Off Shore Drilling: Are Americans Being Snookered?

The discussion surrounding removing the offshore drilling ban instituted by President G.H.W. Bush is filled with misinformation, leading consumers to believe such action will alleviate the current pain at the gas pump.

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Informed comments indicate that at best, the panacea of offshore drilling is decades in the future in alleviating current issues.

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Energy has become a political issue filled with industry lobbyists and campaign contributors that cloud factual discussion.

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The following represents a potpourri of opinion:

Florida CFO: Don't End the Oil Drilling Ban

Alex Sink, Florida Chief Financial Officer, said Friday she is not in favor of offshore drilling because of the negative effect it would have on Florida’s $60 billion tourism industry.
“I think this is a very shortsighted approach to put our economy at risk for oil drilling along the coast when we all know that the first drop of oil wouldn’t even come for ten years,” Sink said. CNBC

Sink makes numerous points in the video, including that Americans are being snookered by oil companies about offshore drilling, as well as the need for a national energy policy and improved fuel economy.

In California, MercuryNews reported Offshore oil drilling: fighting words in California?

From Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to the state's Democratic leaders, California reacted with a swift thumbs down Wednesday to President Bush's proposal to lift a ban on new oil drilling in coastal waters.

Newsweek in McCain's Power Outage

EIA: The projections in the OCS (Outer Continental Shelf) access case indicate that access to the Pacific, Atlantic, and eastern Gulf regions would not have a significant impact on domestic crude oil and natural gas production or prices before 2030.
Something that takes 22 years to deliver significant results hardly qualifies as a "short-term" solution.
Why would it take so long? To vastly oversimplify: First, the government has to identify properties to be leased and hold a lease sale. Then, winning bidders need to contract with drilling rigs (all of which are booked for the next five years, according to the New York Times), drill exploratory holes and analyze core samples - "They drilled 75 holes in the North Sea before they figured out the geology" sufficiently to begin drilling productive wells, says Lucian Pugliaresi, president of the oil industry-funded Energy Policy Research Foundation Inc. And then, if oil is found, companies would have to order and put in place production equipment, build pipelines to get the oil to shore, and get various permits and environmental analyses every step of the way.

Apollo Alliance

The point is that drilling for more offshore oil, aside from the potentially catastrophic effects it can have on shoreline communities and the climate, doesn’t make any immediate economic sense. It won’t alter rising gasoline prices. And if supporters of the clean energy, good jobs economy are doing their job to point that out, it shouldn’t make any political sense either.

Regarding other energy sources (emphasis mine):

Wind is already more competitive than electricity generated from new nuclear and coal-fired power plants. In the first quarter of 2008 some 1,500 more megawatts of wind power was put online across America, bringing total wind generating capacity to more than 18,000 megawatts, second only to Germany’s wind capacity, according to the American Wind Energy Association.

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Grist:

Oil Together NowPrez candidates tout new policies to lower oil prices

Presented by ExxonMobil: McCain Proposes $300 Million Energy Prize
Ariz. Senator Wants To Give $1 Per American For Developer Of New Auto Battery

“Because I believe so strongly in this, I favor Senator Obama’s position, which is to go to 80 percent reduction in greenhouse gasses over Senator McCain’s position, which is to go to 70 percent,” Mr. Clinton said, according to Reuters. “But that’s light years ahead of where Republicans have been.” NYT

MercuryNews:
The United States and other nations argue that oil production has not kept up with increasing demand, especially from China, India and the Middle East. Saudi Arabia and other OPEC countries say there is no shortage of oil and instead blame financial speculation and the falling U.S. dollar.

Light, sweet crude for August delivery rose $1.20 to $136.56 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Business chiefs urge carbon curbs

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BBC
Aviation is the fastest rising source of emissions, despite efficiency gains
A coalition of 99 companies is asking political leaders to set targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions and to establish a global carbon market.

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Discussions of energy, global warming and alternatives require more than a knee-jerk response accepting current policy and a superficial understanding. It makes greater sense to work to understand complex issues and move toward a sustainable future that solves the global warming issue. Since the US consumes per capita + 30 % more than our EU counterparts, conservation seems the most sensible beginning.