Offshore Drilling

The House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a bill ending the moratorium on offshore oil drilling. The bill, which was proposed by Democrats, was strongly opposed by House Republicans and could be vetoed by President Bush if it is passed by the Senate in similar form. A Senate version of the bill is expected to be even more restrictive and more strongly opposed by Republicans.

Democrats claim that the bill provides for sufficient development, clearing the way for drilling in "319 million to 404 million acres off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts," which they consider a fair compromise. The important issue, however, is not the number of acres opened to development, but whether the areas opened are likely to yield substantial amounts of oil.

Republicans are unhappy with the bill for a number of reasons, including the lack of a revenue sharing plan that would provide an incentive to states to encourage development. Another complaint is that the bill only allows drilling to take place at least 50 miles from the coast -- a stipulation that excludes many possible drilling sites closer to the coast.

While Republicans are correct in asserting that this bill seriously limits opportunities for offshore drilling, their statements do beg the question of how useful such drilling would be as a solution to America's energy needs. Experts are agreed that even the most extensive offshore drilling would not yield results for at least another decade. Furthermore, the reserves off America's coasts are not large enough to cause much change in global oil prices if they are exploited. At most, extensive offshore drilling could replace some of the decrease in U.S. production that is expected in the near future.

The unfortunate reality is that even with unlimited offshore drilling, the U.S. does not have sufficient oil resources to meet anything but a small fraction of the nation's current demand. John McCain has made energy independence a central issue of his campaign, but it is misleading for him to imply that any amount of drilling in the U.S. -- either offshore or in Alaska -- can satisfy America's energy needs.

There is simply not enough oil left in the U.S. or off its coasts to make much of a difference in global supply and pricing. Though this is not necessarily an argument against offshore drilling, it does mean that other solutions to America's energy needs must be found.

Offshore drilling can contribute -- even if only in a small way -- to stabilizing America's energy supply. Offshore drilling would also decrease the share of American dollars going to petro-dictatorships and extremist kingdoms in the Middle East. Also, given the potential instability of global markets, it is never a bad idea to maximize domestic production of oil. There are a number of reasons to allow offshore drilling. However, we should not think that doing so will magically bring us lower gas prices or energy independence.