As oil continues to gush into the Gulf of Mexico from the science-fiction-sounding Deepwater Horizons rig, one is left wondering if this is what the future of oil production will be around the globe www.nytimes.com. Easily accessible oil reserves are being rapidly depleted and we are turning to more dangerous and potentially damaging forms of oil production (not to mention that oil is a finite resource). As part of Obama’s comprehensive energy solution, he recently announced the intent to expand drilling off our coasts. Does this make sense? I applaud the push to produce more of our energy domestically (I think everyone does) but Obama shouldn’t be beholden to conservatives (of both the Republican and Democratic kind) and the corporations which back them to make policy which is not an effective or healthy long-term solution to our energy crisis. By the way, this goes for nuclear energy as well. We cannot afford in monetary or environmental terms the cost of more exploration, production and spilling of oil, especially when the estimated amount off the coasts of the United States are a minute faction of what we use in just one hour of one day. How is this a solution to the problem? The quickest and most effective way to decrease our reliance on foreign energy supplies is to reduce consumption by increasing efficiencies in the short term. Over the long run we must look into alternative fuels such as cellulosic ethanol and algal fuels as well as energy production from wind, solar and geothermal plants. Don’t be a pushover Obama, we need you now more than ever.
