Will Offshore Oil Drilling Help?

Oct. 1, 2008— -- With contentious issues on our minds ranging from bailing out Wall Street to picking the next president, it's no wonder that a momentous act of Congress slipped under the radar screen last week with little notice. A 26-year-old moratorium on drilling in federal waters off our shores quietly went down the tubes. Although this action doesn't mean that drilling is imminent, it does mean that the government could offer leases in some Atlantic waters as early as 2011.

It was doomed by two powerful myths. It was sold to the people as one way to bring down prices at the gas pump. But it won't. And it has been described repeatedly as moving us closer to energy independence. But it won't.

And it's just one more step in the wrong direction. The only way to achieve energy independence and bring down those awful gas prices is to wean ourselves away from relying on a fuel that is, quite literally, poisoning the entire planet. But the fact that Congress, and both candidates for the presidency, went along with this scheme is all the proof we need that the country is still not committed to developing alternative fuels on the scale that this challenge demands.

Instead, apparently we're willing to place our hopes for the future on offshore derricks that are at least a decade away, and will supply at best a tiny fraction of the oil this country depends upon. And by the way, if oil is selling for $200 a barrel when those platforms begin producing, don't expect a break in the price. It will sell for $200 a barrel.

The maddening part of this scenario is real progress is being made on numerous fronts ranging from solar energy to tidal power. Here's my prediction: The energy picture is going to be very, very different before the first of those offshore platforms are erected. And it's not because of altruism. It's driven by two powerful forces. There's lots of money to be made in alternative energy. And people are going to conserve more because they can't afford to do anything else.

Some of these developments are already in the works. In laboratories across the country, and in suburban garages, and in major industrial sectors, some very bright folks are moving us closer to freedom from oil.