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Gas prices have been jumping over and under the $4 mark
all summer, your grocery bills are soaring, and campaign
ads are blasting you about the benefits of offshore
drilling. So what's an average Joe or Jane supposed to
believe? Will offshore drilling really make things
better for you?
What you're hearing on the news is pretty one-sided, and
most reporters are talking about this issue like it
makes perfect sense.
Well, it doesn't.
What can I say, sometimes dumb ideas get a lot of
attention. That's exactly what's happening right now as
President Bush has lifted the executive moratorium on
offshore drilling, and Congress is being pushed to do
the same.
Let me take just a second to review the top 10 reasons
offshore drilling is such a dumb idea:
10.
Offshore oil drilling won't impact gas prices today, and
it won't have a significant impact on gas prices in the
future.
9. This
is nothing more than a money grab by the oil companies -
who are already making record-breaking profits.
8. We
burn 25% of the world's oil here in the U.S., but we
have only 3% of the world's oil reserves. So even if all
offshore oil magically came to market today, the vast
majority of our oil would continue to be imported, and
we wouldn't see price relief at the pump.
7. The
current moratorium was put in place decades ago to
protect us from the danger of oil spills along our
coastlines and beaches.
6.
Burning fossil fuels like oil causes global warming,
which causes stronger hurricanes, which will threaten
the very offshore drilling rigs being proposed, which
will contribute to even more global warming.
5. To
avoid the worst impacts of global warming, we need to
switch from fossil fuels to renewable energy within the
next 10 years. The billions of dollars that would be
spent on offshore oil drilling just postpones the
inevitable transition from fossil fuels to renewable
energy.
4. Oil
exploration requires massive seismic testing - which
threatens whales and dolphins.
3. Oil
prices are set on the global oil market, so American oil
is no cheaper than Saudi oil. We won't get a discount
for oil drilled in the U.S.
2. We can't solve the world's energy problems with the
same drilling that created them.
1.
Renewable energy is available now, so it's time to walk
away from fossil fuels and toward a clean energy future.
Take Action >> make sure Congress hears from YOU
about offshore oil drilling.
Let's face it, there's really no
good reason to drill offshore. More drilling is good for
Big Oil, not for you and your family. We can't drill our
way out of this mess - oil drilling is already at an
all-time high and prices are still skyrocketing.
As a matter of fact, even if we could tap into all of
the energy stored in the Earth's reserves - coal, oil,
and natural gas - it would equal the energy in just 20
days of sunshine. Tell Congress to look on the bright
side to solve our energy crisis. It's time to invest in
renewable energy and leave oil to the dinosaurs. It's
time for an
energy revolution.
Power to the people,
Melanie Duchin
Global Warming Campaigner
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Learn the truth about offshore drilling.
Get out there and
blog,
tell your friends, or
write a letter to the editor. This is a war of
words, and losing means increased global warming, oil
spills, and beached whales and dolphins. We need YOUR
help to beat back Big Oil's PR machine. |
