'Drill here, drill now' is drilled in to Americans

"access to the Pacific, Atlantic, and eastern Gulf regions would not have a significant impact on domestic crude oil and natural gas production or prices before 2030."

That is what the U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its February 2007 annual energy outlook.

So, why is it that 51% of Americans apparently believe that drilling here, drilling now would have an immediate effect on gasoline prices at the pump?

The Center for Economic Policy and Research blames television news, which has been reporting on the Republican Party's mantra, and that of its presumptive presidential candidate, John McCain, without referencing the projections of the widely respected agency, a branch of the U.S. Department of Energy.

Authors Mark Weisbrot and Nichole Szembrot write:

The polls indicate that McCain’s effort has been successful. For example, 69 percent of respondents favored such expanded drilling, and 51 percent said that they believed that “federal laws that prohibit increased drilling for oil offshore or in wilderness areas” were a “major cause of the recent increase in gasoline prices.”

The top television news programs barely referenced the EIA report, and if they did, they did so through a partisan source: generally the Barack Obama campaign:

Out of 267 news programs between June 16th and August 9th, in major media outlets on this subject, there was only one, or less than one half of one percent, that cited the EIA’s estimate that the increased oil production would not significantly affect gasoline prices. There were 24 other news programs that provided some similar information from other sources, usually partisan – e.g. Barack Obama. However, this is not the same thing as citing official statistics.

So, in case anyone glossed over the EIA statement, here it is again:

"access to the Pacific, Atlantic, and eastern Gulf regions would not have a significant impact on domestic crude oil and natural gas production or prices before 2030."

-- Geoffrey Mohan

Photo: Offshore rigs near Huntington Beach. Credit: Mark Boster/Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Peter]

We need to think of other ways to do this. Drill Here, Drill now isnt the only way to do this. http://www.tboonpickens.com

[sheila]

not to state the obvious, but the LA Times felt that a very under-visited blog deep into the website was the place to put this information, instead of on the front page, alongside McCain's speech.

be the change you wish to see. stop cutting and pasting from RNC press releases and start putting important information where people can actually see it and link it to these liars. YOU have the bully pulpit and by not using it, you are complicit in the lies...

[Michael Goetz - CFACT]

If there's a 20 year lead time, best get started.

[dan]

If it won't make any difference then why not allow the republicans to have their way? That way the Dem's can point and say see, it doesn't work...we were right and you were wrong.

Could it be that you are quoting the wrong sources? I mean after all they don't set the price now do they? Anyone that actually trades in the market these days knows that prices are basically no longer set by fundamentals but rather perception. That is why prices are artificially higher than they should be. Not really a bubble because there is an underlying ever increasing demand on the worlds supply...but its currently still higher than actual supply and demand dictates.

The Dem's know this and that is why they are pushing for allowing drilling with massive restrictions. The speculators are not going to be concerned with such a bogus plan...and as a result the price of oil will not drop.

The Dem's don't want the prices to drop...they need them to rise much higher. You see the Dem's talk about alternative energy and how it is so much better for the planet...what they don't tell you is the pie in the sky type of RENEWABLE energy they are alluding to is not available....so....

Even though Obama states he will spend 150 billion over the next ten years, he has no real idea as to what the actual cost will be to produce and implement this mystery energy source...so they need the price at the pumps to rise, so when whatever alternative energy they are pushing does become available, it will appear to be a cost effective solution.

Problem is, that will cripple our economy.

Pickens is right...natural gas could be the stepping stone we need and Sarah Palin appears to understand this...that is why she wants to have a natural gas pipeline built from her state to the lower 48. But watch and see as the democrats balk at moving in that direction because natural gas is not RENEWABLE...and will still require opening up currently protected federal lands.

But most importantly, the Democrats will be against it because the republicans will want to do it.

Watch and see.

[Dwight]

Democrats make a mistake to let this be an issue.

If we are going to fight wars abroad due to oil (which we have, at bottom), then we have a moral responsibility to produce what we can of this admittedly scarce resource.

Democrats and enviromentalists waste time on this topic. Get the drilling bill passed.

Then see that we still have a huge shortfall forever, and alternatives are needed.

You are just allowing the Republicans to hold up a side issue distraction, which they are ever eager to do. Cheney, Bush and company know full well that a change is needed. They just want to delay it as long as possible to maximize the profits of Exxon and Halliaburton, as well as sustain their own Saudi-Israeli power nexus.

Democrats are too much run by narrow interest groups that don't understand how to drive our larger issues. And thus get tripped up by Republican minutiae.

Sure, we'd all love not see oil rigs in the beautiful ocean view. But all of us use petroleum. So get over it.

[sheila]

what is wrong with this country when we can no longer use science to project/predict outcomes and make decisions based on that process?

by the reasoning of dan and dwight, the FDA should just "predict" that massive harm will be caused by new drugs and procedures, but if the pharmaceutical company still wants to sell them, we should let them, and point and laugh as people die, saying "told you so."

since it has been PROVEN that this will not ease prices or supply, so all the wars and hijackings at the pump will continue, why on earth are people willing to risk our environment so they can shake their heads and say "told you so" when another 20,000 dead birds wash up on shore (there was just another spill in Brazil), when another Exxon Valdez crashes and poisons our food supply, and when another helicopter crashes into a rig and kills another 20 people.

it's not about the VIEW. it is about the huge potential for (repeatedly proven) harm to our environment, to the ocean habitats and wasting all the energy and resources we should be devoting to a NEW RENEWABLE ENERGY PARADIGM on yesterday's toxic, non-renewable fuels just to profit a few Big Oil and Big Gas mercenaries. to turn it back on you, with respect to renewables, if not now, when? we should have been switching over for the past 30 years, but that is no excuse to wait longer while our planet dies.

if "drill here drill now" won''t work, it won't work. i outgrew putting my hand on the burner "just to see for myself" at age 4 or 5. when will the rest of us?

[bc]

We are the greatest , most powerful country ever and we just can't figure out solutions to our problems. I myself don't know of anything that is going to magically solve our problems overnight. wind-power won't electrical power won't. We have natural resources of gas oil and coal. Some scientist's say the Earth is still producing oil so lets use it. I want a leader who doesn't tell me we can't do this. The current leaders are wimps and cowards. I will not be held hostage to these morons. They have screwed up the economy with their inaction. Vote them out and drill baby drill

[SHANE ALGARIN]

It's well past the time for the Democrats and Republicans to grow a spine and win back our respect. They can be much more persuasive with honesty, rather than deception. The offshore drilling ban has been around for decades. High gas prices have not. A ban on offshore drilling is not a significant explanation for high gas prices.
The top reasons for high gas prices:

1. Lack of competition translates into paying more at the pump.(Exxon merges with Mobil, ChevronTexaco, BPArco, etc )

2. Were the diplomatic skills of this administration up to par, oil prices would be far more stable. Invading Iraq has only brought instability. Angering Russia by placing our military and our missiles at their doorstep only brings more instability.

3. If the dollar was as strong today as it was when Bush took office, $140 would fetch closer to 2 barrels of oil.

4. CAFE standards are too weak. Future technology is promising, but fuel efficiency could double using old technology.

It seems like our President wants high oil prices. But that would make him an oil man...inconceivable!

WE NEED ATTACK DOGS BRAVE ENOUGH TO STAND UP TO BIG OIL! Instead we get politicians too eager to roll over. Send a message to congress and the administration that we're on to their game. We know the real reasons for high gas prices.

[shane algarin]

DRILL HERE, DRILL NOW!?!?
We could be driving 150 mile range electric SUVs with technology of the 1990s. Instead of treating our sewage and letting it flow into the ocean, we could be turning it into gas using algae. We could also turn every dump into a fuel refinery using garbage. Sure beats turning our food into fuel! It's time to send the market a signal. Congress, Mr. President, we're waiting.
It's well past the time for the Democrats and Republicans to grow a spine and win back our respect. They can be much more persuasive with honesty, rather than deception. The offshore drilling ban has been around for decades. High gas prices have not. A ban on offshore drilling is not a significant explanation for high gas prices.
The top reasons for high gas prices:

1. Lack of competition translates into paying more at the pump.(Exxon merges with Mobil, ChevronTexaco, BPArco, etc )

2. Were the diplomatic skills of this administration up to par, oil prices would be far more stable. Invading Iraq has only brought instability. Angering Russia by placing our military and our missiles at their doorstep only brings more instability.

3. If the dollar was as strong today as it was when Bush took office, $140 would fetch closer to 2 barrels of oil.

4. CAFE standards are too weak. Future technology is promising, but fuel efficiency could double using old technology.

It seems like our President wants high oil prices. But that would make him an oil man...inconceivable!

WE NEED ATTACK DOGS BRAVE ENOUGH TO STAND UP TO BIG OIL! Instead we get politicians too eager to roll over. Send a message to congress and the administration that we're on to their game. We know the real reasons for high gas prices.