6.16.2008 8:15 AM

To Drill Or Not To Drill

Congress Protects Wilderness as Big Oil Angles for More Access

Photo: Andrew Penner / Istock

By Dan Shapley

The debate over the best use of federal land – for oil and gas drilling, or for conservation and recreation – leads to of the nation's most respected newspapers today.

The Washington Post reports that Congress is on the verge of quietly protecting 2 million acres, "a total that rivals the wilderness acreage set aside by Congress over the previous five years."

Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal chronicles Big Oil's latest attempt to convince Congress to open more land to oil and gas exploration. Their argument: More drilling would lower prices, and would be way better for business than taxing profits, as Congress recently considered.

The cost of energy is one issue. The source of our future energy is another. Congress has so far failed to really invest in new alternative energy development, and the proposed tax on windfall profits would have gathered up some of the money necessary to invest big in energy alternatives, like wind and solar power, and advanced battery technology.

Bottom line: The future of America's energy supply isn't buried underground, so there's little long-term reason to open the nation's pristine lands to oil and gas drilling.

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