John McCain is apparently determined to do favors for the nearly 30 oil companies which have contributed to his campaign by promoting offshore drilling under the guise of it “lowering fuel prices.” He will use high fuel prices as a great opportunity to ram through the oil drilling agenda. He knows people are worried enough about fuel costs to make it the issue of election.
McCain knows for those who live in very auto-dependent areas, there is much worry about how you’re going to afford a work commute, get the kids to school…. or if your job requires a lot driving….well…. the answers seem clear to support offshore oil drilling—especially if your immediate alternatives are few. McCain knows people will be open minded to any possible solution which may help them in a crunch. As Move On Dot Org indicates, “McCain is preying on that anxiety by offering offshore drilling as a quick fix.” But will it help???
I don’t think it will help at all. Oil has already fetched this price here so why should it come down? I agree when Move On Dot Org stated in a recent email “Offshore drilling won’t fix gas prices or our dependence on foreign oil… there simply isn’t enough oil offshore or in the Arctic, and it will take up to a decade to get what little is there. Even then, we would only save 3 or 4 cents a gallon!”
What will reduce current fuel dependency? Well, as a country which could really stand going on a strict diet from an insatiable appetite for oil—we may want to reconsider how we use it in the first place before we demand more of it from the earth. If the earth were an IRS agent, we’d be audited for wasteful oil use. Let’s reconsider current use by asking ourselves questions like….”Are we wasting it by keeping 20 acres of suburban lawn in mow?” “Driving energy gluttonous vehicles?”…..”Obsessively using gas powered lawn equipment?”…. “Eating a diet that is highly oil dependent to produce?”
The way I see it, our government should be promoting an agenda that supports reducing dependence on OIL…(by promoting cleaner, greener, renewable sources) and not just reduce dependency on foreign oil. The current agenda only deepens dependence with our current oil appetite—and what little we get from offshore drilling, it will be used up faster than it can even go from the ground to the pump.
I also feel the offshore oil drilling agenda is nothing more than a means to break through much needed regulations in protecting our environment. If oil companies can succeed in breaking down the most protected areas in our natural world, then they have their foot in the door—and nothing is sacred. It’s not worth the environmental pollution risks to feed the coffers of a few for a short time—while at the same time do NOTHING to relieve higher fuel prices.
Drilling is not worth leaving heavy dirty footprints on last pristine areas on the globe—all so that, for example…. some 5′ 110 pound oblivious to the world woman can drive around in her SUV talking on her cell phone in a vehicle which has the capacity for 8……while her one passenger obese kid scarfs down a Happy Meal!!
The fuel we need lies in the fuel we waste and the alternatives we do not explore. With the money we are spending in Iraq right now, we could have developed a car which runs on Kool Aid! Lay off the drill because offshore drilling under the guise as fuel price relief is a behemoth of a scam!
Watch the ad below from Move On Dot Org
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3996&id=13372-7690762-wir.lCx&t=5