by Plantagenet » Fri 18 Jul 2008, 20:24:14
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('thuja', 'F')our main reasons why increased domestic drilling in currently off-limits areas is dumb:
1) Strategically it is a waste of our last major untapped deposits of oil. Save it for a decade or two when things get really really dire and we need something to keep the lights on...
2) Why let oil companies exploit it and sell it at Global Spot market prices just to quench the thirst of millions of new Chindian econocar drivers?
3) Why use up our last oil resources when it will make nary a difference in the price of the pump? It is likely to only marginally reduce the rate of inflation in oil prices.
4) Why focus on drilling when it is unlikely to even reduce the global rate of depletion. Any new oil will simply be swallowed up by new consumers in the unlikely scenario that the price goes down.
If you think that peak oil won't affect the US economy or the global economy to any great extent in the next 20 years, then it makes sense to put off opening ANWR and the OCS. However, if you think that peak oil is going to have a substantial impact within the next 10 years, then it might be wise to dethrone Queen Nancy Pelosi and open up some new areas for drilling now, because it will take 10 years before significant amounts of the new oil makes it to market.
IMHO, any new oil from ANWR and the OCS won't be enough to overcome the approaching energy shortages caused by peak oil, but they can be part of a bridge to help fund new alternative energy strategies and build the new energy infrastructure.
It would be foolish to focus on ANWR and the OCS oil to the exclusion of renewable energy sources, but it is equally foolish to ignore the fact that our entire current infrastructure is based on oil, and that aging oil infrastructure has to operate a while longer to keep the economy going while we transition to new energy sources.
