Andrew Peters sent me this email and at first I thought I would post it as one big comment. BUT just as I was getting ready to hit submit, I thought, “heck this would make a great Post”. So with out any intro, Community Energy Systems first guest blogger:
Actually Andy is an overachieving intern:
From:“Andrew Peters” <andrew_peters@tws.org>
To:
info@censys.org
Hi Doug,
I’ve been reading the Energy Tough Love Blog and appreciated your focus green solutions, so I thought you might be interested in further information on the energy crunch. (You can also find a compilation of expert opinions here). Congress may have just left town but that doesn’t mean finding a solution to high gas prices has become any less pressing. The oil and gas industry has peddled misinformation and downright deceit in order to push the idea we need to drill more to lower prices.
I’d urge you to dig deeper and post the truth about this issue. Drilling everywhere will not provide relief from high oil prices. Not here. Not now.
The price of oil depends on a host of world economic factors, all of which have nothing to do with how much drilling is or is not taking place on our public lands. As a nation, we consume nearly a quarter of the world’s oil output and yet we hold less than 3 percent of its proven oil reserves. No increase in American drilling can meaningfully affect the price at the pump. Already, our country has more drill rigs (1,900) in operation than do all the other countries in the world (1,300).
Destroying some of our wildest places and scarring our beaches might pad big oil’s already overflowing bank accounts but it won’t help Americans.
We have reached the end of cheap and easy-to-extract oil. Supply barely outstrips demand and, as developing countries grow ever more oil-hungry, neither America nor the world will be able to produce enough to sate them. Some in Congress have suggested turning to unconventional sources like oil shale but no viable technology yet exists which can squeeze oil from rock.
Instead, we should recognize that the future lies in investing in renewable energy technology, increased fuel efficiency and more efficient energy technology. With these resources, we can place our nation on firm footing for the future while preserving the country’s wildest places for our children.
Best wishes,
Andy
If you couldn’t access the links above, I’ve posted them below in the order they appeared.
http://www.wilderness.org/gasprices/
http://wilderness.org/Library/Documents/upload/ExpertsOnOilPrices.pdf
http://www.wilderness.org/OurIssues/Energy/DrillingWilderness.cfm
http://www.eia.doe.gov/basics/quickoil.html
http://www.dollarsandsense.org/blog/2008/08/economists-letter-on-offshore-drilling.html
http://www.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idUSL119632920080731?feedType=RSS&feedName=businessNews
http://www.gulland.ca/depletion/endofcheapoil.htm
Andrew Peters
Communications
The Wilderness Society
Phone: 202.429.2639
Fax: 202.429.3945
The Wilderness Society’s mission is to protect wilderness and inspire Americans to care for our wild places.
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