Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Drill Baby Drill

We interrupt this cycling blog for a brief political message. At the Republican National Convention, the crowd began to chant "Drill Baby Drill" in the middle of a speech or two. Offshore drilling is a real hot-button issue this political season. Presumably, off-shore drilling would have a big effect on North Carolina, which has lots of coastline. My opinion? It's a stupid idea, but the public is so lathered up about high gas prices that every politician has caved in like an unshored ditch. Shame on all of them. We're looking for solutions, not more pollution.

Here's a chart, reprinted with the permission of Peter Chapman at Architecture 2030, that shows how offshore drilling will figure into our oil supply.

 


And from that same site:
According to the US Energy Information Administration, oil production from drilling offshore in the outer continental shelf wouldn't begin until around the year 2017. Once begun, it wouldn't reach peak production until about 2030 when it would produce only 200,000 barrels of oil per day (in yellow above). This would supply a meager 1.2% of total US annual oil consumption (just 0.6% of total US energy consumption). And, the offshore oil would be sold back to the US at the international rate, which today is $106 a barrel. So, the oil produced by offshore drilling would not only be a "drop in the bucket", it would be expensive, which translates to "no relief at the pump".


The real beneficiaries of off-shore drilling? Have a look at this article.

We now return you to the cycling program already in progress.
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2 comments:

Cap'n said...

Well the whole problem with that argument right there flyer is that it is filled with facts. Facts are unimportant to the average American. Perception is the key. If you are perceived as doing something beneficial to the common man than you are good, ie. if you drill then you will find oil and lower the cost at the pump. Facts are bothersome and confusing. They cloud perception and you would be best not to use them in your arguments in the future because they just don't matter.

Mike Dayton said...

An insightful comment, and well-timed. A new study out of Yale University confirms that reality-based rebuttals to conservative lies only makes conservatives cling to those lies even harder. See this article.