Don’t Be Fuelish: Offshore Drilling Will Only Leave Us Screwed
Step right up and prepare to be amazed! Don’t be shy. Friends and children of all ages…behold the wonderment that is Offshore Drilling. A true modern miracle! Step up to the greatest show on earth!
Yes, it will dazzle you – no, it will bedazzle you – with its awesomeness! It’s fast acting, 3-times concentrated and cheaper than the leading brand. It reduces the price of gasoline to mere pennies, and it’s 100% effective in the fight against plaque and Global Warming. But that’s not all folks. No more starving babies in Africa – especially the cute ones. And it doesn’t stop there – it gives you longer and more satisfying sex, whether you’re having it with someone else or not. It’s that good!
SPOILER ALERT: No. It’s. Not.
Thar’s Black Gold in Them Thar Hills: Actually, not so much. When it comes to the production of crude oil, America does takes the bronze. But it’s a slighted accomplishment, considering that the top oil producers – both Russia and Saudi Arabia – out produce the U.S. by a factor of 2 to 1. In reality, the U.S. only contributes to about 10-percent of the world’s oil supply.
Confessions of a Consumer Whore: Though, we are the heavy weight champions when it comes to consumption. We use over 25-percent of the world’s oil, of which more than half of that is imported. That’s twenty-five freakin percent! Wow, we’re almost kinda special.
It’s the Economy, Stupid: We consume 20.7 million barrels of oil a day, but only 40-percent of that is home grown. Considering we only own 3-percent of the world’s oil reserves, offshore contributions would barely be significant. And even if they were, the price of oil is still set by a global market. Therefore no employee discount, we’re still stuck with high prices.
Danger, Will Robinson: Even if we could Dumbledore our way into having offshore crude oil today, it still doesn’t address our biggest fossil-fuel-foul, global warming. It just postpones it.
We are making progress. SUVs are going the way of the Dodo bird; alternative fuel vehicles are becoming more and more prevalent. Heck, even my mom uses reusable bags now. But here’s the half-empty: offshore drilling is not a solution, it’s not even a quick fix – it’s a mistake, plain and simple. The only thing it has to offer is false hope and more environmental damage.
Related Posts:
Offshore Drilling Ban Opens Discussion for Other Domestic Oil Options
Poll: Americans Don’t Think More Drilling Will Lower Gas Prices
Offshore Drilling, Why It May Not Happen, Even if Approved by Congress
Image source: Tank Theory at zenviroments.com
The global situation with oil is really complex and there are a lot of factors to consider. Off shore drilling is definitely useless and would only serve to line the pockets of big oil folks.
The biggest problem with oil is the global peak in its production. Once supply no longer meets demand, the world could become a very different place. Our addiction to oil runs deep into our culture and our agriculture. For every calorie of food on your plate, about 11 calories went into it! The transportation and and fertilization of our food is very much dependent on hydrocarbon energy.
The rise in oil consumption in Asia is going to create a much larger demand for oil in the coming years and supplies seem to be getting smaller and fewer and fewer new oil fields are being discovered. The term “Peak Oil” is gradually becoming a household term and if you are not familiar with it, you should look it up!
There is no easy solution to this problem and there may not really be a real solution. Life as we know it will likely have to change a lot and become much more localized and less consumptive. There is no reason why we can not be happy here in the USA whilst consuming much less energy. Surveys from other countries show people are just as happy as we are while consuming a fraction of the energy we do.
[...] Congressional Republicans have been demanding a vote allowing access to the offshore resources, and the topic has also become a core issue of GOP presidential nominee John McCain. But Republicans have strongly opposed new taxes on the oil companies as well as another of the Democrats’ crazy demands: that utilities nationwide be required to use at least 15-percent renewable energy, such as wind and solar. [...]
re: Colin
I agree. Life needs to change. Like for one, why does the country that uses the MOST oil in the world not have the most efficient cars? Europe is getting all these great cars, like by VW that get like 70mpg and we get the Hummer. Corporations, people and everything in between needs to change it’s behavior.
Do you have any Peak Oil sites you recommend?
[...] Sea off Alaska. Thems not good odds! 5) Climate Change–As Jerry James Stone said in a comment in his recent Red Green and Blue article “the offshore solution does not address our climate crisis. We would still be burning the same [...]
clearly a person with no grasp of economics or the oil market. do you know what producing 10% means for the united states? it is tantamount to independence.
[...] we have a bit of a quandary with respect to oil. Since we use about 25-percent of the world’s oil, we are what one might call dependent. Hell, we make crack addicts look moderate. But recently [...]
Uhhh.. not quite.
Well written article, pretty accurate on the consumer side, but not quite so accurate on the production side, and a bit misleading.
What’s missing is the word “known” when describing the available supply of oil. New oil reserve are being found all the time and the offshore reserves grew by quantum leaps this year alone. Stating the “offshore contributions would barely be significant” is flat untrue. There are billions upon billions of gallons on crude offshore waiting to be tapped.
Although oil prices are set by a global market the time honored tradition of supply and demand still determines the global price and the less you need to purchase elsewhere – the better.
Is offshore drilling a magic bullet – no.
Can, and should it be a key component along with reducing consumption, alternative energy sources, on our road to energy independence – absolutely.
Uncle Dave