Drilling for Oil Is Not the Answer

Since George Bush took office, the price of gasoline has skyrocketed. When Bush took office in January 2001, the average price of regular gasoline was $1.47 per gallon. It’s now $4.10 (as of June 30, 2008). Even adjusted for inflation, gas prices have more than doubled under the Bush administration. As a result, the average household will spend about $2,300 more on gasoline this year than in 2000 (adjusted for inflation). [CAF [1]]

Bush and McCain are cynical flip-floppers on oil drilling. Since the Reagan Administration, offshore oil drilling has been banned on most of the outer continental shelf. Until June 2008, Bush and McCain opposed lifting that ban. [New York Times [2]] And while Bush has favored drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), he could never persuade a conservative-dominated Congress to approve that scheme. Even McCain opposes it. [New York Times [3]]

New drilling wouldn’t bring the first drop of oil to market for at least 10 years—and they know it. Normally, it takes years—to set up operations, dig test wells, and build a functioning oil rig—before any oil goes to market. On top of that, all of the oil drilling ships in the world are booked for the next five years. [New York Times [4]] So it would take 10 years before any oil is pumped out of new offshore wells, and about 20 years before those wells would reach peak capacity. The Bush Administration admits there could be no oil production in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge until 2018 and production would not peak until 2027. [U.S. Department of Energy [5]]

Even at peak capacity in 20 years, new oil drilling won’t lower gas prices—and they know it. There is simply too little oil in these offshore areas to affect global supply. Bush’s own Department of Energy shows that by the year 2025, ANWR drilling would lower crude oil prices by only 75 cents per barrel (which amounts to about 2 cents a gallon at the pump). [U.S. Department of Energy [5]] The latest government estimate for new offshore wells estimates that, even in 20 years, they would pump only about one-fifth as much oil as ANWR and therefore “any impact on average wellhead prices is expected to be insignificant.” [U.S. Department of Energy [6]]

Since 2001, Bush and his allies have blocked every reasonable measure to promote U.S. energy independence. Bush slashed Department of Energy programs that promoted conservation, efficiency, and renewable energy sources. [Center for American Progress [7]] Bush and Senate conservatives killed 2007 legislation that would have required 15 percent of our electricity to come from renewable sources, and they continue to block the Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act of 2008. [Washington Post [8]] And during the years when conservatives controlled Congress, they did nothing to improve fuel efficiency for cars and SUVs. In December 2007, the day after Bush finally signed Democratic legislation which modestly increases fuel efficiency standards, the administration blocked laws enacted in 18 states that would have improved auto-efficiency rules for a majority of Americans. [New York Times [9]]