A real nice op-ed in the NyTimes on drlling and environmental benefits.
For better or worse, “drill, baby, drill” is now widely viewed as the cure for what ails. Giving the public what it wants wouldn’t lower gas prices by any meaningful amount. But it would create an opportunity to move public opinion (and huge sums of cash) in the direction of good environmentalism and good economics.
Op-Ed Contributor – Save the Environment – Drill, Baby, Drill – Op-Ed – NYTimes.com.
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They’re asking the wrong question, so of course they get the wrong answer.
If we see the problem simply as a supply shortage, we’ll ask how to get more energy, and at what cost.
Instead we should look at the whole problem and ask “How do we use energy, why do we waste so much of it, and what do we really need it for?”
But looking at it strictly as a supply problem benefits the Competitive Enterprise Institute and its backers, while hurting the rest of us. The Department of Energy says that 80% of the energy we put in to the transportation sector is wasted. 80! Addressing that for real, with efficiency and conservation programs, will be quicker and far better for our economy, environment, and security.
So why the false choice between drilling and preserving? Why not a comparison between increasing supply vs. reducing demand?
@ Toad, you are right about that.
They are asking the right question and it is not wholistic at all.