Let’s drill our way to greatness!
In the 1970′s the US imported 24 percent of its oil. Today those imports have increased to 65 percent.
So, let’s drill, drill, drill. Certainly, we can find enough oil here in the US to replace our current consumption, right?
OK. Maybe that’s not realistic, but we can find enough oil to reduce pressure at the margins and bring down prices, right?
Maybe. In fact, let’s say that’s true. But, would that really help America?
About a year ago, Congress ‘invested’ more than $80 billion in the US auto industry. Why? Because it’s a key segment in the US economy, right? Yet, if cheap oil is so good for America, why has the US auto industry been on the decline for decades?
Likewise, why hasn’t cheap oil led to greater innovation and manufacturing success in the US if energy was so cheap?
Of course, that isn’t totally fair. US foreign oil consumption has led to many amazing innovations in the military sector. Of course, have all the costs been worth this great military strength? Has America really become safer?
Perhaps more drilling could lead to some temporary, marginal improvement in pump prices. Inevitably, however, more drilling – and cheaper gas – would assuredly lead to the same technological complacency and national security risks that cheap oil has nurtured for the last few decades.
If America is to be anything more than a military state in the next couple of decades, isn’t our potential greatness inextricably linked to ending our petroleum addiction?
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