Drill baby, drill?

Seems someone has gotten a little off topic here. Some of you are correct, oil companies will drill when they think they can make money. Ahhh…drilling…that and holding back for control.

Yes, CHuck…greed is very much alive and well… as well apparently in Fayetteville Tennessee… Double mileage…30 dollar an hour box packing? 3000 for a garage sale that made 900… give me a break.

some of you people are either stupid or just not thinking right about your so called “alternative resources”. Hemp oil, corn ethanol, give me a break people!! Did any of you know that we would need about 275 million acres of corn fields to produce enough ethanol to full-fill our needs. Do any of you know that there are only about 75 million acres of corn fields in the U.S. total. Corn is food, eat it. Oil is power, use it. Think about how much it cost to actually produce ethanol from plant sources (a lot). We have an ocean of oil beneath us and we should use it. We don’t have to drill off shore so all you people worried about the marine life can just not worry about it anymore. Let the grown ups drill for oil.

If we increase drilling what’s to prevent the oil companies from selling it overseas? Big oil crosses national boundaries they have no national loyalty. The market is international and I don’t think we can really become “self-sufficient” without regulation/nationalization of the energy companies. This might not be such a bad thing, since the market has been manipulated to rip off the consumer several times in recent history: California electricity privitization, Enron.

Drilling is not the answer. We need a firm national commitment to develop other energy sources for all methods of transportation. The auto industry should use this opportunity to create the replacement for the internal combustion engine.

I don’t drill, you probably don’t drill, and the US government doesn’t drill. OIL COMPANIES DRILL. They will drill when they think that is the way to make the most profit. They will buy cheap foreign oil if selling that is more profitable. How about a tax on imported oil, much like the one on imported ethanol? Start it at a few dollars per barrel and increase it each year.

Energy indpendence is a farce. So called “Alternative” forms of energy such as wind and solar will probably never be capable of being scaled up to a level wherein they could replace our current cheap source of energy: coal. The countries in OPEC have an energy surplus — we have an energy deficit. They have more supply than demand, for us in America, we have more demand than supply — this is how free trade works. It doesn’t matter where the oil comes from, the price is the price. If we slow our demand for oil by using alternative forms of energy, countries like China and India will be right there to use whatever oil America used to consume.

One thing that alarms me about these comments and so many others in the general public is everyone’s seemingly genuine expectations that politicians and government are going to solve something as complicated as so called “energy independence”. The government, historically, is not good at solving complicated problems — arguably it’s not effective at solving any type of problem. Let capitalism, free trade and economics sort the problem out — when there’s a profit to be made you’ll find that people come up with some pretty effective solutions in a lot less time than the government ever could.

Yes we should drill baby drill …but just in the short term. A national goal has to be set that we become independent. I had to laugh when I heard that somewhere in the next few years cars must get 30 MPG. !! Our nation’s leaders should mandate 100 miles per gallon in the next 10 years. But where would all the road revenue come? Maybe our government contributes more to the problem rather than the solution.

1st If you find oil and then drill, it’ll take 10 years soonest before you’re able to use it. 2nd Whatever price is on the International market is what it will sell on said market. 3rd It’s so difficult to transport this oil to shore that there’s a high risk to marine life. 4th We would be better served if we devote our resource to finding an alternative because oil is finite and it’s an addiction(per President Bush), I say build the electric hybrid, to build our auto industry and free us from dependence on middle eastern oil!!!!

“All you folks out in the cities…why don’t you try reducing your ridiculous consumption levels? You love to see states like WY drill for oil so you can heat and cool your 3500 sq ft overvalued homes…but drill in CA, no way. The urban centers have reaped what they’ve sown…I have no sympathy for any of you.”

I can sympathize with you, living in the big city of Houston myself. We have lots of retail stores and offices spaces that have their thermostats as low as 68 degrees, virtual ice boxes. We have people driving large SUVs in Houston, which can take two hours to cross under normal traffic loads. Oh, and on top of that, these same people are more often the ones that drive 80-85+ on the highways. Energy is so expensive, because most of it is used in power generation.

I’d be happy to let you know that my gasoline budget per month is $60-80. Per month. And my electric bill averages $30-35 per month. Yes, per month. I use the AC when it’s above 82 degrees, and I drive only when I have to, as much as possible. I keep myself occupied at home to pass the time in between my workshifts. I even consider a drive from west Houston to south or north central Houston a special occasion trip, like you used to consider the drive to San Antonio from Houston a special trip 25 years ago.

This is a no brainer. We have to a a greater percentage of oil and natural gas produced domestically or be at the mercy of OPEC. At he same time we need to invest heavily in wind and solar. These people who argue against wind farms with comments like “we need a bat mortality study” need a serious reality check.

“if the republicans did not have their hands in the pockets of BIG OIL the last 8 years, America could have already been energy independant from countries like Saudi Arabia.
I have simply stated the facts. They are facts, they are not disputable.”

Not Disputable. If Bill Clinton had done the same 16 years ago, we would have been independent. Enough blame to go around for both parties. Last time I checked, each party received large sums of money from Big Oil. We as citizens need to stand up and throw all of them out. Stop the war. Invest in our infrastructure. Eliminate subsidies. Quit bailing out companies that could not handle their own money much less ours.

Farming just six to eight percent of our farmland in industrial hemp would satisfy our current demands for oil and gas! It is at the very minimum four times more efficient than corn for ethanol production. Hemp is the #1 source of biomass on the planet and grows without herbicides or pesticides to foul the soil and water, and in climates and conditions other crops won’t grow. Anything made from oil, coal, timber, or cotton can be made with it. All paper, plastics, packaging, textiles, fuels, lubricants, paints, varnishes, plywood, structural components, insulations, concretes, Many cosmetics, health foods, and medicines, over 25,000 known products can be made with ecologically friendly hemp!!!

thats becousethey want to burn it in there pipes

The oil companies have leases they don’t use and shut down refineries in the past decade because they’d rather import “sweet crude” than refine good ole USA crude. Have they invested all those obscene profits into better technology and new energy? Probably not–if they had, they’d have figured out a way to keep all those oil platforms out of a hurricane’s path!

I listened to an interview, on NPR with author/activist Antonia Juhasz, that said there was already a lot of drilling going on in America and the whole ‘drill baby drill’ concept is redundant. The oil companies just hold back from distributing to keep prices high. Gee, what a concept.

We need to do it all. Drill, refine,nuclear what we have now plus innovate. All with clean technology. There is something wrong with the notion that while millions starve our fertile plains should be growing hemp to burn in our homes and autos. If we don’t do it all soon we will be following suit. The late great USA.

Drilling and finding alternatives are imperatives — essential to our future. American entrepenuerial leadership and innovation has always led the world and now it’s more important than anything we do.

This is the same mentality that got us into the sub-prime mess – let’s spend our children and grandchildrens’ inheritance of a clean and plentiful earth, so we can get short-term gains today. The mess the natural gas fields have made, should make people think twice about the world their children will inherit.

If Exxon could charge us for sunlight and wind then there wouldn’t be a drill baby drill mentality and we’d have alternative energy out the kazoo.

ABSOLUTELY! With all due respect for environmental concerns, responsible energy drilling is the only long term answer to meet our needs. With developing countries like China increasing global demand, it is up to “We the People of the USA” to take care of our needs. Tax the drillers or consumers if you like and use the monies to fund alternative energy reources and “actual need” environmental initiatives.

For too long we have stymied drilling and the creation of nuclear plants, to satisfy the voice of a loud minority. As cruel as this may sound, our world is Darwinian in nature and the species which need survive is human.

These “Drill Baby Drill” people lack the fundamental ideology that has made America. America is known for hope and innovation. Instead of encouraging an energy technology revolution that could stimulate our economy and advance the way we live through research and development, these people are holding America back. A temporary surge in oil revenue just isn’t enough to keep America on top, especially since our country wasted the last 8 years on this type of mentality while country’s like India and China have been taking our jobs, educating their citizens and laughing at us as we sit here like morons with our only direction coming from bought out congressmen from special interests.

Unless you are willing to sell your car, go without electricity, and go geothermal to heat your home then opposing the increase in drilling, building of nuclear plants, putting up of windmills, solar panels and use of coal is a hypocritical stance.

Farming just six to eight percent of our farmland in industrial hemp would satisfy our current demands for oil and gas! It is at the very minimum four times more efficient than corn for ethanol production. Hemp is the #1 source of biomass on the planet and grows without herbicides or pesticides to foul the soil and water, and in climates and conditions other crops won’t grow. Anything made from oil, coal, timber, or cotton can be made with it. All paper, plastics, packaging, textiles, fuels, lubricants, paints, varnishes, plywood, structural components, insulations, concretes, Many cosmetics, health foods, and medicines, over 25,000 known products can be made with ecologically friendly hemp!!!

If drilling will make people feel better then do it. locales that permit it will be the ones who are putting themselves at ecological risk. The actual numbers of barrels of oil won’t really change anything. But if it makes Americans feel like their actually doing something then that fantasy is worthwhile. Meanwhile, we should accept the fact that big business and government really don’t want any change at all. Once it becomes critical of course everyone will blame everyone else! How Fin’ predictable.

I find it completely ridiculous how politicians, if you can call them that, like Sarah Palin make these sorts of ridiculous mantras. She says, “Drill, Baby, Drill,” when it shuld be “Invent, Baby, Invent.” If we clutch to these archaic ways of finding energy we will lose our power to advance in the world and destroy our environment. When others in China and India have almost permanent black skies and wastelands for forests from all of their oil usage and coal burning, we will have the greatest gift, a beautiful land to live in.

How much energy do we need to not be dependent on energy from high risk sources? How much do we want to pay? How much can we reduce our consumption as a country? What are the numbers, the choices today and 50 years from now? Would you prefer to send you children into a cycle of wars fought to secure our needed oil in the middle east? Does your neighbor get to have 5 children which create the additional energy/pollution burdon we work to reduce. It’s a balance and a standard of living that requires a plan. I don’t see a plan. I just see a bunch of people running around drilling or sueing each other. Do we have a balanced budget as a nation or any plan to restore it? Connected? I think so.

So you ask me should we drill but I’m just a locus eating the last leaves off a global tree. I just hope the leaves last until I’m done eating.

We need oil and gas as a stop gap measure to the development of other alternatives, but even if this is done, we can’t take our eye off the ball of energy independence for security and financial reasons. These states that have a short fall like PA, NY and of all places California should be getting part of the royalties. In PA we have lots of opportunities and I don’t care if they have to drill in my back yard.

Even as demand continues to drop? Is this a rhetorical question? Are we going to wait until we have completely exhausted all of the oil before we invest in any significant way in alternative energy?

No, we need to explore other energy sources and higher short-term fuel cost will force us to look elsewhere for energy. But we need to expand our international border 200 miles offshore to keep the Chinese from doing directional drill into U.S. territory.

Go for it! We need the energy to come from somewhere. Either we bow to the Middle East or use our own resourses. I love where I live but would gladly move if they found oil or natural gas.

The big problem with gas development is that it is done on such a grand scale and accelerated pace. Nearly 80 percent of the gas wells in the Pinedale anticline are capped because of a lack of pipeline capacity and demand for the gas at deleverable pricing. The drilling should be slowed to a level with less impact, instead of drilling in the cheapest possible way.

As a resident of Wyoming…there’s only been one other person who’s posted here that has any idea what kind of impact the drilling has on the land. Yes…we get a lot of revenue and I’ll be the first to admit that WY is the only state in the union that has managed to siphon off a significant amount of money from the companies that mine these resources for its own citizens. Call WY as backwards as you want…at least our elected officials were smart enough to make these companies give something back to WY citizens in some form…CA, TX, LA, are you listening? I thought your urban upbringing and superior schools made you wiser than us country folk?

All you folks out in the cities…why don’t you try reducing your ridiculous consumption levels? You love to see states like WY drill for oil so you can heat and cool your 3500 sq ft overvalued homes…but drill in CA, no way. The urban centers have reaped what they’ve sown…I have no sympathy for any of you.

Try going it on your own…drilling in your state and see how you feel about expanding oil production…NIMBY’s.

I think that the U.S.A. is too much dependent on foreign oil. It may be a National Security issue when you think that Americans open their wallets at the gas pump only to finance russian weapon’s purchases by some very hostile countries like Venezuela. It’s not a good idea to finance Chavez’s regime (and many others) at the gas pump ! No way ! So, respect the environment and the wildlife (American technology is the best in the world and can accomplish this), but keep on drilling like crazy, if you want to be out of the present financial havoc and pay your mortgages. Thanks a lot.

We need oil and gas, but it won’t last. This is just a stop gap to keep us going until we can rely on alternative fuels. I am truly afraid that we will mismanage the time we have left and not develop a credible supply of alternative fuels.

Everyone seems to like the idea of alternative fuels, but we have a nasty habit of backing idealistic concepts with little chance of success. This is irresponsible. Windmills are nice, but they won’t power your car. Biofuels will never be available in sufficient quantity to replace oil. As it is, the small quantity of biofuel that we do produce has run up food prices. This is inconvenient in a wealthy nation and murderous in the third world.

We need to put our unrealistic ideals aside and look at real possibilities. Are we willing to park our cars and ride electric trains run by nuclear power plants? Clean coal is a real possibility. Coal has a bad reputation, and many say clean coal is an oxymoron. This demonstrates a lack of knowledge.

Let’s take a hardheaded look at our options, and choose those that can truly work. And do it quickly, we don’t have much time.

Well as a Floridian, I’ll pay the extra 2 or 3 cents per gallon for you to not rip up our shoreline. So go drill, baby drill… somewhere else, like the 65 million acres in a Alaska that are already leased, and untouched.
And Frankly, I don’t care where I buy my gas from either… it’s not like Exxon is America Friendly. They made 80 billion in profit and laid off 8000 American Workers last year.

Of course we should drill. As for the comments about not having enough refining capacity; we’re importing over 10M barrels of OIL per day that we are refining in the U.S. already. We feel better now that the oil we import is ONLY $75 per barrel. A year ago we were terrified that it was $75.

It has been over 30 years since the gas rationing of the Carter administration. Still Congress (Democrats and Republicans) has been unable to provide leadership for a comprehensive energy policy for the United States. That fact tells the whole story – greed is alive and well in Congress!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes – and ten years ago!!

Oil is non-renewable. It’s environmentally destructive and a corrupt business. Not to mention, it keeps us (the U.S.) under the thumb of those countries that produce it in mass quantities. It’s time we use the alternative sources of energy available now and focus on developing existing technologies so that we can once and for all eliminate our addiction to fossil fuels

I hope alot of people take a serious look at the videos on energy development. I lived in Pinedale, Wy, and I worked for the Bureau of Land Management there as the lead wildlife biologist from 2000-2004. I saw the energy companies use their “sneeky” tactics to just get their feet in the door and then throw the doors open to development. In the videos you hear from the people who live in Pinedale but what you don’t see other than in a few aerial shots is how the landscape and wildlife habitat have been destroyed. People keep saying we need the oil and gas…well folks we need a suitable environment in which to live and play as well. When you decide to destroy the “quality” of life, as is happening in Wyoming and being proposed for Alaska, you need to rethink your values.

I agree with comment from Ga. What good is drilling more wells if our plants are at over capacity now? No one wants them in their back yard,would take years to build and the transportation of oil would just give rise to a chance for more ecological disasters.

Let’s get started drilling already! Our stubborn Congress and the anti-business environmentalists have held up oil drilling in several promising areas like deep offshore and in a small section of ANWR in Alaska. Our economy has taken a double hit with the mortgage crisis and being held hostage to the high cost of foreign oil. We must become self-sufficient through a combination of oil, natural gas, nuclear, wind and solar power.

I know so many people, including myself, that are sick of the media bias that tries to make us feel guilty for being Americans. Of course we want to protect our environment, but it is always painted in such a way that forces us to hinder our economy and dependance on foreign oil. Alternative energy is a great idea, but you don’t throw out the current form of energy (petro) until new ones are cheaper, more abundant, and ready to use.

Absolutely, We should drill our own oil.. There is no good reason that will ever convince me that America should not be self sufficient. i don’t care about alienating allies by reducing our import of foreign products.

There hasn’t been new refineries built since the 70’s. From all I hear the refineries are working at close to capacity, so it doesn’t matter how much oil you drill if it can’t be refined into gas. Building new refineries will take years if the NIMBYS can figure out where to put it.

Heck no. We should use birth control to keep the population down, end illegal immigration to keep the population down, develop alternative energy sources, and live within our means. BTW, it’s interesting that your article views the oil/gas industry WY favorably (WY has a democratic governor) whereas CNN generally has been critical of Alaska and it’s governor for promoting oil/gas development. Hm …

Oil and gas drilling is a boom then bust business. Casper, Wyoming has a lot of oil around it as well as some mining for a type of clay sold by the bag. In the 1970’s it was a very prosperous city with a crime rate to match. The courts had an efficient way of handling some criminals like robbers and people who damaged property. They would direct the sherrifs department to take the criminal to the city’s limits and release them there. If the criminal was caught in the city again he went straight to jail. Cities in Wyoming are 30 or more miles apart usually although some like Mills, Evansville, and Casper adjoin each other. In the 1980’s the oil fields entered a bust cycle and a great many people left the state. The petroleum industry had been taxed but the money was put in a rainy day fund and for many years the legislature would not allow it to be released and spent. In the 1990’s I visited Casper and observed abandoned business buildings some with pigeons living in their display windows on the main street of the city. The only ones who seem to benefit from oil are the companies involved with it. Oil, mining, and agriculture are Wyoming’s main industries and the people who own them are often the ones in control of the politics and making the laws. From what I have seen of the results of oil and gas drilling some people can get rich but most do not. If you can get rich doing it then do so. If you can not get rich selling oil and gas you end up paying inflated prices for everything during boom periods and being forced out of the state if a bust is severe enough. Why not develop something else that will make you wealthy and drive an electric car so the coal is burned in Wyoming and the energy is sent to you where you can live comfortabley at a reasonable cost? Look at most of the millionaires like Bill Gates who can donate to countries like Africa. How much time do they waste on oil drilling?

America should absolutely expand oil and gas drilling. We have the best, cleanest, most eco-friendly technology in the world to do it with. We have vast resources. The huge domestic wealth generated would help fund research for new energy technology. I don’t see how America can lose on this one.

Of course we should. The position that we should not is so ridiculous that it blew up in the faces of Democrats who tried to make it a campaign issue. We should control as much of our energy supply as we possibly can while aggressively pursuing alternatives. We should terminate boondoggles like corn ethanol, which is really nothing but a subsidy for farmers and big agribusiness, and invest the money instead in approaches that have some possibility of being realistic solutions.

As an Oil & Gas Broker you might think I want high Gas & Oil prices. Well, you are right, but not for the reason you think.
I am foremost an environmentalist, and I can assure the public that if companies are allowed to drill offshore in states such as CA, AK & FL, there will be accidents. It is not ‘if’ but ‘when’.
Humans are greedy, so at some point to save costs or even put extra money in their own pockets, employees with the large Oil & Gas companies will use shoddy material, will cut corners, will do whatever it takes thinking they won’t get caught.
The really sad fact is that it doesn’t matter if they get caught as the damage from a major oil spill will never be able to be compensated for no matter how many years a few people spend in jail or how many millions they pay in fines.
Once the damage is done it is simply too late.
Congress must force Energy Companies to put at a minimum, 20% of their profits into alternative energy sources. I don’t care if they get to use that 20% as some type of TAX WRITE-OFF.
In less than 4 years after the attack on Pearl Harbor, America built the world’s largest military force, constructed an ATOM BOMB and won a World War. America should be leading the world in ALTERNATIVE ENERGY solutions and if the republicans did not have their hands in the pockets of BIG OIL the last 8 years, America could have already been energy independant from countries like Saudi Arabia.
I have simply stated the facts. They are facts, they are not disputable.
Anyone who votes republican is not voting for their FUTURE, but for their PRESENT. If you are not happy with your life today and you do not think it will be much better tomorrow, then please vote Democrat.
The future will always be there, however, the only question is…..Will We???

I believe that we should expand drilling. However, I also believe that we need to do so under the proper assumptions. The US uses 25% of the worlds oil but only has 3% of the worlds oil reserves. Domestic drilling is never going to satisfy our energy needs. We need to drill domestically to create jobs during these tough economic times. So yes, drill, but don’t be fooled into thinking we can continue to be energy gluttons and there will be no long-term consequences. Invest in drilling AND alternative energy at the same rate.

Before we all get too excited, take a look at reserve estimates (http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/state/SEP_MoreReserves.cfm) and divide by 20 million barrels per day (approx US consumption). Unless you have a short life expectancy, domestic drilling may not be a game changer.

BTW as we consider various strategies, it is worth remembering that OPEC and other interests are capable of response. If we drill an extra X million BPD it may not drop prices much, if any, if OPEC cuts production by an equivalent amount. Trust me, they can afford it. Maybe we should keep our reserves as leverage and burn their oil first???

PS I ran the 5.5 miles to work today and it felt awesome, as it always does. Can’t wait for the run home. ITS GOOD TO BE relatively FREE!!!

Increased drilling and domestic oil production should be part of a well-balanced energy diet, at least for the next 20 years or so. As world oil resources dwindle we must move toward a sustainable mix of energy sources, and we should start now. However, we cannot replace fossil fuels overnight and during the transition we must efficiently utilize all of our resources if we are to sustain a modern industrial society.

Drill – Drill – Drill
The USA & world economy and way of life are built on Oil. Everything we do is connected in some manner to oil or other fossil fuels. As we’ve seen over the past month the high oil prices and low oil supply have been one of the major causes of the economic collapse. Sure, the failed social engineering policies of the Democrat party, Freddy Mac & Fannie May, contributed to the topple but a low cost oil supply is the major cause. All the low supply in this nation can be also be attributed to the Democrat party and their environmental activist supporters. And now our nation is on the verge have these Domocrat fools in charge of all three branches of government. With all these factors converging we can all expect an economic depression greater than the Great Depression over the next ten to twenty years.

Yes, we should have done it long ago and why not? At the same time we should have been putting more focus on alternative sources of energy.

We have the talent and the know how to be able to do just about anything here in the USA.

I have been Blessed to be in manufacturing for over (40) years now and anytime I can walk into a OEM’s plant and see us producing goods here in the the USA it is a good sign.

Unfortunately many schools do not offer programs for our youth to get into manufacturing. It is much different now than it was years ago.

Most of the new automated equiptment costs a million dollars or more and there is a tremendous need for skilled labor.

Many people in the automotive industry will lose their jobs, but they will be able to find work in other areas, such as wind energy, solar, gas and oil.

Because of value of the dollar we are now much more competitive now with the rest of the world, even though their labor rates our lower, other costs (shipping, etc.) have gone up which makes us more competitive.

Let’s hope with the upcoming election that systems are put in place to make people accountable for their actions.

Safeguards need to be put in place to avoid what has happened in the banking and mortgage industries.

Let’s open up our school systems to allow for creative thinking instead of putting everyone in a box. Read and Test, Read and Test does not work. Right brian thinkers are needed to keep things going!

Thanks!

YES,although America can’t drill its way out of the coming oil crisis, it must tap all available OIL and Natural Gas.

Now that oil is back to $70/bbl, Congress needs to resume purchases for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve!

The new oil and gas being drilled is needed as a bridge to energy independence through the use of renewable energy. However, the new oil and gas should be taxed appropriately to finance rebates, incentives and credits for solar panels to bring its price to affordable levels.

These videos on drilling are incredibly negative. They do not set the context that if it is not Wyoming it will be Saudi Arabia. Are these lands part of the 68 million acres that Obama keeps talking about that Oil and Gas companies already have and should use?? Appears that way. So CNN should say that Both McCain and Obama supports this activity. By not saying anything but putting the drill baby drill title, these videos, except one, seem to put some sort of blame on Palin.

It would be incredibly STUPID not to. If they found some in my back yard I’d say drill baby drill.

Of course. Or quit driving cars. The green revolution for all of its benefits is not enough to offset the need for petroleum and natural gas.

Absolutely America should drill domestic oil and gas wells. For too long we’ve depended upon the “good will” of the Arab states and others to provide for our energy needs. Now, we’re paying the price. We need to develop solar, wind, bio-fuels, and other alternative energy…but for the forseeable future we are going to need oil and gas to meet our needs. The hard core Green movement needs to realize that while high energy prices and a collapsing U.S. Economy may be good for carbon emissions, they aren’t good for America. Sustainable improvements to greenhouse emissions will only come with time and capital investment. We can’t shortcut our way to a Green future by pulling the plug on oil before we are ready. And until we can do that, we need to produce our own supplies to the extent we can.

No. There are very few rigs (if any) available right now, and the daily rig leasing rate has skyrocketed about 5-6x over the past 3 years. Setting up a new drill-baby-drill program will just cause the daily lease rates to go even higher: you’ll spend more money for the same amount of drilling, but you won’t get any more oil.

The geologists and engineers whom I know don’t want another drilling program; only the politicians are crowing ‘drill-baby-drill’.

It’s a dumb idea; let’s scrap it.

Maybe. There are good reasons we haven’s been playing the drilling game in the US for the past 30 years. The cost of production in the US makes drilling unprofitable at barrel prices less than about $60. Since the price of oil has been above that level for less than two years, there hasn’t really been time enough for the US producers to exploit the higher price levels, or for them to become confident that oil prices will still be high enough to make drilling pay.

There’s also lots of room for doubt that there’s enough oil in the ground to make a material difference in our energy supply issues. If we were to make “drill, baby, drill” the focus of our energy strategy, and drilling didn’t yield a lot of new supply, we would just be drilling a hole in our wallets.

Overall, drilling with reasonable expectations is probably a good idea, but reasonable expectations would be enough oil to support the production of lubricants, plastics, and other high-value chemicals. It is no longer reasonable to think that we can continue to squander oil as cheap fuel indefinitely. The time for that sort of waste is over.

In the end, drilling is a good thing, but it doesn’t matter as an energy source any more. Energy is going to have to come from renewable sources, if we’re going to have it at all.

Drilling’s a necessary activity, but it’s a lousy focus for a strategy, and a worse political slogan.

The government needs to create a new department of Homeland Energy Security. This new department could be headed by someone with extensive industry contacts. So, they would know best how to deploy tax payer money for the greatest gain. Ideally they could delay drilling because another emergency distraction will be needed for the 2012 election.