Oil prices continue to rise, politicians continue to bicker, and all the meanwhile the United States’ energy situation continues to worsen. The increase in the price of oil has caused prices to rise across the board, from filling our gas tanks to feeding our families. There is no one solution to our energy woes, but there are some clear and decisive steps that need to be taken to ensure that our energy, and therefore economic future is prosperous.
Many Americans may not realize just how critical crude oil is to our every day lives. While the main use of crude is to make fuel for our cars and trucks, it also has other uses that many might not realize. Crude is the source of jet fuel, motor oil, detergent, and asphalt. It is also used to manufacture things we use every day such as plastic, perfume, and electricity. Those who feel that we are going to somehow be able to produce all of these things without the use of oil anytime soon have the knowledge equal to that of a fence post. While there are lots of promising ideas that are being researched and developed as alternatives to oil, most of the alternatives only are targeted only at addressing the issue of gasoline in our cars. Current alternatives to gasoline still face drawbacks that prevent them from entering mass production. Even when we are able to wean ourselves off of gasoline for our cars and trucks, we still have the job of developing alternatives to all of the other products that rely on crude oil.
According to the CIA, the United States consumes an average of 20.8 million barrels of oil a day, while we are only able to produce nine million. Therefore, we obtain more than half of our oil by importing it from other countries. We are not exporting it from stable ally countries however, but rather from unpredictable, often terrorist inundated countries with very negative feelings toward the US. Countries such as Iran could cripple our oil imports at any time and that is not a very comforting feeling. Yet, we continue to pump money into these countries because we need their oil. So why aren’t we exploring additional sources of oil within our own country while we work on alternatives?

The answer is simple, politicians and special interest groups are getting in the way of additional drilling here at home. There are two easy and proven ways that we can obtain more oil within our own territory. The easiest and fastest way is to open up additional land off our coast to drilling. Most oil companies estimate that we can see oil from those additional rigs within five years. All of the infrastructure to maintain and supply the rigs is already in place and therefore it is just the matter of constructing the rigs and putting them in operation. Many in congress have argued that additional drilling should not be authorized because it will take five years before seeing results from the additional drilling. However, this argument is extremely flawed because we will still be consuming just as much if not more oil in five years. Promising alternatives are still a long way from replacing oil as the source of fuel for our many forms of transportation. Additional drilling off shore could produce millions of additional barrels of oil every day that could be fed into our supply. Others argue that the environmental impacts are not the worth the benefits of additional drilling. Although a reasonable concern, according to the Mineral Management Service, eight times more oil seeps naturally from the ocean floor every year than is spilled by humans. And even when spills do occur, new technologies and procedures allow for quick containment and minimal environmental impact. When it comes to additional drilling off our shores, it is clear that the benefits far outweigh the costs. It’s like choosing whether to walk or drive from Texas to California.
In addition to the rich untapped oil fields off our shores, there is also a massive amount of oil sitting untouched in Alaska. The most promising sight for drilling is in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge or ANWR. The US Geological Service estimates that there is potentially 11.8 billion barrels of oil available in ANWR for our use. That amount of oil could supply our country’s entire oil supply for two years. Although more practically, it could replace millions of barrels of oil that we are forced to import from other countries every day for decades to come. Environmentalists and opponents to the proposal have shown the American public astounding images from ANWR trying to convince them that drilling would some how destroy the beauty of Alaska. However, where drilling would actually take place is in a relatively barren coastal plain. And with today’s drilling technology, which allows rigs to drill at angles underground, the proposed drilling site would take up a mere 2000 acres of land. ANWR is over 19 million acres, and Alaska is twice the land area of Texas. Doing some simple math, you would realize that the proposed site for drilling is .01% of the total size of ANWR and less than .001% the size of Alaska.
Don’t think however that those 2000 acres will destroy everything in their path. Drilling has been taking place in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska for many years and Caribou and Bears are commonly seen in and around the facilities living alongside the drilling operation without issue. Photographers have even captured images of the animals using the pipelines as a playground of sorts. There is no measurable downside to opening up ANWR for drilling, and why so many politicians are against it is mystifying.
Oil is a precious commodity these days, and the United States has a horrible addiction to it, but as with all addictions, ridding the addiction takes time and lots of motivation. As we strive to rid ourselves of our addiction to oil, we need to relieve some of the pressure caused from the rising price of foreign oil by producing more of our own. Recent polls clearly show the majority of Americans are for additional drilling. According to a Fox News poll, 76% of Americans favor immediate additional drilling, while 55% favor opening ANWR for drilling. The American people clearly favor increasing our home based oil production and yet, the congress has yet to take any serious action. It is time for congress to come to their senses and adhere to the citizens that they are paid to work for and open up the land for drilling. More drilling is not a long term solution, but rather an interim solution to give us time to perfect our alternative sources so that we may one day rid our addiction of foreign oil.