Put forth and support your opinion.  Respectfully consider  those of others.

What I Think ……(in 2007, please insert references to BP Oil/ Gulf of Mexico for 2010)

about trying to drill our way out of high oil prices.

 

Recently, there has been an outraged cry to save the working men and women of America by allowing oil
drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and the outer continental shelf.  This cry has been
lead by those compassionate conservatives in the Republican Party who know how hard it is to make a
buck, pay for childcare, pick up the nanny on the other side of town, and fuel up the golf cart. 

 A little review of government statistics shows that the world uses about 85 million barrels of oil every day.
  That number is expected to increase to 118 million in the next 20 years.  Production from ANWR, once
developed in 12 years, could be expected to put out 1.2 million barrels a day.  Thus, ANWR could put out
about 1% of the world’s oil, a good amount!  But what would it do for the price of gas? 

 The price of gas has doubled over the past year.  The amount of oil produced has increased by two
percent, and the demand has increased by one percent.  Will bringing ANWR on line reduce the price at
the pump?  If you base it on recent history, you’d have to say “No”.  The cost increases we’ve faced have
no correlation to the supply of oil and current demand.  If the oil from ANWR would create a warm and
cozy feeling, since the price seems to be a product of lemming economics, it could ease our cost by a few
cents a gallon.

 I like to save a few cents a gallon, but what’s it really costing me?  At today’s $127 per barrel price, 1.2 million barrels per day equals $152 million dollars, or $1.1 billion dollars a week, $4.6 billion dollars a month, and $55.6 billion dollars a year.  That’s quite a resource that you and I, as citizens of the United States, own.  The problem is, most of that money will go to oil companies who buy politicians like I buy paper towels.  The politicians will continue to do the oil companies’ bidding, we will continue our festering addiction to oil, and valuable natural resources will be gone and never come back.

 WHO’D A’ THUNK that we could be in such a predicament?  Billions of dollars sucked out of the pockets of hard working Americans into the pockets of Big Oil and foreign countries.  Gas guzzling cars turned into planters because people can’t afford to run them.  Our economy held hostage to high oil prices.  Oh yeah, we have been through this before.  Does anybody remember the Arab Oil Embargo?  I didn’t think so. 

 The writing has been on the wall in large block letters for over 50 years, IF WE RUN OUR ECONOMY ON OIL, WE’LL HAVE TO IMPORT IT, AND WE WILL BE AT THE MERCY OF THOSE WHO CONTROL THE OIL.  This will not change by adding ANWR production.  Oil companies want us to continue using oil.  It isn’t in their corporate interest to do anything else.  They buy politicians who promote development of new oil fields, tax credits for drilling oil wells, and support leasing our public lands for oil drilling.  It’s not wrong for oil companies to do this, it’s their nature.  What is wrong is the influence they exert over the government of the United States of America that is owned equally by every citizen.  It is treasonous for politicians to subvert what’s good for the country with what’s good for the oil companies. 

 The present high price of gasoline, whether artificially manipulated or not, is being used by the oil companies to scare the public into letting go of a precious resource.  That resource may or may not save us one lousy percent on the cost of a gallon of gas 12 years from now while earning the oil companies hundreds of BILLIONS of dollars.  That oil doesn’t strengthen America.  It flows into a worldwide pool for sale to the highest bidder.  The question is, why should the citizens of the United States risk our precious coastlines, pristine areas, water resources, and endangered species for such a small return?

 It is a fact that an America fueled by alternative sources of home grown renewable energy is much stronger and sustainable than one dependant on oil.  Oil drilling isn’t bad.  What’s bad is subverting the political process for monetary gain.  Let the oil companies drill on their own land.  The resources of the United States of America need to be focused developing sources of renewable energy.  We put a man on the moon.  That was rocket science.  Renewable energy isn’t.  Much of it is off-the-shelf technology that can be used today.  We just need the incentives and emphasis on doing the right thing.  Unfortunately, many in Congress and the White House would rather enrich themselves and their friends than strengthen the country.

 

 

at the 2008 Greeley Stampede