For over 40 years, every presidential administration has promised that by a certain date, the U.S. would be energy sufficient and would very much lower its dependence upon foreign oil. The administrations of Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush 41, Clinton, Bush 43 and now Barack Obama have all stated by a certain date and time in the future, the U.S. would be independent when it came to energy. All these statements and all these promises have turned out to be untrue.
The U.S., as of this writing, is paying an average of $3.00 for a gallon of gas. There are predictions that by the summer, it will go up to $5.00 a gallon. This is no doubt due to the turmoil in the Middle East, but it is also due to the fact that we as a nation have been hampered by interests groups in Washington, D.C. to not explore or drill for our own oil, seek out new alternatives for energy consumption and build refineries for those purposes. This cannot go on and this must not continue.
According to the Rand Corporation, there are significant oil finds in the Western and Southern Parts of the U.S. and offshore on the coasts. Oil that we as a nation can use and that will last the U.S. for over 200 to 300 years. As far as concerns for harming the environment, new technologies and safer equipment have been developed to put those concerns to rest once and for all. By opening up drilling, the U.S. can create over a million new jobs, jobs that are sorely needed in these economic times. The U.S. would also pay less for a gallon of gas than they would today.
I believe that all sources of energy should be tapped and experimented with. I am also of the belief that government should do the following: Get the heck out of the way