The oil industry has been trying to gain access to the waters off Florida – among other environmentally sensitive areas across the country – for decades. For decades, citizens in these areas have demanded protection for their economies and environment from this dirty, dangerous industry.
Now the oil industry has found a new strategy – exploit Americans’ distress over high gas prices by claiming that offshore drilling will make gas cheaper. It’s not true, but, unfortunately, it’s working. Some of our elected officials are wavering, even backing the industry. And let’s face it – it’s hard for an elected official to stand up against a lie that their constituents believe.
Don’t buy the lie. When gas and oil prices were on the rise, the oil industry and their friends in Washington deceptively claimed that the way to lower gas prices is to open Florida’s shores to offshore drilling. And some of Florida’s elected officials – afraid of seeming insensitive to our pain at the pump – are ready to cave in. While the debate rages, gas prices are dropping – without offshore drilling.
Believe unbiased sources. The Department of Energy's Annual Energy Outlook 2007, prepared last February by the Energy Information Administration, an independent statistical and analytical agency within DOE found drilling in Florida: "…would not have a significant impact on domestic crude oil and natural gas production or prices before 2030... Because oil prices are determined on the international market, however, any impact on average wellhead prices is expected to be insignificant." [Department of Energy's Annual Energy Outlook 2007, 2/07].
Even Sen. McCain said so before Big Oil got to him. According to the Los Angeles Times, McCain's senior policy adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin told reporters on a conference call that, ""allowing new offshore drilling would have no immediate impact on supplies or gas prices." [Los Angeles Times, 6/18/2008].
Let decision makers know you’re not duped. We must assure our elected officials that Floridians are not fooled by the clever – but unethical – marketing ploy of the oil industry.
The problem is not availability. Oil companies have access to 68 million acres that they haven’t started to drill on yet. And the Department of Energy says offshore drilling will not make gas cheaper for at least ten years, and even then, the difference would be negligible.
The problem is greed. Oil companies are breaking every corporate profit record in history. They banked record profits of $44 billion in just three months and spent $80 million on lobbyists to call for more drilling and to oppose real solutions. Their CEO’s are paid more than $20 million in compensation, while minimum wage and mid-level employees can barely fill their tanks to get to work. Gas price hikes are taking money from your pocket and putting it into theirs.
And out of control speculation. Out of control speculation in oil markets artificially inflates gas prices. Reining in speculators will return sanity to the oil market and help reduce oil prices. To do so, we need to establish position limits, better define differences between real commercial oil users and speculators, and close loopholes. Offshore drilling won’t change speculation.
And elected officials’ dependency on campaign contributions. As long as elected officials depend on campaign contributions from the oil industry, they will face pressure to back policies that increase oil industry profits at our expense. The 71 Republicans pushing for more oil drilling on the House floor this month have received $10.3 MILLION - including $1,579,516 just this cycle. On average, each Member has received $145,000 from Big Oil. Their fervor to increase offshore drilling is about paying back favors – not about “helping the common man.”
The problem can’t be solved by more drilling. We know more drilling doesn’t mean lower gas prices – because we’ve already tried. The number of new offshore drilling permits has tripled since 2001 – and so have gas prices! In the U.S., we have less than three percent of the world’s oil. That means we can’t drill our way out of this problem.
Offshore drilling in Florida means more pain at the pump. It won’t reduce gas prices, but it could reduce tourism related jobs in Florida. It’s tough paying exploitative gas prices now – imagine paying them after yet another economic blow to Florida in the form of dirty drilling operations and accidents.
