What Are We Waiting For?

As the price of gas continues it inexorable climb to $5 and up, I wonder how high it will have to rise before we start to tap natural resources protected by well-intentioned environmentalists. With China and Cuba drilling for oil a mere 50 miles from the Florida Keys, it makes a lot of Americans wonder why we aren't doing the same thing.

You'll recall the hubbub that arose when the Alaskan Pipeline was first proposed, and the subsequent years have shown that the ecological predictions of catastrophe were unfounded. I guess I work from the perspective that oil companies have as much interest in not having accidents as the environmentalists, but for financial as well as ecological reasons. There is always risk involved when there is much to be gained.

Opening up ANWAR and drilling offshore are only stop-gap measures to be sure, but would an announcement that we intend to begin exploration not have an effect on the current speculation that is driving the cost of a barrel of oil through the roof? Hopefully that would help get the price headed in the other direction.

There are legislators on both sides who realize that nuclear power must also be a part of the solution, and my hope is that after November we can put the politics aside for a while and concentrate on energy independence. Expanding nuclear power, solar power, extended battery life, wind power (lots of windmills here in Lewis County), and opening new refineries are pieces of the puzzle that should not be overlooked.

It's hard not to take it out on big oil when they show record profits - even a confirmed capitalist such as myself would like an explanation as to who or what is driving this upward spiral. We have to keep in mind that millions of other Americans have their pensions and savings tied up in that industry, so I would hope that any action taken by Congress would be measured and prudent. Tax breaks for someone making record profits doesn't make sense, unless you're going to put that money into exploration and research & development. Tax breaks for any industry are always a point of contention, and I'd be in favor of doing away with all industry tax breaks, but then the issue becomes parochial and the politicians suddenly care more about being reelected and protecting their own constituency.

Whoever becomes our next President will be faced with some very difficult decisions as regards our environment, our economy, and our continued reliance upon oil. Short term actions such as opening up areas for exploration are really long term due to the nature of the business, but could have an immediate impact on oil prices. Research and development of new technologies is the key to our success as far as I can see. Setting up a new government bureaucracy to trade in carbon credits would not only be counterproductive because of new bureaucrats, but it would also do more harm to our economy. All the increases in the cost of doing business will be passed onto us, and our climate won't change one bit without China and India buying in.

What do you think? If you don't think tapping our own resources will help, what will? Should our economy falter because the government wants to get into the carbon credit business? Let's even assume that everything ever written about global warming is true - do you think placing the burden on the American taxpayer is going to solve anything? How is it that we get China and India to tell their millions of inhabitants that a better life is not possible?

Interesting questions that have a pat conservative or liberal answer, but isn't it time we scrapped all the usual party line talking points and developed a unified approach to the problem?

Even those of us who question global warming are aware that any contribution we can make towards eliminating pollution should be pursued, and we certainly feel that our dependence on foreign oil leaves us in a precarious position. It seems to me that neither side can have it totally their way, so nothing will be done until after November. John McCain has shown that he's willing to compromise (congrats to Sen. Kennedy for the successful surgery - he may not represent a lot of my views, but we Irish Catholics still pray for one another) and try to get the ball rolling.

That's why he'll get my vote in November.