On Offshore Drilling

I published this post on Facebook last Thursday, but I think it bears repeating here:

People who favor offshore drilling often claim that Americans will get an immediate relief in energy prices as the supply of oil increases.

From what I understand, there will be no immediate relief - if oil from offshore drilling helps, it will only be 7-15 years from now. It takes that long for companies to acquire permits, do the necessary research/mapping, set up shop and begin retrieving the oil. Republican presidential candidate John McCain has been lying to people whenever he tells them offshore drilling will help them in the near future.

Many people are concerned about the environmental impact offshore drilling might have. As far as I know, recent developments have helped oil drilling projects make less environmental impact. Let me be clear here - I appreciate the beauty, the majesty and the warm fuzzies of the environment as much as anybody else, but it is only worth preserving insomuch as it benefits human beings. That is not to say that people should abuse nature for simple pleasures; however, if eight seabirds get killed in an oil spill and in return an underprivileged person can afford the gas to drive to college and get an education, I say screw the birds. People matter more.

Those in favor of offshore drilling seem to think that America's reliance on foreign oil will decrease. However, many offshore drilling companies are international. They will sell the oil they produce to the highest bidder, which is not necessarily the US. Besides, offshore drilling can only produce a small amount of oil. American dependence on foreign oil might decrease if we kept all that oil, but that would only be a slight decrease. We would still rely heavily on oil from Saudi Arabia, Venezuela (which just kicked out the American ambassador today, by the way), Russia and other countries that hate our guts.

A good friend of mine, who traditionally casts his lot with the Republicans (although he is an economic conservative, which means the current Bush administration is not his friend) suggested that offshore drilling might provide America with a buffer zone that will give us time to develop alternative energy sources. However, I think the only way to get Americans to turn to alternative energy is to make sure oil prices remain high. If the prices drop, we'll just keep doing the same thing. Keep prices high and people will demand change.

The verdict: The loudest argument against opening up offshore drilling is that it will hurt the environment. That argument is worthless if offshore drilling will truly help human beings in need.

I'm still against it. From my perspective, offshore drilling will simply allow international companies to sell more oil to those who can afford it - billionaire Americans in private jets, huge consumers like China - so it will not be helpful to the needy, and in return it will cause unnecessary harm to the environment. I don't like the idea of greedy people walking all over America's environment just because John McCain can make an emotional appeal to Americans who want to believe an empty promise.

That's the way I see it.