Paris Is Right: Why Can't Drilling Be Part of the Solution? *
For years, I've driven past the oil derricks along the Santa Barbara coast, where there hasn't been a spill in four decades, and the rigs certainly haven't hurt real-estate values. They sit, innocuously, like specks on the horizon, making me wonder: Are the majority of Californians right to support off-shore drilling?
True, drilling is not the solution to our energy woes. But can't it be part of the solution? Couldn't increased domestic oil production help reduce our dependence on foreign oil -- a vital national-security need? What if we packaged drilling with a tariff on foreign oil, and used the revenues to fund green-power alternatives?
Why does the energy debate invariably boil down to either drilling or clean alternatives. Why can't the answer be and/both?
* Headline amended to belatedly give Paris her due.
Ah, the Paris Hilton Plan!
Cheers!
Jonathan
Why of course it can, and of course it should. But first a little homework. http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/aeo/otheranalysis/ongr.html
One of the graphs at the link shows the natural gas and crude oil deposits that are available for drilling now, and the deposits that are located in areas currently not available for drilling. You'll notice that the bulk of these resources are already available. The oil companies say their hands are tied by the fact that they don't have the equipment to expand drilling.
The "drill here, drill now, pay less" mantra needs to be replaced with something more accurate. Maybe something like "buy drilling equipment, drill on what is available now, stop lying". How does that sound?
And last but not least, if U.S. oil can provide with so many benefits, why are we exporting more of it than we ever have before?
Sigh, this is what I get for taking the day off yesterday to take my kids to the county fair -- I missed the joke of the moment, and now get to sound like a total idiot! Egads!
But, it turns out some genuinely Smart People (TM) agree with Paris and me, so maybe I'm not all wet:
http://news.bostonherald.com/news/2008/view.bg?articleid=1111580
I think this means you and Paris Hilton connect on some kind of psychic level ...
I've amended my hed to give Paris her due.
I would think Dems would want drilling. Good American high wage union jobs - drilling, producing and refining. Money staying in the US lowering the trade deficit rather than going overseas. More tax revenue from the oil and the profits to spend on socialized government spending.