Offshore drilling won't fix energy problem

Saturday, Sep 20, 2008

Offshore drilling won't fix energy problem
By Colin Hagan

Offshore oil drilling won't lower gas prices. And the idea that drilling is an effective solution misleads the American public while we desperately search for a solution to our fossil fuel predicament. While our dependence on oil continues to increase, current high gas prices are just another sign of the need to develop clean energy alternatives.

More drilling is a false solution to lower gas prices because it won't produce a drop of new oil for 10 years, and even then, new oil won't affect gas prices. In fact, the number of new offshore drilling permits has tripled during the past eight years, and yet we're also paying triple the cost of gas in 2001. During the past two years, U.S. domestic production has increased at four times the rate of consumption, yet prices still skyrocketed. We don't have to guess. Drilling hasn't lowered gas prices yet, and there's no magic wand to change the impacts of drilling in the future.

Only a small percentage of public lands and offshore areas are still protected from drilling, and those are valuable natural resources that cannot be replaced. But even if we drilled there, we have less than 3 percent of the world's oil, which means we can't drill our way out of this problem. In 10 years our economy will still be tied to oil like an anchor. We'll actually be worse off because demand in China and India is steadily increasing, which is going to keep prices high regardless of our drilling policy. That provides reason to spend the next 10 years developing real solutions to high gas prices, such as more efficient vehicles, sustainable biofuels such as switchgrass, and new plug-in hybrid vehicles.

So what can we do to help Americans who are suffering under the high cost of gas?

We need to respond quickly to help families experiencing the consequences of misguided energy and economic policies. We need to end tax breaks that benefit the oil industry, which already receives hundreds of dollars from American drivers every year. Instead of providing subsidies to the most profitable industry on the planet, let's return that money to the American public by investing it in technologies that will alleviate our dependence on oil.

We need to relieve our dependence on energy sources that have sapped our economy dry. We need affordable cars that go further on a tank of gas. And lastly, we need a comprehensive American energy production plan that increases our energy independence and boosts our economy. It's time to invest in clean, homegrown energy sources.

If we start now, we can bring skyrocketing energy costs back under control. The good news is that in doing so, we can also create new clean energy jobs. But we have to start now, and we need bold leadership to recognize that continuing to rely on dirty energy won't solve our problems.

The writer is federal policy associate for the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy in Knoxville, Tenn.