Friday, July 18th, 2008

Off-Shore Drilling Pluses and Minuses

An offshore drilling platform. Credit: Minerals Management Service, US DOI

In a time of ever-increasing energy prices, this week President Bush overturned a long-standing executive order banning offshore oil exploration in certain parts of the country. The move is largely symbolic at this point, as additional congressional action would be needed to fully open up offshore oil drilling. Offshore drilling has also turned into an election-year issue, with presumptive Republican presidential candidate John McCain supporting ending the drilling ban, while the campaiGn of presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama is saying that opening up offshore drilling "would merely prolong the failed energy policies we have seen from Washington for thirty years." In this segment, we'll talk about the realities of offshore oil drilling. How much oil might there be? When would it be available? And what other consequences might offshore drilling have?