Do the Right Thing - Start Drilling

[GaryC 7]

Do the Right Thing - Start Drilling

By Victor Davis Hanson

The other day in southwestern Fresno County, a poor part of Central California, I talked with a number of folks at a rural gas station. Most drove second- and third-hand pickups, large cast-off sedans or used SUVs. Their general complaint was twofold: They didn't have the cash to buy a new fuel-efficient Honda or Toyota. And they were now spending a day or two of their wages just to fuel their cars for their long rural commutes.

But I also fill up three hours away on the San Francisco peninsula near Stanford University, where I work. High-priced hybrid cars and new more-efficient SUVs are everywhere. Mass transit is available and crammed. After listening to these quite different motorists, I can confirm an obvious rule about energy use: The wealthier and better educated seem less concerned about the price of gas.

Indeed, from my informal conversations at two very different gas stations, I would go even further: The wealthy, particularly those who are politically liberal, also like that high-priced gas translates into less burning of fossil fuels by others and will help accelerate research into alternative energies.

But what these elites don't seem to realize is that the energy policies they tend to advocate are for the present paralyzing almost everyone else in the country -- and that the truly ethical and environmental solution would require embracing positions long considered anathema to traditional liberalism.

The debate in Congress over more refineries and nuclear power plants; drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and off our coasts; and developing oil shale, tar sands and liquid coal has been usually a predictable soap opera: Grasping Republicans supposedly wish to enrich energy companies, while idealistic Democrats want only to protect the environment. But those black-and-white positions, hatched in the good old days of $1.50-a-gallon gas, should now be revisited on the basis of far different moral considerations.

One is fairness to the poor and middle class. Like it or not, radical environmentalism (and those behind it who provide the lobbying, funding and influence to block energy legislation) appeals to an elite not all that worried when gas prices rise or electricity rates go up -- since fossil energy use goes down.

But a paradox is that most environmentalists think of themselves as egalitarians. So, instead of objecting to the view of a derrick from the California hills above the Santa Barbara coast, shouldn't a liberal estate owner instead console himself that the offshore pumping will help a nearby farm worker or carpenter get to work without going broke?

Another paradox: American laws and technology ensure a rig off Florida or in Alaska has far less chance of springing a leak than one in the Persian Gulf or the Russian tundra. If there really is a shared "planet earth," then aren't we all its collective stewards? By locking out energy exploration in the United States, we are encouraging it almost everywhere else.

No one is talking of more domestic drilling to give our SUVs and Hummers one last gasp at $2 a gallon gas. Everyone is already cutting back and waiting for more efficient engines and methods of conservation. Instead, producing as much of our own energy as possible means extracting more safely the world's oil for the world's biggest consumer.

Consider also how oil triggers a massive transfer of wealth abroad that is as illiberal as it is dangerous. Productive energy-strapped Americans, Europeans, Japanese, Chinese and Indians are working day and night to give the world critical material goods, ideas and services. To be blunt, oil-rich Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Russia and Iran are not.

At best, the massive transfer of national wealth to most oil producers translates into a Chinese worker on an assembly line working longer for less money while artificial island resorts pop up in the Persian Gulf. At worst, that strapped Chinese fabricator is also working harder for another Iranian centrifuge, al-Qaida landmine or Saudi-funded madrassa.

We should stop talking about suing the OPEC cartel, jawboning the House of Saud to lower prices, blaming the oil companies or adding yet another massive tax on sky-high gas prices. What we don't need right now are more pie-in-the-sky sermons about wind and solar saving us all or about millions of new jobs in green technology that can be almost instantly created.

That all may be well and good in a generation. But in the here and now, we still need to tap the abundant conventional energy we already have in the United States. And in large part that means building, mining and drilling.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/...tart_drill.html

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

We must suffer though! We are gluttonous pigs

[almaty 19]

the writer...Victor Davis Hanson

..is an emotional dim-wit...

[Peikko 1,575]

Another one of these "if I was going to Cork, I wouldn't start from here" pieces of journalism.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

The only thing drilling will do is give us the very same story to read10-20 years down the road when there's nothing left to be drilled. What are these useless dimwits going to whine about then? That we didn't go for real, actual solutions when we had a chance to do so? We've largely ignored one big warning sign already. Why ignore another? How many storm warnings are you going to dismiss until the big one hits?

[alienlovechild 75]

Consider also how oil triggers a massive transfer of wealth abroad that is as illiberal as it is dangerous. Productive energy-strapped Americans, Europeans, Japanese, Chinese and Indians are working day and night to give the world critical material goods, ideas and services. To be blunt, oil-rich Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Russia and Iran are not.

At best, the massive transfer of national wealth to most oil producers translates into a Chinese worker on an assembly line working longer for less money while artificial island resorts pop up in the Persian Gulf. At worst, that strapped Chinese fabricator is also working harder for another Iranian centrifuge, al-Qaida landmine or Saudi-funded madrassa.

It's sometimes referred to as the curse of oil. Countries develop just by pumping it out of the ground and don't have do much to reform themselves to advance themselves. Russia (and to a lesser extent, Iran) have contributed to civilization but some oil producing nations have done nothing except promote a religion (Saudi Arabia) or nothing of note. Since most countries are not oil exporters it's a net loss for international development in the short run.

[tsunamihart 0]

the writer...Victor Davis Hanson

..is an emotional dim-wit...

I love you man!

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

Hey Dems! What happened to the old "Bush went to Iraq for oil" statement.

[tdegrenier 1]

If you really don't believe in global warming and the ecological impact it is having on the globe, just take a look at our weather patterns lately. Sweltering heat wave in the northeast at the same time snow is falling in Washington State at the same time tornados and floods in Iowa.

Don't ###### the those of us calling for change, ###### at those who are making the change painful for everyone while they wring as much money as they can out of the oil that is left.

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

If you really don't believe in global warming and the ecological impact it is having on the globe, just take a look at our weather patterns lately. Sweltering heat wave in the northeast at the same time snow is falling in Washington State at the same time tornados and floods in Iowa.

Don't ###### the those of us calling for change, ###### at those who are making the change painful for everyone while they wring as much money as they can out of the oil that is left.

WERE ALL GONNA DIE! Quit driving and recycle thatll fix it

[alienlovechild 75]

The only thing drilling will do is give us the very same story to read10-20 years down the road when there's nothing left to be drilled. What are these useless dimwits going to whine about then? That we didn't go for real, actual solutions when we had a chance to do so? We've largely ignored one big warning sign already. Why ignore another? How many storm warnings are you going to dismiss until the big one hits?

Let's stop drilling for oil now. Why wait for the inevitable? Hope you enjoy living in the 19th century. That's progressive?

Here's your big chance as an expert on energy to lay out your master plan.

Edited June 12, 2008 by alienlovechild

[Ban Hammer 13,333]

The only thing drilling will do is give us the very same story to read10-20 years down the road when there's nothing left to be drilled. What are these useless dimwits going to whine about then? That we didn't go for real, actual solutions when we had a chance to do so? We've largely ignored one big warning sign already. Why ignore another? How many storm warnings are you going to dismiss until the big one hits?

Let's stop drilling for oil now. Why wait for the inevitable? Hope you enjoy living in the 19th century. That progressive?

Here's your big chance as an expert on energy to lay out your master plan.

diesel........

diesel take you anywhere.

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

Hey Dems! What happened to the old "Bush went to Iraq for oil" statement.

What happened to Rupert Murdoch's claim that oil would be $20 a barrell once we got there?

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

The only thing drilling will do is give us the very same story to read10-20 years down the road when there's nothing left to be drilled. What are these useless dimwits going to whine about then? That we didn't go for real, actual solutions when we had a chance to do so? We've largely ignored one big warning sign already. Why ignore another? How many storm warnings are you going to dismiss until the big one hits?

Let's stop drilling for oil now. Why wait for the inevitable? Hope you enjoy living in the 19th century. That's progressive?

Here's your big chance as an expert on energy to lay out your master plan.

Alien, he is just doing what he's told. There is no plan! just smooth talking.

Hey Dems! What happened to the old "Bush went to Iraq for oil" statement.

What happened to Rupert Murdoch's claim that oil would be $20 a barrell once we got there?

Typical non-answer. Thanks for playin!

[isleta521 5]

There is actully plenty of petro reserves off the coast of California and the east coast. Enough to last us for quite a long time that could help us. Technology has changed quite considerably to make it feasable (and economical) to exploit these reserves that we are sitting on much more safely. Perhaps when gas hits 10 dollars a gallon then we will start drilling and production will start 18 months later. Perhaps then it will be too late.

http:/www.americansolutions.com/