Everyone is so focused, and rightfully so, on the incredible price of oil and thus gasoline.  Yet, there is so much "to-do" surrounding the subject that any serious and progressive discussion of energy policy always includes the futile notion of "dill baby drill".  I say let em drill.  What?  Yes, you read correctly, let them go ahead and drill.  Our oil reserves are so tiny when compared to our oil demands that we won't do much harm to our environment by drilling.  The technology really is not that damaging, at least not to the point where mitigating technologies cannot handle exploration and extraction efforts.  My understanding is that nowdays it would take something more than a drunken sea captain to rupture the double hull of the newer tankers.

The following is based on lifting ALL of the drilling moratoriums in every area which would expand our existing oil production capacity by 30%.

Firstly lets discuss the good that drilling now could do.  In July of 2008 we had a trade deficite of about $58 billion, of that approximately $52 billion was spend on oil.  That money went from our country (which despite its many flaws, is not ruled by a crazy theocrat or blood thirsty dictator) to nations that are, at best, partially benificent theocracies (I am basically referring to Saudi Arabia here, the rest of the oil producing nations are an absolute mess).  So we would save a little bit of money and generate a few jobs here at home by drilling right now.  The world WILL ultimately stop using oil as an energy source so we either use the stuff now and profit from it or let it sit there in the ground.  Within a couple of years we would be able to meet about 5% of our domestic demand with domestic oil... (yeah 5 whole percent).  At $100.00 per barrel, we would could recover approximately $37 billion a year from our deficit in spending a decrease of about 5% which is a whole lot of money!  Drilling will not lower gasoline prices because even though there are price controls on domestic oil, it does not put a dent in the average price of barell of oil. 

The bad.. we will do some minor short term damage to environmentally sensitive areas.  The hit in the pocket that Americans take when they fill up will go unchanged.  If you want to do the math on this yourself and check the figures I presented above check the National Petrolium council 2007 annual report, the link is posted at the end of this article.

Well... ok so the good doesn't look that good, so why drill?  Simple, once the drilling starts our problems will still exist, very little will have changed at all.  Serious and progressive discussions will have to take place at that point, big oil will shut up and get out of the way since there is nothing more that we can do for them.  Politicians and ignorant (ignorant at BEST, dishonest is more like it) politicians will have no choice but to begin serious discussion and action to meet US energy demands.  The sort of ideas proposed by T. Boone Pickens and others will become the only real alternatives.  "Joe Six Pack" will have to drive a more fuel efficient vehicle and put his 57 chevy in the garage forever or else slap an electric engine in that bad boy, but I don't think that will make near enough noise for the poor bastard to feel contented. 

Seriously, this issue really does need to be put to rest. The baby needs its rattle and then it will shut up and go to sleep so the grown ups can get some work done.  This is sort of an "embrace the horror" approach to the truth and being that the short  term negative effects are relatively minimal... I say let em drill.

NPC Report from 2007