Lifting drilling ban is just a gimmick

Because of rising fuel costs, President Bush has called on Congress to lift its 27-year-old ban on offshore drilling.

Unfortunately, this proposal is nothing more than a cheap political trick. Like John McCain's call for a gas tax holiday, offshore drilling will not lead to significantly lower gas prices.

According to the Department of Energy no oil could be pumped from the coastal areas until 2017 and it would be 2030 before significant production could begin.

At that time, we could realistically expect offshore drilling to produce 200,000 barrels of oil per day or .2 percent of the world total.

The Department of Energy indicates this level of production could reduce the price of gasoline by only "pennies per gallon".

This conclusion has been reinforced in recent ads by T. Boone Pickens, the legendary oilman, who insists that, "this is one emergency that we cannot drill our way out of".

Rather than drilling, we must follow the dual path of conservation and research into renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, hydroelectric, waves/tides, biomass, and geothermal.

This is exactly what Sen. Obama proposes. Specifically, his energy policy calls for an "Apollo Program", comparable to what John Kennedy envisioned to land a man on the moon, to develop sustainable energy resources.

He would invest $150 billion over the next ten years and adopt the goal of reducing our oil consumption by 35 percent by 2030.

At this critical time in our history we simply cannot afford another Republican gimmick like offshore drilling.

To achieve real energy independence, grow our economy, and restore our standing in the world, we must invest in conservation and renewable energy.

Richard Winchell

Aurora