Is Drilling the Answer?

Well, as you might guess, we believe the answer is a resounding NO. But it's not just us. Check out this article that relies on energy statistics from the U.S. government to argue that OCS drilling will supply, at best:

• about 0.06 percent of our total national oil consumption in about 9 years and


• about 1 percent at its peak in the mid-2020s

Clearly, offshore drilling is not going to get us to energy independence, not even close.

What about the price at the pump? Analyses, including the government's own, predict that any price reduction will be in the neighborhood of pennies and not dimes and certainly not dollars.

By comparison most studies show that a very significant reduction in our dependence on foreign oil and in gas prices would arise from decreasing our demand for oil -- for example, by investing in technologies to increase the fuel economy of our cars and in mass transport.