Drilling in the Gulf is a political move, not an energy move.

Editor,

Currently the U.S. produces only 25 percent of the oil that we consume. Nothing I have read indicates there is a Saudi Arabia size pool of oil on the continental shelf. There is no shortage of oil or we would have lines at the pumps and gas stations running out of gas.

The price run up in oil is driven by the same forces that brought us the stock market bubble in the 90’s and the real estate bubble still wrecking havoc on our economy. Now those same hedge funds and investors are focused on commodities … like oil. Even if the drilling ban were lifted tomorrow, we would not see any added domestic supply for 10 or 15 years. Another case of political chicanery.

I don’t like $4 a gallon gas anymore than the next person, but I also am not going to cry because someone can’t afford to keep gas in his or her Hummer, Escalade, Navigator, etc. We wasted too much gas because it was cheap, and the price of gas hasn’t even kept up with inflation. Face it: The less you pay for something, the less you appreciate it.

Florida has a $60 billion tourism industry. I’m sure that oil rigs in the horizon will really help that industry. “Look honey, isn’t it lovely how the sun is setting over the oil rigs?”

Keep the offshore drilling ban, raise fuel efficiency standards, and let’s get serious about developing alternatives. We can’t drill our way out of this, and we keep postponing the day of reckoning. We have talked about becoming energy self-sufficient since the 1973 oil embargo, and yet we are more dependent today than we were then.

As long as oil is cheap, we’ll keep settling for that cheap fix just like a junkie. Sacrificing our coastlines and our remaining wilderness area in the hope of scoring a fix at whatever the cost.
 
Rick Fifer, Realtor
Florida Executive Realty
Tampa

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