 Oil Derrick with Statues Kneeling Before It Credit: skampy |
Back in 2003, politicians told us the Iraq invasion would pay for itself with all the oil the country would produce, so much so that US Forces allowed looters to ransack three major Iraqi cultural institutions in Baghdad because they had to concentrate on protecting the National Ministry of Oil.
Then that didn’t happen. Instead, oil prices went up. So politicians tried giving the Oil Industry $18 Billion in tax cuts, hoping it would translate into lower gas prices for stressed out consumers.
Instead, it translated into world-record-breaking $40.6 Billion profits for ExxonMobile last year. Meanwhile, gas prices continued to regularly break all-time records, now at $4.00 a gallon at the time of my posting this.
Now politicians want us open our natural wonders to oil drilling. Why not? We’ve traded our National Security and pardoned oil companies from paying their fair share into our Democracy. Why not trade our forests, clean air and water, and health too? After all, drilling for oil has to lower gas prices, right?
 Oklahoma Offshore Oil Production Credit: FreeWine |
It’s possible that there is as much as 3.5 billion barrels of oil underneath the Alaskan National Wildlife Reserve, almost enough oil to supply America for a half a year. Oil Reserves off the coast could supply America for 11 years, or they might not, since no one has ever drilled an exploratory well to find out. If the ban were lifted today, it would be six years before the first exploratory wells were drilled, and the “U.S. Department of Energy, estimated last year that opening the coasts to offshore drilling would have no significant impact on oil prices before 2030.”
Oil reserves in the Gulf give us an idea of what oil companies will claim to find when they do finally explore. In 2006, Chevron declared a major oil discovery in the Gulf that would increase American oil reserves by 50%, but further independent analysis was highly skeptical of the claim. Such claims always seem to pop up just as governments are preparing to vote on offshore drilling. Oil companies are doubly motivated to announce massive oil discoveries for the way such announcements make their stock prices skyrocket.
When Bush says “Drill! Drill! Drill!” oil prices go down. That’s because, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, “oil prices are determined on the international market, however, any impact on average wellhead prices is expected to be insignificant.” It’s all just speculation, completely out of our hands, but politicians have too much to gain from happy Oil Companies, who line their pockets with campaign contributions in return for the tax cuts and resource exploitation.
 Grangemouth Oil Refinery by Night Credit: Bryan Burke |
So we’ll give up our beaches, nature hikes, and clean air to keep getting our oil fix, and when this fails to bring down gas prices, the politicians will come back to us and ask for even more drastic measures. Of course we’ll acquiesce to them, because our immediate convenience is much more important than our children’s futures. As Roger Blanchard, Associate Professor of Chemistry at Northern Kentucky University, said, “It will be like burning the furniture to keep the house warm in mid-January.”