Archive for September 30th, 2008

It’ll make as much difference to the price of gasoline. Really, how hard is this to comprehend?

So I’m driving behind this big ‘ol SUV, Lincoln Navigator or something, with a bumper sticker containing the brilliant slogan “Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less“. After resisting the urge pull along side and point out not only the idiocy of the sticker but the hypocrisy of putting it on such a behemoth gas-guzzler, I decided to get some facts instead.

Jonathan Dorn of the Earth Policy Institute has put it quite succinctly in this bulletin. Some highlights (emphasis mine):

• The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that 10.4 billion barrels of oil are technically recoverable in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR)—less than one and a half years of consumption. (5)
• DOE projects that lifting the OCS moratorium would not increase production before 2017 and that by 2030 production would only amount to 0.2 million barrels per day—less than 1 percent of current consumption. (7)

• DOE projects that opening ANWR would lower gasoline prices at the pump by a mere 2 cents per gallon. (10)
• Lifting the moratoria on drilling in ANWR and the OCS would reduce the price of a gallon of gasoline by at most 6 cents—and this would not be seen for at least another decade. (11)
• Oil is traded as a global commodity and its price is set on the world market. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) could simply reduce exports to negate even the nominal potential price reduction, a fact acknowledged by DOE. (12)

This isn’t rocket science, people. If politicians are suggesting that opening ANWR and the OCS will reduce gas prices, call it like it is: call them liars. It’s not a matter of spin or interpretation, they’re flat-out lying. Then again, they’re politicians. Isn’t that what we pay them for?