America & Foreign Oil

Posted on February 2, 2009 by Michael Koby

Now that Obama has taken office, there is a lot of talk about what he’ll do with his energy policies.  One such thing that was said during his campaign (both my him and those that voted for him) is the now common phrase that “American needs to cut it’s dependency on foreign oil” and while I agree, these same people are the ones arguing that we shouldn’t drill on American land for oil we’ve found.

Just so the record is straight, I am all for reducing our dependency on not just foreign oil but oil as a whole.  I think that America should be on the forefront of alternative fuel technologies and be working steadily and quickly to move our vehicles, power plants, and other things that run on fossil fuels to alternative fuel sources.

But here is what I don’t understand.  the same people who say that we shouldn’t drill where we know there is oil are the same people crying for us to cut our dependency on foreign oil.  Now call me crazy, but wouldn’t drilling for our own oil on our own land do exactly what these people want?  In the past, when I have mentioned this people usually say “well, we should just cut our dependency on oil and that doesn’t help that at all” and while they are correct, they are trying to solve too many problems at once.

See here’s what I think most of these people don’t realize.  It’s going to cost money 1) conduct research on alternate fuel technologies and then it is going 2) cost money to convert everything over too those alternative sources.  Also, while these technologies are being researched, what are we going to run these cars, power plants, houses, etc on?  We have to keep what’s already out there going and that means we need oil.  I have a car that currently runs just fine on good ol’ fashion gasoline.  I’m not going to buy a new car just because ones with new fuel types exist.  My car runs fine and I don’t really want a car payment right now.  So unless the government is going to give me the money to purchase a car that uses a new/alternative fuel source I’m not buying one anytime soon.

Our current need for fuel requires oil, so that need is not going away anytime soon.  We can research alternative fuels and start integrating, but we have to solve one problem at a time.  We either need a) cut our dependency on foreign oil (which means drilling for our own) or b) contine to depend on foreign oil while work towards using more alternative fuel sources.  You can’t cut our dependency on foreign oil without finding someway to maintain the oil supply the our current way of life.  Alternative fuels just aren’t quite there yet.

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  • http://gameconn.blogspot.com Norman Tran

    These people would argue that if efforts to begin drilling started now, it would take years before barrels started rolling in. Even then, optimistic estimates about how much oil produced would be 1 million barrels a day. American drivers alone consume 9 million barrels daily. We're talking about close to a 1% effect on a resource that is traded globally. Offshore drilling wouldn't make much of a difference either way.

    There's also the environmental side of things. Though it seems rather obscure. Something about birds and fish.

  • http://www.mkoby.com Michael Koby

    I've heard those same estimates and for the most part, they're very true.
    Starting to drill today would not have an immediate affect on our oil supply
    here in the states. The point is, those same people that claim “it won't
    help” are the same people asking to “decrease our dependency on foreign oil”
    and so they are essentially telling us we need an operation but refusing to
    start the surgery.

    You have to start somewhere. If you want to decrease our foreign oil
    dependency, you have to take steps to do so. You can not tell us we need to
    decrease the dependency but tell us that drilling on our own land in in our
    own waters is not a solution. It just doesn't add up.

    I have a friend who is just as concerned about the environmental impact and
    I agree that it is an issue when it comes to drilling (especially in an
    offshore environment). However, no one wants to take the time to research
    ways to to improve the situation because they're too busy saying “we need to
    use less foreign oil but drilling ourselves won't help”

    I simply want people to make a choice. If you're for decreasing the United
    States' dependency on foreign oil then shouldn't any steps that will help
    that long term be looked at and highly considered? If not, they are then
    they are just spouting propaganda and need to consider their opinion moot
    because they are truly not contributing to the conversation at all.

  • http://gameconn.blogspot.com Norman Tran

    These people would argue that if efforts to begin drilling started now, it would take years before barrels started rolling in. Even then, optimistic estimates about how much oil produced would be 1 million barrels a day. American drivers alone consume 9 million barrels daily. We're talking about close to a 1% effect on a resource that is traded globally. Offshore drilling wouldn't make much of a difference either way.

    There's also the environmental side of things. Though it seems rather obscure. Something about birds and fish.

  • http://www.mkoby.com Michael Koby

    I've heard those same estimates and for the most part, they're very true.
    Starting to drill today would not have an immediate affect on our oil supply
    here in the states. The point is, those same people that claim “it won't
    help” are the same people asking to “decrease our dependency on foreign oil”
    and so they are essentially telling us we need an operation but refusing to
    start the surgery.

    You have to start somewhere. If you want to decrease our foreign oil
    dependency, you have to take steps to do so. You can not tell us we need to
    decrease the dependency but tell us that drilling on our own land in in our
    own waters is not a solution. It just doesn't add up.

    I have a friend who is just as concerned about the environmental impact and
    I agree that it is an issue when it comes to drilling (especially in an
    offshore environment). However, no one wants to take the time to research
    ways to to improve the situation because they're too busy saying “we need to
    use less foreign oil but drilling ourselves won't help”

    I simply want people to make a choice. If you're for decreasing the United
    States' dependency on foreign oil then shouldn't any steps that will help
    that long term be looked at and highly considered? If not, they are then
    they are just spouting propaganda and need to consider their opinion moot
    because they are truly not contributing to the conversation at all.