Ever notice when energy prices get high the same oilmen sing (to the tune of "Barbara Ann") "Drill drill drill drill drill Offshore?"
Of course they do that. It works well for them! They get more money and power, and we get to keep them in charge and rich beyond belief. (Exxon's second quarter 2008 profit was $1,485.55 per second). Big Oil isn't America's friend. It's our master. And they want to keep it that way!
All the experts and both candidates for President agree that drilling offshore for more oil will NOT bring down the price of gasoline, and if it does, it won't happen for YEARS.
So what sense does it make to drill for more offshore, especially when the oil companies already have leases to drill elsewhere but refuse to do so? (They want offshore, too. Except it's not really offshore. It's onshore, too, because America's beaches and coast lines would feel any negative effects.)
So what sense does it make to give Big Oil even more power? Look what they do with it. They finally even got to run The White House for the last 8 years, and look where that's gotten us!
How did invaders finally beat The Great Wall of China? They went around it. In a way, we need to do the same thing: go around Big Oil, look past Big Oil, find a solution beyond Big Oil.
That means alternative energy like solar and wind.
It means more fuel-efficient cars, equipment, and appliances. It means better efficiency.
It means for once saying NO! to "Drill drill drill drill drill Offshore."
It means for once not giving in. (The oil they drill up from the sea they'd probably just sell to China, India, and other growing markets anyway.)
It means having a plan for once, a new energy program that all Americans can be a part of--working together on something instead of being at each others throats over things that don't even effect us on a daily basis, like energy prices do.
And here's the real deal: by the time Big Oil's drilling offshore would maybe make have made some little difference--years from now--we should be at a point where we're done with them, anyway! Free from Big Oil because we said "No more," and changed who's in charge. Not them anymore. Ourselves. That's the real goal. It needed to start a long time ago, so 2008 is as good of a time to push back and look ahead as any.
"Drill drill drill drill drill Offshore" is an old, tired answer that's part of the problem, NOT part of any solution.
Pass it on!