The Political Whore

John McCain claims ending a 26-year ban on oil drilling in some areas of the Gulf of Mexico would help Americans by lowering gas prices and moving the U.S. away from dependence foreign oil.

But would it? Will this strategy really work to end the $4 a gallon (and rising) prices? The evidence is overwhelmingly against it.

There are an estimated 15 billions barrels of oil in the Gulf of Mexico. According to the Energy Information Agency, in 2007 Americans consumed 20.7 million barrels of oil per day (this number includes all oil-based products, including production of plastics and the like). To give you an idea of how long the Gulf reserves would last, at that rate of consumption, if we sucked out all the estimated 15 billion barrels of oil from the Gulf and eschewed all foreign oil, we could be completely energy independent for around 724 days. Less than two years.

Now, the Gulf reserves are not the only ones McCain is talking about opening up, so it is possible we could be energy-independent for more than two years. But still, can we make huge advances in alternative energy sources and implement them in anything under five years, or even 10 years? Unlikely. And since billions of dollars would need to be invested in order to get to all the oil in the Gulf, a process that could take a decade, lower gas prices in the near future as a result of the McCain plan are just as unlikely.

And that left McCain’s plan open to partisan attack today.

John McCain is “selling a quick fix that doesn’t work,” North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley said during a telephone conference call arranged this afternoon by the Barack Obama campaign. Easley said this is another example of McCain caving in to Bush’s policies, as well as a scheme to benefit big oil by allowing them access to the Gulf’s oil fields.

Former Florida Gov. Bob Graham, also on the conference call agreed. We should be focused on developing alternative energy sources and conservation of existing fuel reserves, Graham said. The U.S. should not “drain America first” just to be dependent on foreign oil once the domestic oil is gone, Graham said.

Opening up coastal areas to drilling likely won’t affect fuel prices, critics say. It could take years before the Gulf’s oil reserves are able to be drained. The technology needed isn’t yet available to reach some of the oil deposits that have been found.

The main focus should be on developing alternative sources and weeding ourselves off of oil, particularly increasingly costly foreign oil.

“If McCain wants to flip-flop … he’s free to do so. But he needs to be honest and tell the people this will not help (with gas prices),” Easley said.

And what about the environmental dangers of drilling closer to the coast?

William E. Hawkins, a professor of environmental science at the University of Southern Mississippi’s Gulf Coast Research Lab, said initially the biggest issue would be one of aesthetics.

“People don’t want to see oil rigs from beachfronts,” Hawkins said.

He said that while coastal drilling technology makes drilling cleaner than it once was, there could be environmental consequences in the event of a natural disaster such as a hurricane.

Also imagine the impact visible oil drilling platforms could have on the ever-important tourism industry in Florida. Our pristine beaches would be forever ruined.

“Our coastlines should be protected,”Graham said.

(photo by VictoryNH Protect Our Primary)

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