Should the U.S. Allow Offshore Oil Drilling?

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The call for expanded offshore drilling is a fake solution that only Big Oil wants, because keeping Americans dependent on oil is the best thing they could do for their bottom line.

Oil companies currently sit on 68 million acres of our nation’s oil-producing land. This is land that they could have started drilling years ago, but they left it untouched while gas prices soared. In fact, the number of new offshore drilling permits tripled since 2001, and yet we’re paying triple what we were in 2001.

Perhaps opening more of our coasts to drilling isn’t the panacea oil companies claim it to be.

Yet today, these companies and their Washington allies are pleading for more. Though they already have access to 80 percent of our offshore areas, they want to open it all despite the significant costs to coastal businesses and the environment. Before opening the remaining 20 percent of our coasts, which would wreak havoc on fishing operations, tourism and recreation, oil companies should be drilling what they have instead of asking for more.

Members of Congress, when they return to Washington in September, should focus on solutions that will help Americans deal with rising energy costs, create jobs and reduce our dependence on foreign oil. As even this administration pointed out, if we start drilling today, we won’t see a drop of oil for ten years. So instead of discussing plans that won’t deliver for at least a decade, we need to start investing in renewable technology and real solutions that will produce results without harming our coasts.