Gregory D.

Lee

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July 7, 2008

On Domestic Oil Drilling, Republican Leadership Is Finally Emerging

A recent Gallup poll revealed that 57 percent of Americans want to open previously untouched territories to oil drilling. A Wall Street Journal-NBC News poll had the number of Americans in favor at 59 percent. I would suspect that as gasoline prices rise, the percentage of Americans in favor of new drilling will too.

There is an estimated 17.8 billion barrels of oil located off American shores that is currently off limits to oil companies. According to federal data, that’s about the same as 10 years worth of current U.S. oil production, and approximately 76 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. And, these figures don’t take into account the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge or the 800 billion barrels of oil that could be had from shale in the Midwest.

Finally, Sen. John McCain apparently has come out of his coma and realizes that the best way for America to become energy independent is to increase domestic drilling.

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, a potential vice-presidential selectee, has also gotten religion and now wants to lift a federal ban on offshore drilling for oil and natural gas. President Bush has long called for increased domestic drilling, but until recently, that clarion song has fallen on deaf ears. Now the public has stood up and paid attention. It seems that $4-a-gallon gasoline will do that. Americans are beginning to understand that importing foreign oil and not increasing domestic drilling just doesn’t make sense.

So what do Sen. Barack Obama and his liberal friends propose to reduce America’s dependency on foreign oil? A “windfall profits tax” on oil companies, of course. This is the same failed strategy used by Jimmy Carter. If their most recent tax proposal had taken root, a gallon of gasoline would have increased as much as 50 cents after the oil companies passed the tax on to consumers.

The do-nothing Democrats maintain that increased drilling will only lower gasoline prices a few cents. So, is that a bad thing?

Democrats say that drilling will blemish beaches with oil spills. Oh? Because of new technologies, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita only caused off-shore oil rigs to spill 13,000 barrels of oil in the water; a mere drop in the bucket.   

Democrats think nuclear power plants are unsafe, but not one death can be contributed to them in this country. Newer technologies have made them even safer than before, and plutonium rods can now be recycled. Sen. Obama generally supports nuclear power, but has offered no specifics, incentives or leadership in this regard.

Sen. Obama uttered a Freudian slip when he said that gasoline prices are rising too fast. That means he’s for higher prices, just not too fast. He and other liberal senators want to reduce gasoline consumption by way of rising prices, thus forcing conservation. The fact that this strategy will cripple the economy and lower American’s standard of living is never discussed.

Sen. McCain summed up the consequences of America’s dependence on foreign oil when he said, “. . . our petrodollars are underwriting tyranny, anti-Semitism, the brutal repression of women in the Middle East, and dictators and criminal syndicates in our own hemisphere.” He also warned that a successful terrorist attack on a Middle East oil installation could plunge the country into an “economic crisis of monumental proportions.” Is this what the Democrats are waiting for? 

Sen. McCain forgot to mention the huge trade deficit that the importation of oil creates, and that the profits enjoyed by Middle Eastern countries are being used to buy American banks and landmarks like the Chrysler Building.

I believe that there would be an immediate drop in worldwide oil prices once speculators realized that America was finally serious about increasing domestic drilling and becoming energy dependent. The theory of supply and demand would reverberate throughout the world oil markets. Good paying American jobs would be created, more income taxes would be collected, and there would be many more billions of dollars that could be earned and invested in this country instead of the homelands of our enemies.

Gasoline prices could emerge as the campaign issue for this upcoming election. Over the next four months it will be clear to the electorate that the Democratic energy policy, if you can call it that, is to do nothing. If Republican leadership prevails, voters may sweep away those Democrats who stand in the way of increased domestic drilling and energy independence. Only time will tell.

If nothing else, increased domestic drilling buys time for, not postpones, the development of alternative forms of energy. The sooner America is weaned off oil completely, the better we will all be.

Gregory D. Lee is a nationally syndicated columnist and can be reached through his website: www.gregorydlee.com.

© 2008 North Star Writers Group. May not be republished without permission.

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