Second, despite what Newt Gingrich and his cohort has been busy preaching on every talk show on TV and radio, there is no ban on offshore drilling to lift. Oil companies can still drill on the offshore leases they own, and they own a lot. There is only a ban on new offshore leases.
According to evidence obtained through congressional oversight hearings (the first such hearings on energy of this president's two terms), as reported by Oregon Congressman Peter DeFazio transcipt, inside the continental US offshore waters there are "44 million acres off the coast leased, 10.5 million acres of that has been developed, but the other 33.5 million acres are available for offshore drilling."
According to the United States Department of Minerals Management Services MMS, 80% of the potential offshore oil is available to be developed through existing leases, but has not been pumped by the lease holder. From the report of hearings before the congressional Committee on Natural Resources cnr, "Between 1999 and 2007, the number of drilling permits issued for development of public lands increased by more than 361%, yet gasoline prices have also risen dramatically contradicting the argument that more drilling means lower gasoline prices. There is simply no correlation between the two."
Further, back in the 90's former President Clinton leased what used to be known as the Naval Petroleum Reserve, now known as the National Petroleum Reserve of Alaska, to the oil companies, a field which contains a known 13.4 billion barrels of oil & is the largest reserve on the continent. Since the Clinton presidency, the lease holders have drilled 25 wells and capped them all. Because oil has gone from some $20 per barrel to it's current $135 mark since those leases were let, the Oil and Gas companies have increased the value of their underground stores without pumping a single barrel from under federal lands.
In short, they're sitting on their investment and watching it grow in value. Why should they pump more oil to lower the price when we're willing to pay four to five dollars per gallon?
Finally, none of the sturm und drang over offshore oil leases really matters much when the United State's oil reserve numbers are compared to the world market, which produces (and consumes) 300 billion barrels of oil per year.
According to the Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration EEIAthe technically recoverable oil in the lower 48 states amounts to 40.92 billion barrels of oil, a drop in the bucket. Of that, only 18.17 billion barrels of oil are "unavailable for leasing or development." Compared to the worldwide oil production, the much disputed ANWR (Arctic National Wildlife Refuge) fields contain about 17 days of world oil usage. All told, US estimated oil reserves (Alaska plus the oil in and offshore of the lower 48 states) are 221 billion barrels--period. That's less than one year's worldwide production of oil or, if dedicated to the US market alone, 1000 days of US usage.
In short, we pumped America dry first and that hurts us now. But here's the real pain: within the lifetime of the graduating class of 2008, China alone--at it's current rate of growth--will demand about 300 billion barrels of oil per year, the today's total production.
So we're at an energy crossroads in the United States. We can either doom our children and grandchildren to endless wars over a depleting resource like oil, or we can put this nation's talents and considerable might behind greater energy efficiency and developing alternative energy options to fuel this great nation. This is a patriotic duty we owe our country and a parental duty owe our kids. Take up the challenge of developing alternative energy today.
-- Road Trip! I'll be running over to Wise county next week to testify before the Air Quality Board against the proposed Coal-Fired plant next week. This is probably the last hearing on the proposed plant. People from all over the state are converging on Wise county to oppose this plant.
-- Food for Thought Gayle and I enjoyed a couple of great presentations at Croc's 19th Street Bistro "Green Drinks" event last night. It's a monthly thing, so email laura@crocsrestaurant.com and have yourself put on their email list as a reminder.
After his presentation last night I chatted up Skip Stiles (http://www.wetlandswatch.org) about the near future of the conservation movement. Skip thought that come about August a lot of powerful interest groups are going to try to turn conservationists and environmentalists into the whipping boy for all the ills of the economy, the oil fields, and energy production.
Seems they're already peeling hide off of us in the press, and I'm afraid it's only just begun. It's already spilling over into the populous at large.
I was down in North Carolina last week doing a presentation in Elizabeth City when I had a guy in the audience go after "you damned environmentalists" who have "ruined the economy" because "there's plenty of oil, if you'd just let us get to it." I don't think I sold him, but I did counter his arguments.
Know the fact and and don't be afraid to spout them. This is exactly the wrong time for us to lay low. Instead, fight back. Tune up your pen and speak out.
Write letters to the editor. Write and call your representatives: city, county, state and federal. Don't let "them" control our message or our image.
BTW at that same presentation there was an older gent who'd formed a co-op of 8 neighbors to erect a grid-tied, utility scale wind generator. What energy they don't use themselves they sell back to the electric company. I'm always amazed by the initiative and drive of a lot of the people I meet at these presentations.
- Training Don't forget the Virginia Conservation Network training Bridging the Gap: Conservation as Local, State, and Federal Priority Tuesday, July 22: Norfolk, Ernie Morgan Center, Norfolk Zoo Meeting from 5:30 – 8:00 p.m. Dinner is provided. RSVP Suzanne Ankrum at 804-644-0283 or Suzanne@vcnva.org prior to the event. Website: http://www.vcnva.org/
-- Rick Kennerly
Tidewater Climate Action Network
www.twcan.org rick.kennerly@twcan.org
We are environmentalists, but we're not just "environmentalists." We are also citizens and we are ratepayers; we are customers and employers; we are business owners and educators; we are members of communities of faith who take seriously our stewardship of God's gift and we are patriots who care about energy independence for the nation; we are parents and grandparents concerned about the sustainability of the legacy we leave our children, who all just happen to also care about our environment.