If you want cheaper energy the solution is to make as much available as possible in whatever form possible. Offshore drilling for oil, solar, wind, hydro, nuclear, etc., leave nothing off the table. If we are going to continue to advance as a society we will need to have reasonably priced energy in order to compete with other countries, otherwise you will see our standard of living decline against those countries. If you want to try out second or third world status just keep throwing up road blocks to those trying to provide cheap energy.

Having been in the energy business internationally for 40 years, and having watched this same debate in various countries, let me offer some information. It’s important to get beyond misinformation and hopelessly flawed logic.

This debate should not be about whether offshore oil will affect gasoline prices immediately. The name of the offshore oil game is (or should be) displacing foreign oil from your “friends” in Venezuela, Iraq, Iran, etc., and replacing it with American product produced by Americans with jobs and royalties for Americans instead of all benefits to foreigners. Some of these royalties can be used to fund alternative energies or health care, for example. In addition, offshore oil helps security of supply; the US is in awful shape here, importing half its oil. Offshore oil also helps the US balance of payments. Just look what Norway has done with their offshore industry in both these respects, Newfoundland (Canada), Brazil, and many others. How many Americans realize that over a quarter of your oil already comes from offshore?

Global warming caused by new American offshore oil, some say? NONSENSE! New American offshore oil has no effect on the environment because you are not changing the amount of oil you use, just the source – you are displacing foreign oil! In fact, I argue it might improve the environment because incremental American production will avoid somewhat risky international tanker runs to the USA, and Americans will produce the oil with less environmental impact (for example, in Venezuela in the 1970s, we flared most of the associated gas; this is still done in parts of the world, such as Iraq).

Offshore oil spills? Why do opponents foam about this but not tell the layperson that natural seeps of oil into North American waters exceed one million barrels every year, and that Mother Nature leaks (seeps) 13 times the oil into North American waters as the entire North American offshore industry? The history of offshore oil spills in tightly regulated and tightly operated waters such as the US and Canada has been excellent over the last quarter century plus. Santa Barbara is ancient history. Claims of big spills and dumping of drilling waste and heavy metals and the like are alarmist and false – based on old history. Now zero discharge drilling is possible, like the newest platform in Cook Inlet, Alaska.

And please do not use the “logic” that it might take years to find new oil and bring it on stream, so “forget it”. What if we took that approach to curing cancer, or Wilbur and Orville Wright had accepted such nonsense?

Replace oil with tidal energy and wind farms? Ever tried to make your clothing, computer case, luggage, toilet seat, etc. out of electrons? A world without petro-chemicals is a scary thing. Warm up your caves! Try fuelling an airplane with electrons?

My bottom line is simple – to the extent you ARE going to use oil, why not use American oil and employ Americans and “pay yourselves”, instead of sending billions of dollars a year to unfriendly foreigners? Why not ensure the oil you do use is produced and transported in the safest and most environmentally friendly fashion possible?

Sincerely,

John Hunter P. Eng., J. Hunter & Associates Ltd, North Vancouver, Canada

I am unemployed and would gladly take the $90k per year folks are getting to work on oil rigs. Where can I sign up? BTW – I would be happy to exchange my unemployment checks for the priviledge of paying income taxes.

Thanks for thinking of me,

DB

You also forgot to mention that the spills durring the 2005 hurricane season werre not in one place and not at one time. Their total does not come close to the amount of natural seepage durring the same time period, in that same area. Petroleum is a natural part of the ecosystem and has been for millions of years.

Petroleum seeps are found over most of the California shore and across the land as well (La Brea Tar Pits, e.g.). That’s why they started drilling in the first place. There is one place where the seepage has been documented to diminish – around Santa Barbera where oil produuction goes on to this day.

Fishing flourishes around offshore rigs. One thing that does poison the sea is fertilizer run-off (from crops like corn for ethanol). It makes hypoxic zones that kill off all marine life. You don’t seem to mind that, do you?

Meanwhile both the east and west coasts are hosts to many hundreds of tankers per year. The tankers bring NO jobs, NO royalties, NO lease fees and NO taxes. On the other hand, the American people are 40% partners in all offshore drilling – not including jobs.

As far as how much oil, look up the stats for Brazil’s offshore drilling. They will soon be as rich as the Saudis. The Norwegians are already rich for the same reason. Nobody expected to find much oil in either of those places.