Offshore Drilling: Pros and Cons

Posted by Bryant Daniels on 08.03.2008

Or how I learned to procrastinate and love the SUV

As the topic of offshore drilling becomes more and more prevalent during this campaign season, we begin to see political policy taking shape that is as divisive as any partisan politics around. Presumptive Democratic nominee Barrack Obama has taken some heat in the past few days for beginning to waiver on his negative stance toward offshore drilling, which would effectively lift the federal bans in place that prevent oil companies from drilling around the continental United States. Unlike McCain who embraced the concept from the beginning, Obama was cognizant of the fact that drilling in the short term as a reaction to high oil prices worldwide would not yield any benefit till at least 5 years down the road, with even that timetable being tenuous. But the public sentiment has shifted, and although Americans have adjusted by consuming less gas and giving the S.U.V. motor industry the finger, they still want gas prices to come down, and long for energy independence. The Conservative spin-cycle has turned that into a recent talking point, this concept of energy independence being the key to our national security future, something liberals argued for nearly 7 years but never did a good enough job of making it stick. Now everyone is on-board with the idea, but to many energy independence means more domestic oil production rather than a firm, decisive shift to more environmentally friendly energy sources.

It is because of our inability to see past our own noses that we continue to dig ourselves deep into holes that we ultimately are not going to be able to dig (bad pun slightly intended) ourselves out of. The fact is that we should have been expanding our exploration of alternative energy sources long before anyone heard of al-qaeda, before Bin Laden was on the radar, right after Saddam pissed us off in the first place. The equation isn't a difficult one, we know what subsidizes the entire middle eastern economy, and we've known it for some time now. But that same oil that makes Qatar such a delightful little plot of land is also the same money-making force that keeps terrorists going, and has ever since the Ayatollah took American hostages in the late 70's. Our short-sighted gluttony on the matter never allowed for us to ever do anything other than accept the reality, that oil is what we craved, no matter where it came from, and as we stand today we're at a crossroads that could lead to similar thinking in the form of offshore drilling. Once again we've determined not to fix the big problem but rather put a band-aid on the cut that will eventually become a full blown gash. Oil is not renewable and will eventually run out, that's a fact, and there's no getting around it. The steps that need to be taken to get off oil need to be taken now, and the time is most certainly ripe to do it.

The arguments for the drilling do have their worth while affects but not in the normal terms discussed by the politicians. The possible expansion of domestic offshore drilling can and perhaps already has brought oil prices down because of simple supply and demand economics. If we decide to drill for our own oil, our need for foreign suppliers also drops in the short and long-term, leading to a drop in foreign prices to entice the huge American market and to offset the abundance in extra fuel. This sort of effect however works without a single drop of oil ever being pumped on our coastline because it's based entirely on the potential, or to the middle east, the threat of our action. To that extent, I don't have any problem with either candidate discussing or even determining that domestic drilling is a fine idea because it gets the point across, but I don't want them making any shotgun decisions. The first move that should be made, before any new land is opened, is to make sure the oil companies are drilling in all the domestic land they currently have available, which they most certainly are not doing. Considering the current administrations track record, is it so hard to believe the huge push from the right to expand oil drilling isn't a last hurrah, a final present to the tycoons who donate millions to the conservative cause before a democrat takes office?

Ultimately what this country needs is a little ingenuity, a little resolve and a little forethought, character traits we gave up on a long time ago. Let's start to use our a heads a bit, stop giving in to what's easy and make a lasting impact that counts. And for the conservative afraid of compromising our capitalistic integrity for some tree-hugging hippie crap about solar power, just remember, there is a huge amount of money to be made in a growing field that ultimately has no choice but to succeed. I'd say that's pretty damn promising.