The Real Reason Why We Shouldn’t Drill in ANWAR
Oil may be the most useful material ever discovered by mankind – in addition to its use as fuel, oil is in fertilizer, medicine, pesticides, plastics, cosmetics, lubricants, solvents, even food – it’s difficult to think of a consumer product that doesn’t contain a petroleum product, or rely on one for its production.
It’s currently being proposed that we lift the federal moratorium on off shore oil drilling. In my opinion sooner or later, we will drill off shore. Eventually, the oil under the ocean and Alaska’s ANWAR is going to be so valuable that the environmentalists will no longer be able to keep the wolves away from the door. It will only take one positive congressional vote to make it happen, and sooner or later it will. However, we shouldn’t do it yet.
There are a lot of reasons why we should reign in our depletion of petroleum resources and put off drilling in ANWAR and the continental shelf, but I think that the best one is this – Our generations have already used more than our share of the oil that exists in the world. Shouldn’t we leave some for our children and their children to use for fertilizer, medicine, pesticides, plastics, cosmetics, lubricants, solvents, etc that we’ve come to rely upon? Oil is eventually going to be too valuable to burn. Let us not be remembered as the ones who burned the last good source just because it was economically convenient.
Exploiting oil in these environmentally sensitive places is comparable to raiding your children’s college fund because you’re temporarily laid off from your job. It’s irresponsible because we still have other recourses and once it’s gone we can never get it back.
America has never really put much effort into developing renewable energy for the simple reason that the bean counters have always said that it would be more expensive than just using the oil and coal that is already available. Unfortunately a few beans didn’t get counted along the way. The constant outflow of American wealth to purchase foreign petroleum has diminished us financially while enriching people who hold their noses as they take our money, and of course there is the environmental damage that these fuels cause, and the cost of our oil motivated foreign policys.
Now it’s likely that we will finally start to seriously invest in other ways to fuel our energy intensive economy – and fortunately there is no way (that I can see) to outsource the development of solar, wind or other renewable energy resources, so this is going to mean lots of good paying jobs right here in America. Will our energy bills go up? They almost certainly shall. Will our homes and cars get smaller and more efficient? Of course they will. However, a lot more of that money will be staying in American pockets. These are not horrible sacrifices, but I hope we’re willing to make them before it’s too late.
America is addicted to oil. Drilling in ANWAR is like a junkie deciding that he will be better off if he cooks his own meth. We need to kick the habit, not make more of our own junk.
