 |
||
|
|
||
Oil & Common Sense
Three simple facts to consider regarding oil politics:
- The US government purchases 70,000 barrels a day to bolster our strategic oil reserve.
- American oil companies lease 30 million acres of off-shore drilling rights that they are not using.
- These same companies refuse to open new refineries that transform crude oil into gasoline for vehicle consumption. Old refineries are showing their age, but are not in line to be replaced.
Fact
number 1 tells us that the government has the foresight to build a growing
stockpile of oil for future use.
Fact
number 2 tells us that opening more off-shore locations for drilling is
far from necessary and would make no difference at all to our present
situation. Neither would opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR)
anytime in the near future. Oil companies are not hurting for new locations,
and are nowhere near using what they have available to them now.
Fact
number 3 tells us that oil companies are not investing in the future of
their own production capacities - something that should raise eyebrows
everywhere. They do not see the present situation as an emergency. Record
high profits seem to be all they care about.
Despite
these facts, the price of gasoline has exceeded $4.00 a gallon, and politicians
are spewing nonsensical ideas in order to gain political advantage.
Case
in point: ANWR is now protected from drilling for environmental concerns.
We have no reason to change that at the present time, since oil companies
are using only a quarter of legally available offshore locations now.
When politicians point at ANWR as a "solution to our oil crisis,"
all they are interested in is attacking environmentalists for political
reasons. Big mistake. ANWR may someday be a major component of our strategic
reserve. When foreign oil wells are depleted and can no longer supply
us, a preserved ANWR will serve as a final resource. Draining it now,
based merely on an increase of cost (that will increase again and again),
seems terribly irresponsible.
We
are living in a new world that demands new ways of thinking. We can't
afford the political gamesmanship of the past. We need to watch our leaders
carefully and critically to make sure they represent our best interests.
