse gases continuously grow. Tighter restrictions of industrial emissions to the atmosphere and more protection of the Earth's forests are wonderful ideas that I support whole-heartedly. But, I believe more restrictive standards should be imposed to reduce pollution, curtail the potentially devastating effects of the under reported phenomenon of ocean acidification, to reduce fuel consumption and to make industry more efficient in general. As I've written in two previous posts, I am not impressed by the urgency of Global Warming and I believe that imposing strict emissions standards to reverse Global Warming would be the right policy for the wrong reason.
Finally, back to offshore oil drilling. Bush, flip-flopper John McCain, and flip-flopper Gov. Charlie Crist of Florida are claiming that we need more offshore oil drilling because gasoline prices are too high. This reasoning is preposterous. It would take years for these new supplies to affect the market, many studies think the volume of crude would not be enough to significantly lower prices, and even if the new supply did reduce prices, this impact would be relatively short-termed. Modern society is facing a much broader energy crisis that requires a comprehensive, multi-faceted long-term solution, not a quick political gimmick. To conclude, I should write that offshore drilling to reduce the high gasoline prices that are pinching American consumers is the right policy for the wrong reason, except now that I'm done with this post I can remove the mask and decidedly proclaim that in this case, it's the wrong policy for the wrong reason, and that makes it an even worse idea.
Read more about this subject in this discussion at The Young Turks.
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Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 2)
1. i grew up on the gulf coast in the 80's. offshore drilling was a common topic of conversation from both points of view. the reality is that the money and the oil didn't last long enough and the ecological ramifications were dire. louisiana lost a major portion of its wetlands when off-shore drilling companies needed to get from point a offshore to point b inland. this is not a good thing. don't be ignorant to quick fixes...they always require more work and money to be properly fixed.
mia at 12:54PM on Jun 18th 2008
2. Hey there Big Guy,
Not drilling for oil off our shores is silly boss. Oil is the cheapest, most abundant and efficient source of energy to date. It take's oil to make ethanol, and unless you plan to walk, it takes oil to travel.
There is no reason the United States shouldn't be drilling for oil. You want oil prices to drop to $10 a barrel, it will when the United States announces the lift on the oil drilling ban.
We have the oil reserves right here in the United States. To heck with Canada, Mexico, and the Middle East, we have our own and it's time we go get it.
Willet at 1:20PM on Jun 18th 2008
3. Young Turks? More like Young Communists.
Help Jesse Jackson save his people--
Let's gather up all them pesky criminals, make Alpo outa them then send that to the welfare slackers in lieu of they government checks. Solves SO many problems. YUMMMMM!
An American taxpayer voting for Osama bin Obama is like a racehorse voting for Alpo as a retirement plan.
People Eating Tasty Animals and Alpo -- Join Now! Enroll the whole family.
Cliff Mansfield at 1:34PM on Jun 18th 2008
4. Democrats Fuel Excessive Gasoline Prices For Americans.
The pandering of the Democratic Majority to every fringe environmental group known to man has ground domestic oil production and exploration to a virtual halt. These actions of the past 30+ years, designed for political gain, have come home to roost in the form of $4.00 to $6.00 a gallon gasoline. High fuel prices are a threat to the Financial Security of most Americans and the diminished supply of oil is a threat to National Security.
As gas prices continue to increase, Barack Obama and the Democratic Controlled Congress continue to blame American Oil Companies while ignoring practical steps to stop the pain Americans are feeling at the pump. To lower gasoline prices and reduce our dependence on foreign oil, we need real solutions to our energy challenges.
Drill Here. Drill Now. Pay Less. Sign the Petition! @ http://www.americansolutions.com/
Paul Sparcello at 1:38PM on Jun 18th 2008
5. If drilling for oil in the us is not the answer what is. Don't say exclusively that cutting demand is the answer. It at best is a temporary, band aid solution to a problem that Congress has been ignoring for at least 35 years. We don't want to use new nuclear power or coal fired power generating plants for a number of stupid reasons then what exactly do you plan to to use to run the factories, light your houses and keep you warm in winter and cool in summer. People are not going to decrease the demand enough. We can cut back driving and already have, but it's more than just vehicles that use oil based energy, probably uses less than other types of energy. Look at all the pretty lights we leave on at night after the stores close etc. Get a grip on reality young turks and come up with a better solution than what I have seen here and other places so far. Quit hugging trees we need them to heat our houses too.
dave at 1:41PM on Jun 18th 2008
6. The fact that Obama is not ahead of McCain by 20 points is testimony to the fact that while Bush and the Republicans are extremely unpoplular many people are not yet willing to turn this country into the People's Republic of the United States which will surely come if we have the bolsheviks who now control the Democratic party and their useful idiots like you in control.
Eric at 1:57PM on Jun 18th 2008
7. One of the greatest causes of third world deaths in the twentieth century was Rachel carson's silent spring. As a result of that idiotic book DDT was made illegal causing millions of deaths due to diseases like malaria and other insect born ailments. While the so-called environmentalist were worried about the snail darter going extinct and smarmy jerks in San Francisco were advoctaing doing away with pesticides and living in middle class communes eating granola millions were starving to death. Please spare us the crocodile tears for the human disaster you guys are responsible for. Fanaticism has a life of its own and fanatics tend to feel that the end justifies the means to such an extent that the ends become much less important then the process. It happened after the French revolution and was brilliantly analyzed by Edmund Burke. Our founding fathers used much more common sense and gave us a system flexible enough to evolve and progress. Fanatics want to "improve" on this great system and by such improvement kill the baby.
Eric at 1:59PM on Jun 18th 2008
8. Willet-
I now have read many of your posts, and have reached this conclusion- You are an IDIOT.
Gasoline prices will NEVER go down, ever. The glass is half empty, and they know it. Regardless of new sources, etc., etc., it's true. Cost vs. gain is a less than zero sum option, which is why the oil companies are gouging us now, they know the truth, and are hedging against the day in the future when it gets worse.
Hydrogen is the future. Honda is premiering a new and improved hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle, and I'm sure you've seen the ads for the BMW 7 series.
Petroleum conversion is taking place, and yielding great results. And the leader industry-wide? Abu Dhabi. Yes, that's right, oil-producer Abu Dhabi.
Just check out hydrogen fuel on the Internet. I won't bore you with details here.
Aloha!
Robert at 2:40PM on Jun 18th 2008
9. how about if we built more refineries? our love/hate/tolerate relationship with the saudies is such that they could send us the oil for NOTHING and STILL make money off of it in the long run, b/c we'd be doing the refining. it cuts the cost of them refining it, which means they can devote more time and money in getting it out of the ground. that's too simple a solution, so it won't happen. my question, when it comes to drilling for the oil in our biggest reserves is this: how long will that oil hold out? how long can we bring it up and make GASOLINE out of it? they're still pumping oil in alaska, but it's more the kind of stuff you use in everything BUT gasoline. and we only drilled what we could drill without the EPA and tree huggers killing us all for what, 50 yrs tops? the oil reserves in other parts of the world are due to last another million years or so. so we're still gonna be dependant on someone else for oil for a VERY long time. what we need to do is find "alternative energy sources." or at the very least, build our cars to run off methane. :p b/c drilling under ice caps won't cut it. not in the long run anyways. but this is america - home of the quick fix. so i'm not surprised at this idea coming up again.
Devynn at 3:09PM on Jun 18th 2008
10. Here's the funny part to me. Talking about issues with some of the people on here is like trying to convince a Jewish person they should become a Southern Baptist. Your views are so clouded by your perceptions of the other side, you twist any information to fit your belief system. This idea is a temporary fix at best and won't help for quite a while, as even "W" admits. He has the nerve to blame Congress for him sleeping with Big Oil companies and allowing them to manipulate the supply side of the oil market? Anyway, who to say that oil comapies won't just take the new oil from these sights and turn around and sell it to China or India for profit and we wouldn't see any of it in this country and their excuse for high prices in our country will be, the world demand is still causing prices to rise. That's why this is all a joke. The fix was in a long time ago and no matter who's next in the white house anything short of nationalizing the oil industry is not going to change that. Let's get GREED out of America. Profits are great, that's why we go into business but gouging people because you can is just plain wrong.
Giants fan for one game at 3:32PM on Jun 18th 2008
11. The United States is the, "Saudi Arabia Of Coal."
That seems the way to go.
Some make the mistake of confining their thinking to automobiles. Airplanes can't fly on ehtanol, or hydrogen or solar or wind power. Germany kept its air forces flying during World War II by refining liquid fuel from coal.
Captain Negative at 3:32PM on Jun 18th 2008
12. >>>I am going to throw a bone to so-called "conservatives" who have inexplicably been duped by the oil industry lobby into thinking that ExxonMobil and other big companies care about them>>>
Good one Cenk. Republicans are dancing in the streets that a large chunk of our income is landing up in private & foreign coffers.
Oil=tangible product
oil companies= the industrial methodology of extracting that oil for public consumption
current oil production by U.S. oil companies=30% of current needs brought on by stagnated expansion of oil industry by environmental bureaucracy which in turn has made us dependent on other sources of supply
Outcome-depleted supplies resulting in astronomical rise in cost & being held hostage by sources beyond our control. Oil supplied in the U.S. could be regulated pertinent to the expense of actual cost of exploration thereby establishing true "windfall" profits which have nothing to do with current day profits on a worldwide based commodity.
Get this straight democrats, noone on the republican side is hostile toward the environment, we need it as well as you to survive. We also need to put oil exploration back into play IMMEDIATELY so in 5 yrs or whatever we can at least offset some of the shortages in the industry & buy time for alternative energy measures to kick in. This is not a partisan issue unless your side refuses to engage the obvious... We need this legislation today!
Bobby at 3:40PM on Jun 18th 2008
13. Hey Chenk...I check every day just to verify that yes, in fact, you remain a douchebag...I'm betting this fool will be waiting on tables in 6 months.
ChenkSuckkkks at 4:02PM on Jun 18th 2008
14. according to what i heard this morning, the numbers they're promoting amount to less than three years' oil at our present rate of consumption, and it would be ten years before any of it showed up at the pump.
At that rate it would be upside down before it started.
I've also heard that exxon-mobil has leased 65 million acres in the US for drilling but is sandbagging until the price goes up to over $200 per barrel.
Also, mcsame and bush are identical on this just as much as on the war and destroying group health insurance. Four more years of the same song and dance.
Clif Kuplen at 4:31PM on Jun 18th 2008
15. The oil producing arab countries have jacked up the price in an attempt to influence the election for Obama. They do this every Presidential election.
There is no need for off shore drilling. It will not realistically affect the price of gas in the short term.
There is a need for Americans to wake up and start taking responsibility for their life style. If we want to maintain it we have to move back to a society where innovation is prized, and encouraged by the government. Where we all believe we have a stake in our country, we have a common viewpoint, and believe in a social compact between all citizens that benefits all citizens.
We have to have a society where citizens work together to meet national goals like energy independence.
To do so we have to not only respect each other, but cultivate common values.
That will not happen; the radical right and the looney left are too vested in their own little worlds. Our country is split, not just politically, and geographically, but in terms of culturally, ethics and morality.
There are few fundamental bedrock beliefs that Americans hold in common any more.
United we stand, divided we fall.
We are falling.
cdnbirch at 5:53PM on Jun 18th 2008