Obama kow tows to Big Oil
President Obama in his weekly radio address said he wants to promote more oil exploration in Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve. If he wants to cave into conservative cries of, “Drill, baby! Drill!” he could do so in a way that would actually help the economy. Big Oil begs for more oil exploration rights every time prices rise, the promise being that more domestic oil production will lower prices and reduce our dependence on unstable unfriendly producers. This promise is of course nonsense, because Big Oil is more interested in banking reserves for the future than in lowering prices. Well, duh! Oil companies have huge numbers of proven, drilled wells sitting around capped, serving now only to protect oil companies’ future profits.
What to do?
Link granting of oil exploration rights to immediate increases in production from those capped wells sitting around doing nothing. The US is the fourth or fifth largest oil producer in the world ( forget that hocus pocus about only having 2% of the world’s reserves. It’s true, but misleading for this discussion. Our reserves could be much bigger if we searched for them, meaning they are there, but undeveloped). Forcing immediate increases in production could lower gasoline and oil prices long enough to get the economy past the current tipping point. Drawing on the strategic reserve could further help. When the economy gets back on track, we could cut back on production.
We need the benefits of our reserves now, not thirty years from now. If we have to give Big Oil what it wants, let’s at least get something out of the bargain other than bigger oil companies.