In America, many Republican politicians, including presidential candidate John McCain, are using the recent spike in oil prices to call for increased domestic production, including opening wildlife refuges to oil drilling. In response, opponents are arguing that increased production will merely perpetuate America’s addiction to oil, worsening environmental damage and global warming. Unfortunately, both sides are missing the most important issue in this debate: the faster America drills itself dry, the sooner it will become 100% dependent on foreign sources for oil.
Wake up, America! If you think oil prices are high now, imagine what they will be when America has run out of oil and foreign suppliers have a monopoly on the supply.
The solution: curb domestic production and continue buying foreign oil. Yes, it might cost more in the short term, but this is cheap insurance for ensuring the existence of untapped domestic reserves. America already has the Strategic National Petroleum Reserve; leaving oil in the ground is simply another means of achieving the same thing: an emergency reserve. It’s the same reason why America has farm subsidies to help keep its farmers in business: to guarantee a domestic source of food, so America cannot be held hostage to feed its population. It should view its domestic oil reserves the same way.
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