Drilling off Florida isn't the answer

Tallahassee Democrat

May 21, 2008

Start drilling. Put those oil rigs off the protected beaches of Florida and in the preserved wilds of Alaska.

In essence, that is what Washington Post columnist Robert J. Samuelson urged in an April 30 column.

Drilling, right away, in environmentally protected areas was a centerpiece of Samuelson's solution to rising gasoline prices. To oppose drilling in protected areas, he said, is "sheer stupidity" and "prejudice against oil companies."

That's the same thing the oil companies say every time there is a spike in gas prices. They cling to their own long-term remedy that would expose Florida's entirely beach-and-tourism-driven economy to ruination.

Last week, the oil companies made two new end-runs in the Senate, trying to bust the long-standing ban on coastal drilling. Once again their supporters cited the high gasoline prices. Even though we stopped them by a half-dozen votes, they'll certainly be back — and, soon.

Against this backdrop I want to make clear that any oil still deep in the ground has no direct link — none — to today's pump prices. Any oil in the ground won't be in the marketplace for some 10 years. Further, the oil companies that want to drill much closer to our shores already have leases on 33 million other acres where they haven't even started drilling yet.

More importantly — no matter what anybody says or writes — the U.S. has only 3 percent of the world's oil reserves while it uses 25 percent of the global supply.

In other words — and I'm using Samuelson's terminology here — it's "sheer stupidity" to think the U.S. can drill its way out of an energy crisis. We as a nation are hooked on oil; and, drilling along our shores or in wildlife preserves won't break the habit.

By the way, one of the main reasons oil prices have gone up sharply in recent years is volatility in major producer nations, such as Iraq and Iran.

History reflects similar spikes circa 1973 with an OPEC oil embargo related to the Yom Kippur War, 1979 with the Iranian revolution, 1990 with Iraq's invasion of Kuwait and the first Gulf War, and since 2003 with the war in Iraq concomitant with increasing Asian demand.

More drilling along protected U.S. coasts and in bays and harbors won't stabilize Iraq or guarantee Saudi Arabia's long-term friendship. Nor will it end the unregulated speculation that has driven the price of oil to more than $126 a barrel — when the price based on present supplies and demand should be no more than $55 per barrel, according to an industry leader's testimony before Congress.

That means the law of supply and demand has been broken; and, we're paying an extra $71 per barrel that enriches speculators.

So, what to do?

Well, the U.S. failed in the 1970s to enact a real energy program to get us off oil. Result: Brazil runs on ethanol today, not the U.S.; Germany leads the world in solar power, not the U.S.

Meantime, the oil companies are awash in record profits — more than $155 billion last year alone — and not spending enough on refineries or alternative energy, while consumers are getting gouged at the pump.

Even worse, it took the U.S. more than 30 years to raise mileage standards on cars and trucks to a paltry 35 miles per gallon. Most of Europe — and the cars that U.S.-based manufacturers sell there — already averages 43 miles per gallon. Japan is approaching 50 miles per gallon.

In other words, we are wasting billions of gallons of oil.

So, again, what to do?

Fifty percent of the oil we use goes into our transportation. It shouldn't take a rocket scientist to realize this is where we must focus.

First, we must enact serious conservation measures, such as 40 miles per gallon for our vehicles, and, provide bigger tax breaks for hybrid cars.

Second, the government — led by the next president — must enact a national energy program to transition us from gasoline to alternative and synthetic fuels to power much of our transportation. President Kennedy led us to conquer the bounds of Earth within a decade.

We must act with the same urgency. And, while we are at it, we are going to have to make ethanol from things we don't eat.

And while we are at that, we are going to have to pay attention to how we power not just our cars and trucks, but our homes and industry. We are going to need to develop solar, wind and thermal energy, and safer nuclear power.

This is what our presidential candidates must pledge in place of drilling in protected areas.

Start drilling? Sheer stupidity.

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