Will Democrats sell out to offshore drilling?

According to the United States Energy Information Administration (EIA), the United States uses over 20 million barrels of oil each day. That’s more than seven billion barrels each year. This accounts for over 25% of daily global consumption and is increasing by about 2% each year.

The Mineral Management Service (MMS) estimates around 21 billion gallons of proven oil reserves exist in the United States and Alaska. High estimates place reserves off the coast of Florida, the center of the current debate in both Congress and the Florida legislature, at around 3 billion barrels.

That’s less than 6 months worth of oil.

Not only is it such a relatively small amount of oil, but even industry experts agree that it could take as many as 10 years before the first barrels of oil could come into production from new rigs.

Even with such relatively small figures for recoverable oil and the negligent effect (if any) that it would have on oil prices, congressional Democrats are beginning to cave to industry pressure to lift the offshore drilling moratorium. This in turn could influence Florida law makers to lift the 25 year old state ban and allow drilling as close as 3 miles to the Gulf Coast and 10 miles to the Atlantic coastline.

Senator John Kerry (D-Mass), who’s latest energy bill stalled in the Senate due to a Republican boycott, now seems willing to compromise on offshore drilling in order to pass any version of a cap and trade bill.

“Our effort is to try to reach out to broaden the base of support ...," Kerry said. "The key here is to really negotiate once, in a sense."

That negotiation could lead to the opening of environmentally sensitive coastal areas and highly grossing tourist beaches in the very near future.

Kerry, working with Republican Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), thinks drilling might be the only way to get the 60 votes needed to pass a climate bill through the Senate.

"If environmental policy is not good business policy, you will not get 60 votes," Graham warned.

Even the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which has been under fire for its obstructionist action on global warming policy, has come out in support for this watered-down bill, calling a recent op-ed piece by Kerry and Graham "a solid, workable, commonsense foundation on which to craft a bill."

It looks as if the threat of offshore drilling is mounting, even against facts that show it as a poor solution to America’s energy crisis.

For example, according to the Florida Public Interest Research Group (PIRG), if American cars and trucks got just a few more miles per gallon, we’d save more oil than exists off the entire coast of Florida every year. Yet federal gas mileage standards haven’t significantly changed in 20 years.

The facts on drilling indicate that there is no way for America to drill its way out of our current energy problems. Indeed, drilling would likely only put our beaches and coastal areas at risk for a relatively small and short-term supply of oil.

Let’s hope Sen. Kerry and his allies consider the facts before it’s too late.

Photo Courtesy everystockphoto.com