More oil drilling is not the answer
By KEN MIDKIFF
Published Friday, September 5, 2008
(http://www.columbiatribune.com/2008/Sep/20080905Comm004.asp)

A number of years ago, I spent some time south of Port Arthur, Texas, along the Gulf Coast. Out in the waters of the Gulf were many oil platforms that were constructed in Port Arthur and towed into the Gulf, where they were stood aright and stabilized.

While I marveled at the wizardry that enabled all these platforms to drill and to pump up oil, I was taken aback by the amount of debris that had washed up on the beaches near the platforms. Some of this had clearly been discarded by workers on the platforms - water bottles, candy wrappers and beer cans. Some consisted of the usual debris found on coasts everywhere - ropes, parts of nets, floats.

But what was astonishing were the chunks of tar. They were everywhere. Of the consistency of soft caulking compound, these chunks of semi-solid oil were all over the beach - in some places covering the sand entirely. The beach in such places looked black. It was clear to me that this was not trash thrown overboard by uncaring workers but oil that had leaked or otherwise escaped from the platforms, pipes or tankers that nudged up to the rigs.

Lately, with escalating gasoline prices (about $3.50 now), there has been a hue and cry for more drilling off our coasts - particularly the West Coast. In spite of the fact that such drilling - even if oil were found and accessible - would have little or no impact on fuel prices and that the oil would not even start to flow toward refineries until 2018 (if then), politicians have adopted the mantra "Drill here, drill now."

No doubt that such a phrase is politically popular, especially when it is touted as one means of lowering pump prices. Chances are, however, that politicians who embrace this are either deluded or are attempting to delude voters. Whether they acknowledge it or not, they have chosen gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles over unpolluted shorelines. The Gulf of Mexico is placid in contrast to the misnamed Pacific Ocean. If oil-drilling platforms were allowed offshore of California, Oregon and Washington, the damage would likely be immense. What is needed is not more drilling but a conversion to something other than fossil fuels.
The only clear method to energy independence is to divorce ourselves from a dependency on oil. Even if every drop of oil were squeezed from lands under the United States, we would still need to depend upon a large percentage of our oil from unstable countries that have led us to support some unsavory characters. The worst scenario, supported by scientific, geologic and economic studies, is that oil itself will be harder to obtain, more expensive and we might eventually run out.

It is clear that this country is nowhere near relying on renewable sources - wind, solar - to provide our energy demands. At present, cars, trucks, airplanes, trains and other modes of transportation depend upon a growing demand for oil-based fuels.

What is needed immediately are two things: vehicles that are much more fuel-efficient and a massive government program to convert from energy dependency on fossil fuels to energy provided by wind and solar.

Unfortunately, only baby steps have been taken on both. At some point, perhaps when pump prices are $6 or $10 per gallon, it might dawn upon the folks in Washington, D.C., that stopgap measures - opening up the strategic reserve, sending out stimulus checks - won’t work. What is needed is for the U.S. government to get serious about energy efficiency and renewable fuels.

We can’t run an economy on hot air. But that’s all we’ve heard from both parties.