Drill, Baby, Drill as Therapy

While the left dithers over the energy problems facing the country, the right is quite firm in its opinion: Drill, Baby, Drill. The left says, strangely, that there is not enough oil to make a difference; the United States has about 2% of the world's oil reserves. More strangely, the left doesn't offer the convincing and clinching argument: There is not enough refining capacity in this country to accept new production. With usage down this year, presumably a reaction to rising costs, refining is at 85% capacity. If the maximum capacity is around 93%, refiners at full throttle would refine what we produce; they could not refine more. Consequently drilling, Baby, for more oil would not improve America's energy position at all. New production would have to be sent offshore for refining.

This speaks to the basic failure of the nation's energy policy. It takes almost as long to build a refinery as it does to build a nuclear plant. We as a nation have never approached our energy problems with any seriousness. The reason no one points to our lack of refining capacity is that it points to our lack of planning and the politicians do not want that as a part of the discussion. The Department of Energy was created by President Carter for the expressed purpose of making the country independent of hostile oil producers. Its original budget was 1.6 billion dollars. At the time we produced over half of the energy we used. The Department of Energy now has a budget of 80 billion dollars and we produce one third of our energy. Should we give them more money? Should we give them any money?


There is a ghost in this energy problem, the ghost of a suggestion that the government has a plan. The hint that things are evolving under control. The hope that the pieces are falling into place. This perception is partly a function of the government's speaking of future breakthroughs as if they were achieved now, in the present.These solutions might come but they are not here yet. Oil is going to be an important product for this country to use for the foreseeable future. Should the breakthroughs in storage and transportation come, there will still be a crucial transition period where we will need petroleum. Wind, solar and bio fuels make up 2% of our total energy use; this is not a step forward or a hint of things to come. This is insignificant in every possible way. More, it is a testimony to the inept and smug leadership that so burdens this country.

Any drilling we do now will just provide a hole in the sand to stick our head.