updated 6/25/08
Drill the Leases You Have, Not Our Last Wilderness
THE DEBATE over America’s energy needs is often riddled with misinformation and fear mongering. The level of propaganda by the pro-drilling forces has reached a pinnacle of disgust. As Sergeant Friday once said, “Just the facts, ma’am.” Between 1999 and 2007, the number of drilling permits issued for public lands, both onshore and offshore in the United States, increased 361 percent. This is a staggering statistic that should not be overlooked when debating energy needs in this country. The Bureau of Land Management has issued over 28,776 permits to drill on public land. Yet today, only 18,954 wells have been actually drilled. In other words, 10,000 well permits have been stockpiled by the already cash-bloated oil and gas industry. In addition, 47.5 million acres of onshore public lands are leased by oil and gas companies. Only 13 million of those acres are actually in production. America cannot afford to stoop so low as to allow the oil and gas industry to drill the last, best, wild places left in the country like the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge or Otero Mesa. … Conservation, fuel efficiency, renewable energy, tax incentives for businesses and strong-willed leadership by our elected officials in Congress is the right answer. Misleading propaganda by an industry and its allies in Congress will only take us further down the path of high energy prices and destruction of our last wild places.
NATHAN NEWCOMER
New Mexico Wilderness Alliance, Albuquerque
Well said, Nathan.
This weekend, I heard a pundit say, “We will not conserve our way out of this problem. We will not ‘green’ our way out of this problem.” (Clever dick.) News flash: We will not *solve* this problem if the solution involves oil, a finite resource which we are going to run out of some day, whether tomorrow or in a hundred years (in your dreams). When you are rushing towards a cliff, don’t mock people who suggest slowing down. When you call yourself a conservative, try conserving something. Oil in the ground is money in the bank.
peace, mjh