Gas prices are incessantly creeping upwards, well above $4 a gallon now and it doesn't look like there is any end in sight. We haven't even reached the summer driving season when gas prices usually peak, so we can be assured that prices will go up at least until then. So what do we do about it? The public finds it convenient to blame government for the rise in gas prices, after all, we blame them for everything else, so why not this? However, the government is not entirely to blame here (I know its shocking that I just said that). Gas prices are based on worldwide influences and largely on speculators who, however we want to view them, are the direct incfluence behind rising gas prices. Americans now want drilling to take place, here, there, and everywhere if possible. What happens, however, when we run out of places to drill? What will we do when oil supply does indeed seriously diminish to the point where it costs more to get the oil out of the ground than it is worth? While I do support the increase of drilling in our country, there can't be an immediate rush to just start shoving metal rods into the earth to suck out the black gold we all crave so much. We need to take into consideration all the impacts that drilling may have, most of them environmental. The article linked here goes into the current push to speed along the drilling process.
Drilling must be a responsible process with all the necessary safety precautions in place to reduce the possibility of any accidental spills, explosions, or negative effects on the surrounding environment. I believe that drilling should take place on privately owned lands, those that are not a part of any wildlife refuge, national park, or other protected area. Any area that is protected is protected for a reason. There may be unique geological formations, rare flora and fauna co-existing in a unique environment, or simply fragile ecosystems that would be almost surely demolished should any heavy equipment be allowed to traverse that area. Currently it seems that our government is taking this into consideration allowing new drilling to take place only in areas that have been designated previously as potentially beneficial to producing oil and those that do not invade wildlife preserves or national parks. As much as we would like to see oil start flowing from the ground in all these new areas, we must also take into consideration that many of these potential areas have not even been physically tested yet to see if they are economically viable to the production of oil. This push for drilling is also a push for oil exploration, to see if we can verify what geologists currently assume to be an area that could produce enormous amounts of oil. Even in those areas that are already verified as having oil worth drilling for, we still need to create the wells and pipelines necessary to bring that oil to production. None of this is an immediate fix. It is not like we can just say "lets drill for more oil" and oil will come gushing out of the ground. Those days are long gone and it now takes much more effort to reach the oil which is farther and farther underground as we deplete those areas that are closer to the surface. How deep are we willing to drill before we can't drill anymore? If we drill far enough anywhere on earth, we will eventually reach molten lava. Granted, we haven't reached that point yet and hopefully won't, but it is a possibility.
While I believe that drilling in our own country will assist in relieving our current situation, we can't let it blind us to the fact that oil is not a permanent resource and that it will eventually run out. People in Europe have been paying higher prices for gas than we have for decades and they don't complain like we do. They find ways to work within the system, creating more gas efficient cars and using mass transportation more. Instead of using the higher gas prices as an impetus to find better ways transport ourselves around, we instead use it as a base to complain about our current situation. We need to re-invent the American spirit of ingenuity and innovation and move forward using higher gas prices to our benefit instead of using it to complain about ourselves. What can we do? Invest more money in high speed trains as I have mentioned before, come up with more viable gas efficient vehicles or even cheaper electric cars, and quit giving subsidies to these oil companies who are raking in the profits more than ever. If we can start to re-direct more money to useful endeavors than maybe while reducing our demand for oil, we can create a path to the future that we have needed for years now. We need to use our current problems to invigorate our vision for the future, one that is not dependent on oil, but one that is relatively free of it.
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