We the USA because of our economy... can we afford stop drilling for oil right now? And how soon can we fully depend on alternative energy? My answer is no because of environmentalist issues towards all energy sources that being not in my backyard and pollution issues. But if we got ride of those 2 issues 10-15 years to fully depend on alternative energy.
Yes, we can- as pointed out- the BEST estimate is that if we start drilling in ANWR tomorrow, 10 years from now the price of oil will be 4 CENTS lower.
All tolled, Oil industry experts wil admit that ALL available offshore drilling Plus ANWR will not affect prices by more than 14 CENTS per gallon.
TOTAL- and that savings is 8 years out.
You're rate of conversion question is meaningless. Every single clean energy solution is technological- as opposed to resource availability oriented.
ALL the oil that
can be accessed cheaply HAS been drilled. ALL future oil extraction will be MORE costly than the cheaply got oil... as we exploit close offshore- the deep offshore costs more, as we move to oil shales it costs still more.
It becomes harder and harder, more and more expensive- because you have to do more, in more extreme circumstance to get the same amount of oil...
There is no way to alter this basic fact.
ADD to that the fact that with production peaking... and heading rapidly for a long inexorable decline we have demand growing exponentially. The existing oil fields are drying up faster than the harder to get at new oil sources can be developed.
China and India will be using drastically more oil every year for the next 20 years.
All of this means that anyone thinking that oil prices can be kept from going up are Delusional.
Contrast that to the fact that clean sources are technology based- ( not resource availability based)
LIKE ALLL technologies they benefit enormously from economies of SCALE.
As wind turbines are made in larger quantity their cost DECREASES in relation to kilowatt hours produced.
Same with photovoltaics- and with growing markets for these devices Competition will spur new innovation, new research and, therefore, a rapid improvement in their cost/kilowatt ratio.
Just like computers and cell phones.... clean energy sources will get better faster, the faster we move into this technology.
Secondly-
drilling for more oil only SLOWS the private sector's efforts to move away from reliance on Oil.
Drilling makes global warming get WORSE rather than better... and the longer we remain reliant on oil, the longer we are held hostage by the political and religious agendas of the middle east.
If we had spent the money we have spent killing Iraqis on getting OFF of oil... we could have rendered the Muslim Oil states irrelevant on the world stage.
The new infrastructure for this new energy system would EMPLOY Americans, here at home... doing a hell of a lot more for the economy than lowering taxes on corporations that offshore jobs to asia.
And if we can become the world leader in clean energy technologies... global warming issues will FORCE other nations to beat a path to our door to buy those technologies- creating the kind of NEW business and industry that more oil simply will not.
And significantly helping the imbalance of trade.
SO there you have it...
Drilling for oil will NOT result in a larger supply- because demand is growing larger than supply CAN be brought online.
Going green as hard and as fast as we can will NOT cost more with oil at $100 per barrel and over...
And will rapidly begin to coast drastically less.
Clean energy sources will ALSO act as major solutions to everything from global warming and unemployment, to middle east tensions and terrorism.
Reasoning people with any understanding of the science and the threat all agree that this is the best possible option.
That being said- I do have to agree that the area in which Liberals are as unreasoning as republicans... and just as likely to lie about as republicans are to lie about money and free markets...
is the areas of nuclear power.... environmental impact studies and the like.
If conservative REALY want to be part of the solution rather than the problem they should focus on tempering liberal excesses over such things as the threat of nuclear power.
( one of the least harmful energy sources in the world- causing the fewest deaths, and the least amount of pollution... here's a great fact- 60 years worth of nuclear waste has been stored ON SITE at the reactors. that's how trifling is the amount of nuclear waste...
And ALL radioactve materials were dug up out of the ground... the idea that we can not safely DILUTE their concentration and put it back where it came from is ridiculous.)
Conservative should switch from pushing free market nonsense to pushing the REAL need for streamlined approval of new, clean energy sources and infrastructure.
If you gotta fight liberals- fight them in the areas in which they are as entirely over the top, and destructive to national needs as republicans are about free markets.
