The False Promise Of "Drill Baby, Drill" - Center For American Progress

[hatrack]

The recent upheaval in Egypt led to a spike in oil prices due to fears about Middle Eastern oil production and transportation. In response to this recent price hike, Big Oil and its congressional allies predictably amplified their demand to “drill, baby, drill.” This short-sighted reflexive slogan will not save families money at the pump nor make America more secure. When, knee-jerk responses become policy, we place a higher burden on working families, sustain dangerous or unstable regimes, and risk disasters—like the BP blow out—which threaten public health and the livelihoods of thousands. There are other real solutions that reduce consumption and would make both a short- and long-term difference in prices while reducing oil use, saving families money, and enhancing our national security.

Think Progress noted that allies of big oil “exploit Egyptian uprising to shill for more domestic oil drilling.” This began after oil prices climbed nearly $7 per barrel between January 27 and 31 because of fears about the security of the 2.5 percent of world oil transported through Egypt. Yet more drilling would provide zero relief from high oil and gasoline prices now, and make a scant difference in 10 years. The Energy Information Administration noted that the “long lead times from discovery to production limit the increase in production, particularly offshore.” This means that an increase in U.S. oil production will make little or no difference in the world oil price or what Americans pay at the gas pump.

EDIT

More oil drilling cannot meet our long-term energy needs either. The United States has only 2 percent of the world’s oil reserves, yet we use one-quarter of the oil produced annually even if we were drilling everywhere, including wildlife refuges, off beaches, and other fragile places. We cannot produce enough oil domestically to significantly reduce our dependence on foreign oil. Our consumption helps finance and sustain unfriendly regimes because one in five barrels of oil consumed in the United States comes from countries that the State Department considers to be “dangerous or unstable.”

The only real long-term solution to high prices and foreign oil dependence is to reduce our consumption. The Obama administration undertook the first serious effort to cut oil use in 35 years by increasing car and light truck fuel economy standards. When implemented, these standards will reduce oil use by nearly 2 billion barrels from cars and light trucks built between 2012 and 2016. The administration is developing even more efficient standards for cars built from 2017 to 2025, and the first ever efficiency standards for big rig trucks. The combination of the most effective standards for these vehicles could save more than 3 million barrels of oil per day by 2030.

EDIT

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/02/false_promise.html