Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Where did we put that drill?

I’ve just returned from south of the border, where a new proposal from President Bush and John McCain to lift the U.S. ban in offshore oil drilling is drawing outrage from environmentalists. The proposal, a stab to appearing to take action against high oil prices, definitely fails the political sniff test. Joe Romm points out that lifting the ban would not have a significant impact on US oil production or prices before 2030.

However, I remain uncomfortable with the stance of much of the US environmental community on this issue. Is American opposition to offshore drilling a case of national NIMBY-ism? The US relies on oil from offshore drilling in Nigeria, Malaysia, Indonesia, and a number of other developing nations. Where is the outrage about the environmental toll of those operations?

1 comment:

John Mashey said...

Well, there is:
1) NEVER, EVER drill near me.

and there is a different reason:

2) Maybe it would be a good idea to leave a *little* oil for people's descendants.
I'd claim that ANWR and the coasts are piggy banks, and only should be touched after we've done every single reasonable thing for efficiency and drilling will save some importnat assets from being stranded.

Best summarized by a friend's 13-year-ol daughter, who asked him:
"Daddy, are you adults going to leave nay oil for us?"

A: not much for you, and very little for your kids.