Drilling more in the US isn't going to make a lot of difference.

Oil and its by-products are global commodities. The companies that extract and refine oil are global companies. They extract and refine wherever it is most expedient and ship it to where it is most profitable. Hence, phenomena such as domestically produced diesel being exported to Europe and European refined gasoline being imported to the US. It really doesn't matter whether we ramp up domestic extraction and refining. It won't have a meaningful impact on the price of oil or it's by-products in the short term. There is plenty of oil in other places where it can be extracted and refined. In the short term, there is no harm in delaying the development of our domestic reserves.

In the long term, as a nation, we are better off waiting to tap out our domestic oil reserves. More than half of a barrel of oil is refined into gasoline, the balance is made into plastics and fertilizer. There is more value added and more profit in the plastics and fertilizer. In the long term, as oil, globally, becomes more scarce and refined gasoline becomes cost prohibitive to use as a fuel; refining will shift more to the higher value added products. As a nation we are better off maintaining our reserves for the higher value added products which can be consumed domestically and will be a valuable export.

Jardinero1, I would agree except for one problem. There are efforts to put these areas off the table for drilling forever. When Bill Clinton declared that region in Utah a wilderness (I'm too lazy to look it up. Sorry), not only was it $1T in minerals, but a lot of it is oil shale. Getting that back into consideration will not be possible for the foreseeable future. Too many people want to cordon off resources for essentially aesthetic reasons. We cannot allow more and more areas to be put off-limits.

Insofar as potential drilling areas remain in limbo, I rather agree. Holding our resources and playing our trump cards last would be fine. Your solution would be a best-possible, but I worry about losing the good because of the best.

There is also the possibility that we need only go into a 20-30 year plan to tide us over until other sources come online. I mean real energy sources, of course, not the recycling-used-bicycle-tire sources of "alternative energy" favored by eco-group advocates.

I advocate a drill now, drill everywhere policy and requiring it be done with as minimal impact as possible. It is hard for me to believe that partisan politics will continue to press for a suicidal oil avoidance policy. It seems some would rather foreign interests drill, profit from and transport oil to us half way around the world if necessary, increasing the risks of oil spills, such as occurred once near the Galapagos Islands which did not get much publicity. Or maybe China can slant drill into our coastlines cooperating with Cuba and sell it to us at $150. Then thank god, Exxon will not profit! The hypocrisy of anyone who boards an airplane, heats a large house and has a car who is not willing to take responsibility for our national security by producing locally and consuming locally, galls me.

The government should also pony up with private funds as necessary for demonstrations projects for many other potential energy sources and after proven, then private enterprise can take on the challenge of bringing them to market as economically feasible oil substitutes.

Look up autarky. Why is it perfectly okay to import cars and stereos from a foreign nation but when it comes to oil everybody gets all histrionic and says we can't rely on anyone else?

There is no forever in politics, just a two year election cycle. Those fields will get drilled or stripped or whatever at some point.

This move is going to help McCain than hurt him. The Republicans are looking for a solution to the oil problem while Democrats up to their usual complaining.

Unfortunately they cut his speach off before McCain said "...after we build that fence you all wanted."

I don't listen to campaign promises. Show me what you do McCain.

Unfortunately they cut his speach off before McCain said "...after we build that fence you all wanted."

I don't listen to campaign promises. Show me what you do McCain.

Ahh! Double post.

Sorry.

I'm a drill now drill everywhere supporter. The main problem with the "hoard our resources until everyone else runs out" approach is that our economy will be unnecessarily drained, terrorist nations unnecessarily enriched and then, when everyone else runs out, like as not, the next generation of energy sources will be online and our oil won't be worth what we thought it would. We'll have saved it for nothing.

It makes a lot more sense to use it now when it's valuable and needed.

The notion that the U.S. should stay out of the oil export business because oil is a global commodity is absurd. As is the suggestion that there is something wrong with preferring exporting over importing--of oil or any other commodity.

Now, if we can just get him to say, "Hey, there are way too many stupid barriers to building new refineries"...