By Harriet Blake and Barbara Kessler
The battle cry “Drill, baby, drill” got everyone pumped at last week’s Republican Convention because many Americans seem convinced — in spite of contrary evidence — that opening up off-shore oil drilling will actually bring in more oil, and in turn drive down gas prices.
The economic theory is sound: Build oil supply and price comes down. And the emotional response is understandable, gas prices have put a big squeeze on Americans at a time when the rest of the economy is clearly suffering.
But the strategy is flawed, according to many energy experts who’ve been weighing in for weeks, saying that these off-shore locations that have been closed to drilling will not produce a significant amount of oil, and what would dribble in, wouldn’t arrive anytime very soon.
Even the U.S. government’s own experts report that the impact of domestic oil from off-shore drilling would be “insignificant.”
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Schweitzer Calls For "Clean, Green and American-made" Energy
By Barbara Kessler
For those yearning to hear more about the Democrats’ energy plans, Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer’s vigorous 
speech Tuesday night at the Democratic National Convention in Denver opened a more detailed dialogue on the subject.
Schweitzer, a first-term Democratic governor who chose a Republican lieutenant governor, called for “a new energy system that is clean, green and American-made.” He lamented U.S. dependence on foreign oil and what he labeled the Bush Administration’s single-minded focus on drilling to extract more oil, not just abroad but also domestically.
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Tags: · Carbon sequestration, Coal Power, Democrats, Montana Governor Schweitzer, Offshore Drilling, oil, Wind Power
The carbon competition: US and China both take black
By Barbara Kessler
In the race for top carbon emissions polluter, the United States is still Number One, but China is sprinting forward and could soon edge into the lead. The current Olympics host nation accounted for a “staggering 57 percent of the growth of emissions” worldwide this century, and will likely surpass the U.S. [...]
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Tags: · Carbon, China, CO2, coal, Gas, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, oil, U.S.
California Leads in Fighting Oil Addiction
By John DeFore
California leads the nation in efforts to curb its addiction to oil, according to a report issued this week by the Natural Resources Defense Council.
The group’s second annual report is mainly intended to measure each state’s relative vulnerability to rising oil prices, suggesting that while “the federal government has a responsibility to take [...]
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Tags: · California, gasoline, Natural Resources Defense Council, oil
