Awl

Gas prices continue to be a big story, with every day bringing dreary interviews with people at the pump complaining and saying we gotta do this or that to ameliorate the misery of $40 fill-ups. Some are convinced that the solution is to drill up every place left in the country. Guy who sends me stuff sends me a link to a good Web site on oil, run by a person who actually knows something about oil.

Q: I think the U.S. should produce more oil, such as from ANWAR and elsewhere so that we can achieve energy independence and not import oil from the Middle East. How do you think we should go about this?
A: Sorry to say this, but I think the idea of "energy independence" for the United States is a completely fictional concept, at least in terms of petroleum independence. We currently (2007) import around 63% of our requirements — and we do not do that because there is a bazillion barrels of oil hidden somewhere in the US just waiting to be produced. The US is probably the most thoroughly explored large nation on Earth, and all the ANWRs and other possibles out there are tiny drops in the bucket of our gas-guzzling habits. ...

The site is here. It's worth nosing around on. The current shortage may be driven to some extent by speculation, but the fact is that we have less oil today than we did yesterday. The proposed gasoline-tax holiday is as bogus as as the corn ethanol dodge.