Don't Drill Baby, Don't Drill

Like all people I have been feeling the pain at the pump. Maybe a little more than some because I drive an SUV. Lowering the price of gas significantly is something I really wish would happen but I understand may not happen anytime soon if at all. I have heard more than a few solutions to the problem but none really sound viable. Both of the leading political parties have suggestions that are not really viable. The problem with oil can be examined pretty easy by anyone who took Economics 101. Take your emotions away from your wallet and under stand that we have supply and demand at work here. Oil is a publicly traded commodity on the open market. Investors speculate on what we call oil futures and dictate the price of what the price of crude oil is going to be. Here in this country we consume way more oil than we produce.

Will Drilling for Oil Here Solve Our Problem

Republican politicians have argued that the answer to our oil issues is off shore drilling. Their belief that by expanding our drilling we will lessen our dependence on foreign oil. Here is the problem with that theory. We do not have enough oil to supply our country's thirst for the black gold. Also just because we are drilling oil here in the United States does not mean that the oil will be sold here in the US. Oil has be sold on the open market. The United States Senate understands this and recently voted down a measure that would have rapidly increased our off shore drilling production. Some people believe that if we did this we could be independent of foreign oil. This a very flawed theory and that is why it has not been done. We would only survive about 3 years without foreign oil if we used all the oil available to us at the current rate of US consumption. That's like quitting your job to live off your savings. After those 3 years we would completely be dependent on foreign oil.

A little over a year after one of our worst oil spills ever off the coast Louisiana we may want to be a little cautious expanding off shore drilling too fast.

Helpful Links

See US Senate Vote Breakdown from Official Senate Web Page

Energy Information Administration Article

Oil Reserve Data