Coastal Drilling is Backward Thinking; Innovation is Our Future
by Greg Haegele, Sierra Club on 07.29.08
Several events from the past couple of weeks once again make this fact appallingly clear: The Texas oil man in the White House is way behind the public when it comes to planning an energy future that's good for us and the planet -- and not just good for his pals in the fossil fuels biz. Of note:
-- On July 14, Bush lifted a presidential ban on drilling off U.S. coasts. His father put the moratorium in place by executive order in 1990, and it was extended to 2012 by President Clinton.
-- On July 23, Teamsters union General President Jim Hoffa announced at a press conference that the brotherhood is pulling out of the coalition that supports drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
-- On July 24, the collision of a barge and an oil tanker on the Mississippi River near New Orleans spilled 420,000 gallons of oil and polluted nearly 98 miles of the waterway, reminding us of the 7 million gallons that were spilled in the Mississippi and nearby waterways after Katrina.
How does it all add up?
I was there at the press conference in Oakland, California, on Wednesday when Jim Hoffa summed it up: "We are not going to drill our way out of the energy problems we are facing -- not here and not in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge," he said. "We must find a long-term approach that breaks our dependence on foreign oil by investing in the development of alternate energy sources like solar, wind and geothermal power."
It's mind-blowing just how long it take the Bush administration to look beyond what's good for its campaign contributors -- like Big Oil -- and act instead on what's good for us all in the long run.
If adding new offshore oil drilling would give us a break at the gas pump, then it might make sense as a short-term price saving measure. But even President Bush and Big Oil admit it won't because any new oil would take years and years to come online. And it's definitely not a long-term solution; it simply perpetuates failed energy policies.
So what do we need instead?
In the short run: immediate relief for Americans who are stuck with the results of a failed energy policy that leaves us way too dependent on foreign oil and completely at the mercy of Big Oil, which is making record windfall profits at a time the rest of us get the wind knocked out of us every time we fill up. Average Americans need an economic stimulus package that includes energy rebates.
In the long run, we need America to reassert itself as the world leader and develop new clean energy sources. Enough with Big Oil controlling our destinies. We need out-of-the box thinking -- like Illinois Congressman Rahm Emanuel's
incentives program and his call for choice at the pump -- natural gas -- which would give us a choice of fuels for our cars so Exxon doesn't have us over a barrel. or businessman T. Boone Pickens, who sees the writing on the wall and wants to invest in American solutions -- wind, as well as cars that run on natural gas.
Drilling our coasts, the Arctic refuge, and other untouched places is not the answer to the question about energy generation for the future. That sad fact is that our nation's chief is not only failing to lead -- he's moving us backward.
Image credit::US Department of Interior, A few examples of offshore rigs,drilling and production platforms. Left to right: onshore platform; fixed platform; jack-up rig; semi-submersible; drill ship; tension leg platform.
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I hate to say it, but I'm in favor of drilling AND innovation. The price ALREADY dropped when Bush just hinted at drilling by dropping the ban.
It's real easy for people who can afford food like me and probably the majority of people on this website to say we don't need cheaper oil right now while millions starve because of high energy prices.
Realistically we will use oil for the foreseeable future and I'd rather drill for it than kill for it. We should responsibly drill (not an oxymoron) in the oceans and the arctic to buy us some time to convert the American auto fleet to electric, biodiesel, natural gas, etc. It would take a lot of wind out of the sails of OPEC which is a good thing.
Also, it would LOWER oil company profit percentages by reducing the price of each barrel.
I would love to flip a switch and have everyone on mass transit and in electric cars tomorrow, but folks, that ain't happening. We can work toward an oil free future, but for now , we need to use the resources we have to keep our economy healthy and growing, so we can afford to innovate.
I'm sure my opinion will be in the minority on this site but I have thought about this a lot and I just don't see any other alternative. Being held up by the Saudis, Chavez, Ahmadinejad, etc is getting really old.
@Murray Passarieu
"Being held up by the Saudis, Chavez, Ahmedinejad, etc is getting really old."
I disagree with your opinion on drilling, as you expected.
But also wanted to point out in your above comment that you forgot Canada...here is a link to some figures on where our oil actually comes from:
http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/graphic/2008/07/26/GR2008072601572.gif
The problem is the monumental task involved in accessing this oil. Not to mention the fact that we're not even sure how much oil really exists. Even if off shore drilling is allowed, it could take nearly 10 years before one drop is available for use. Is the multi-billion dollar bill to do all this work really worth the effort? A lot of people who are pro off-shore drilling think that it will magically lessen the US dependency on foreign oil. This is highly unlikely. Even oil industry experts agree that the odds of finding a huge oil field in the western hemisphere is slim.
Murray,
I agree with you. We can drill in a responsible way and move forward towards cleaner power and cars at a pace everyone can handle. I know I couldn't get an electric car right now even though I would love to have one... I have to use gas for now and if it was cheaper then maybe I could save my money towards a better for the environment car.
Murray,
I agree with you. We can drill in a responsible way and move forward towards cleaner power and cars at a pace everyone can handle. I know I couldn't get an electric car right now even though I would love to have one... I have to use gas for now and if it was cheaper then maybe I could save my money towards a better for the environment car.
I agree with Murray that we need to also drill more but perhaps for different reasons. I absolutely want to aggressively pursue alternative energies as he does but I place much more emphasis on the financial situation that our country faces. We have over $9 trillion worth of debt, Social Security faces a short fall of $16 trillion and Medicare a short fall of $28 trillion. Next years budget deficit is expected to be around $490 billion and that doesn't include the costs of the two wars and it does include the "surplus" from FICA taxes.
So even if it doesn't provide short term price relief or much of a longer term price relief, it WILL provide valuable jobs and revenues that will help us start tackling our deficit/debt and to help pay for the switch to alternative fuels. If Peak Oil and Climate Change is as serious as we treehuggers believe it to be we also need to re-think our old political idealogies. We need to re-think our support for most any type of government spending. We need to eliminate pork barrel spending and earmarks. We need to think about re-examining every single government program and agency. If it doesn't make financial sense eliminate it and use the money to go toward expanding alternative energy sources, conservation and reducing the deficit/debt.
If we are a Village we need to act like one and have everybody pull their own weight. If you receive government assistance (welfare, unemployment and perhaps even some other entitlement programs) you should be required to assist your local community. Each community has their own needs and thus it would be different from locale to locale but some of the things that we need are garbage control, graffiti removal, energy conservation (people can help with and receive training on insulation installation, CFL installation, awning installation, caulking, installing vampire power strips, etc., the better educated can help out in schools by being teacher's assistants, others can help keep schools clean and safe, etc.)
If we are going to have any chance of creating a better world for our children then we need to seriously re-think what we have been doing and each of us personally re-think why we supported certain policies in the past. We need a new sustainable future and everyone of us needs to be part of the solution.
I can speak to you Murray about the poor. I have earned less than $12k for the last 5 years, have no health care or savings and am in my 50's. I care more for future generations than for the home I may never have (in spite of working 50 & 70 hour weeks last year). I wish those who should be sacrificing for the life of the planet rather than have invested in Hummers or even sitting silent with their 401k's had supported wind, solar and energy efficiency. If the money we sent overseas had gone into investing into renewable energy jobs and retooling in the past 4-10 years, very likely our total quality of life would have been better and our country more secure. Drilling for oil is like the lady more focused on her make up than the things crawling in her hair. A short term drug hit to an addict relives the pain and makes the world look better for the moment, but he hasn't dealt with what is destroying his life.
I agree with Murray that we need to also drill more but perhaps for different reasons. I absolutely want to aggressively pursue alternative energies as he does but I place much more emphasis on the financial situation that our country faces. We have over $9 trillion worth of debt, Social Security faces a short fall of $16 trillion and Medicare a short fall of $28 trillion. Next years budget deficit is expected to be around $490 billion and that doesn't include the costs of the two wars and it does include the "surplus" from FICA taxes.
So even if it doesn't provide short term price relief or much of a longer term price relief, it WILL provide valuable jobs and revenues that will help us start tackling our deficit/debt and to help pay for the switch to alternative fuels. If Peak Oil and Climate Change is as serious as we treehuggers believe it to be we also need to re-think our old political idealogies. We need to re-think our support for most any type of government spending. We need to eliminate pork barrel spending and earmarks. We need to think about re-examining every single government program and agency. If it doesn't make financial sense eliminate it and use the money to go toward expanding alternative energy sources, conservation and reducing the deficit/debt.
If we are a Village we need to act like one and have everybody pull their own weight. If you receive government assistance (welfare, unemployment and perhaps even some other entitlement programs) you should be required to assist your local community. Each community has their own needs and thus it would be different from locale to locale but some of the things that we need are garbage control, graffiti removal, energy conservation (people can help with and receive training on insulation installation, CFL installation, awning installation, caulking, installing vampire power strips, etc., the better educated can help out in schools by being teacher's assistants, others can help keep schools clean and safe, etc.)
If we are going to have any chance of creating a better world for our children then we need to seriously re-think what we have been doing and each of us personally re-think why we supported certain policies in the past. We need a new sustainable future and everyone of us needs to be part of the solution.
Murray,
Let's get to the basic principle of consumption. Use(Waste) it when it is cheap. Remember people drove 3.7 % miles less this year when it is supposed to hike 3.5 %. Reason is high oil prices. Just CA state is consuling more than any country in the world.
I think the time of RELAXED thinking about Environment is long gone. Its already too late to conserve environment. RELAXED thinking never worked (from 30 years).
The only way that people look at alternative sources is when they are squeezed up in their choices.
Look at number of ideas about alternative energy sources and consuming are floating around from last 1-1 1/2 years. Do you think it is all because of our RELAXED approach? Its becuase of the HIGH PRICES.
This is very basic thing that everybody can understand.
The thing is we won't see the oil for 10 years and it won't even make that much of a difference in the price the citizens of the United States of America pay for gas.
I think we need a new gas tax in order to go towards building mass transportation, that way Americans have an option of whether or not they want to drive their car or not. Many Americans cannot just hop on a train, bus, light rail, etc and get to work. Not every one can bike because they would have to get on afreeway and we all know bikes are not allowed on American freeways.
In any case, I think drilling for more oil is a horrible idea and I wish more people knew that it won't make a difference in terms of what we pay at the pump for 10 years and in 10 years time, we'll be a lot less dependent on foreign oil and oil in general.
Or maybe the fact of the matter is that people are trapped by their cars? Now that suddenly the rug is being pulled out from under them, they're hunting for the person pulling out the rug, rather than worrying about the fact that they're still standing on the rug at all.
For starters, I'm pretty sure the price of oil went down since it wasn't selling as well at the higher price. As for the drilling for new oil, we should be spending the money and manpower we would spend on 10 years of drilling into research and development of alternative fuel sources.
Murray:
Really? In my forseeable future I see solar panels, wind generators and electric cars becoming prevalent within 10-15 years. Those innovative technologies are what is going to drive the demand for oil down and reduce the profits that the oil industries are raking in. Opening up ANWR and coastal drilling is not going to change demand and will be insignificant to the supply curve. Plus, you have all these oil companies just sitting on fields that are untapped. The reason they want to open up ANWR and coastal drilling is so they can sit on MORE oil fields and open them up when the price per barrel is way higher than it is now. It's a strangle hold and you are naive to trust the oil companies or Bush or McCain or any of these crooks.
I'm sort of on board with Murray, thinking that responsible drilling would be a good thing. But what's more important is an aggressive fiscal policy from our government that promotes alternative energy sources.
i agree with murray, but i think that we also need to invest in nuclear power plants, look at france, i think it is something like 80% (i might be wrong on that) of the countries power comes from nuclear. it can be a safe technology americans are just afraid of it because bush started a war against it. Nuclear power would decrease the profits of big oil and help us move to other sustainable types of energy.
Innovation is our future but until solar, wind, or any other good possibilities become viable to the point of replacing oil...lets drill and build nuke plants.
Global warming is looking more and more like a nonissue.
America needs a real leader with backbone. Clearly, G.W. is a failure, even though some of us chose to give him a second chance. Yes - he is an idiot, and yes - the majority of Americans who voted for him in for a second time are complete idiots too.
If only America had just signed the Kyoto Protocol when we had the chance - instead of comparing this great country to second-world nations like China and India, then we would be celebrating alternative energy successes and increased vehicle efficiencies like Europe is doing today.
Who is the right leader for America? Who will be the one to get us out of this financial, housing, war, and transportation disaster? We only have ourselves and neighbors to blame, and unfortunately, others across the pond to admire.
I agree with Murray. We have to be pragmatic while affordable, alternative energy infrastructure is developed. Has anyone in this forum considered what will happen to oil prices when war/conflict ensues with an oil producing country(i.e. like Iran)? Currently, the price changes when they sneeze! At least if we had our own oil, the financial sting would be less.
Oil is not only used for transportation. The northeast uses oil to heat their homes. Roadways are built using oil. Many types of plastics use oil. What do you propose to take the place of this?
In response to "Enjoy my milkshake President Bush!", my understanding of the Kyoto Protocol was that the U.S. would have had to give money to Russian and China. How exactly does this help the U.S. with alternative energy?
I agree with Murray. We have to be pragmatic while affordable, alternative energy infrastructure is developed. Has anyone in this forum considered what will happen to oil prices when war/conflict ensues with an oil producing country(i.e. like Iran)? Currently, the price changes when they sneeze! At least if we had our own oil, the financial sting would be less.
Oil is not only used for transportation. The northeast uses oil to heat their homes. Roadways are built using oil. Many types of plastics use oil. What do you propose to take the place of this?
In response to "Enjoy my milkshake President Bush!", my understanding of the Kyoto Protocol was that the U.S. would have had to give money to Russian and China. How exactly does this help the U.S. with alternative energy?
The price of gas at the pump is WHAT THE MARKET WILL BEAR. The oil companies will charge as much as we can afford to pay because we NEED gas to get to our jobs, the foodstore, etc. The amount of oil the US can produce is literally a drop in the bucket of world production; it will not affect the barrel price of oil by more than a few cents at most. Even if that happens, OPEC will just pump less oil to drive the price of oil up even more. It's not like the oil drilled in the US is going to be property of the United States citizenry anyways, it's going to be drilled for by multinational corporations like Shell and Mobil-Exxon. Unless we keep the oils for ourselves and sell it at cost to purely American companies it WILL NOT help us at the pump, period.
i figure that as long as we are using oil for our main source of energy and their is nothing competing with it we will always going to pay top dollar.