If you’re searching for yet another reason to hate BP and distrust Washington, here it is. No, I’m not talking about the dead birds, befouled beaches, or zillions in damages inflicted on millions of Americans by the incompetents at BP (enabled by clueless federal regulators). Rather, I’m talking about the way our nation will overreact to the Deepwater Horizon disaster. That overreaction will cause us far greater damage than the disaster itself will, because we’ll import more oil than we otherwise would and produce less of our own.
This is taken from an article published on Fortune; you can read the rest of the article here.
I find this outlook understandable, but a bit depressing. It seems like we just don’t understand the proven dangers of our oil dependency. It’s not about where it comes from, it’s about our insessant use. We are an oil addicted country because we are a country that can’t be satisfied. The writer goes on to say,
“…it’s going to take extraordinary bravery and wise, long-term-oriented political leaders to keep us exploring and developing our own oil and gas.”
That. Is. Scary.
The quote you posted (and just the quote, not necessarily what you said) annoys me and for the following reasons:
1. Offshore drilling accounts for 30% of our total contribution to the global production of oil (we only contribute 10% to the total global production of oil). Of the 1.5 million gallons of oil that offshore drilling produces a year, not all of it even stays within the United Sates.
2. We rent the drills used on offshore rigs from foreign oil companies. How is that reducing our dependence on foreign oil? Plus, there is no guarantee to the amount of oil that can be drilled offshore. It's a temporary, costly fix to a costly problem.
3. Your more onto something than he is. A better solution to this problem would be to reduce our oil consumption. Lame.
Amen sister!