The Argument FOR Drilling

When I was younger, I was debating getting my Master's degree. With three small kids and a house, I was concerned about my age in comparison to other students. I was also concerned that it would take too long and I would be ridiculously old when I finished.

When I posed this to an advisor, he asked, "So how long do you think it will take you to complete the degree"
I answered, "Five, maybe six years."
"And how old will you be then?" He asked. I stated my age in five years.
"And how old will you be in five years if you don't get the degree?" he replied.

I post this for a reason. I watched for several years as the Thunderhorse drilling platform was being constructed at Port Aransas. It's not a quick, nor an easy process. You are basically construction a building to float at sea. Daunting to say the least. So here we have two sides.
On one side, they say, "oh if we start now, we won't see results for five, ten, maybe fifteen years." So my question is-when will we see results if we DON'T START NOW?

The other side is demurring on the side of avoiding drilling oil where it exists. Any oil man will tell you that for every strike, there are ten to twenty dry holes. Oil is not a migratory beast you can hunt, it forms and exists where it is. Which means that you can have leases from here to Kingdom Come and that doesn't insure there is oil on ANY OF IT.

We need to drill. The polling of the American public concurs with that opinion. The only people that do not are the politicians and that is strictly due to their income sources for campaigns. If you believe that the sooner we start drilling, the better, then let you representatives know.

This is not to say we shouldn't develop alternative fuel sources. Nuclear power plants are safer and more efficient than the old Three Mile Island model. Gassification of coal, natural gas and biofuels are all something we need to develop. This isn't a one answer solution, our energy needs are multi-faceted. But for those tunnel visioned true believers that think wind farms and solar arrays are going to supply all of our energy needs, think again. Right now, the pure electric cars have a storage capacity of about 40 miles. That may work for commuting to school or going to work, but it's not going to haul goods or provide the services needed in our community. For now, and for the foreseeable future, we will still need oil. And the sooner we start the process, the further down that road to energy independence we will be.