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Off-shore drilling is just a snappy sound bite
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Wednesday, 16 July 2008
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Snappy Sound bite
In response to Joe Grafft’s letter in the July 9, 2008 issue, the
problem with crises in election years is that often the proposed
solutions are simplistic but sound great in a sound bite. They also are
effective at painting perceived opponents into untenable corners.
Do I support the president and Michelle Bachmann’s call for further exploration on the continental shelf and Alaska?
Absolutely. As a long-term solution and a further step towards energy independence.
But what the snappy sound bites and press releases won’t acknowledge is
that it would be decades until wells are on-line and flowing and the
benefit would be just a few pennies per gallon.
To lay the blame on the doorstep of any one political party is, again, simplistic and opportunistic.
Especially when an administration that is run by former Texas oilmen
with a Congress and Senate controlled by their party, effectively had a
blank check for six years to drill away.
And before we begin to strip mine the Rockies, I would ask Ms. Bachmann
and Ms. Klobuchar to put pressure on the oil industry to literally
drill or get off the plot.
Oil companies are sitting on 68 million acres of leases that have been
tested and proven to produce oil. But they sit, un-tapped.
The argument that “China is about to start drilling off Cuba” was a
statement made by the vice president which was immediately corrected by
his own staff as being erroneous.
However several politicians and news organizations, despite the fact
that it was incorrect, have taken the comment and run-with-it as being
fact.
The truth is that China, Canada and many of our European allies have
begun preliminary seismic testing on the island of Cuba to determine if
there are in fact reserves.
But it sure sounds good in a sound bite.
As does the “the Democrats have kept new refineries from being built since the 1970’s.”
I guess that Ford, Reagan and the Bushes don’t count. And again, the
truth is that there hasn’t been a need for new refineries because the
ones we have aren’t running at capacity.
Is the cost of gas crippling our economy? Absolutely.
So I would ask you to write Ms. Bachmann and Ms. Klobuchar and ask them to do two things.
First? Do everything in their power to push through legislation geared towards strengthening the U.S. dollar.
The administrations “strong dollar” policy along with other factors has driven the value of the dollar down dramatically.
Investors have abandoned the dollar and invested in oil. Thus the higher cost of oil.
A stronger dollar will go a long long way towards bringing gas down at the pump.
And most importantly, ask our representatives to close the “Enron
loophole” tabled by Republicans and signed by Bill Clinton that allows
unchecked oil speculation.
Economists predict that this could lower a barrel of oil by between $30 and $60 in very short time.
One airline, part of an industry that is on the verge of extinction, is
removing in-flight movies to help shed 100 pounds of weight on their
aircraft.
The airlines are not begging for oil drilling.
They’re pleading for an end to oil speculation. So that the next time
there’s a military parade in Tehran or drilling crews in Brazil propose
a five day walkout, the price doesn’t explode $8 overnight, the stock
market plummets 200 points and Northwest lays off another 3000
employees.
It’s not as simple as “drill more in Alaska,” though, that is definitely part of the long-term solution.
Paige Nienaber
Scandia
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