Now that the presidential race is over, and we can go back to talking about Alaska without mentioning Wasilla or anyone that comes from there, I can instead tell you that today a appellate judge ruled that federal regulators improperly granted Shell Oil permission for offshore drilling, and ordered that the project be halted. Says the Associated Press (via MSNBC):

‘This decision confirms that the Bush administration rushed to approve Shell’s drilling program in the Arctic Ocean without a full review of impacts to whales and the subsistence way of life for people in the region,’ said Eric Jorgensen, an attorney for EarthJustice, which represented some clients in the case.

The Minerals Management Service, which grants such permission, now has to reconsider its decision, and is pretty unhappy about doing so. They tend to think the $300 million they’ve spent on environmental studies in the past 30 years should cover it.

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While much attention has been paid to our planets limited oil reserves, experts are warning that water may soon eclipse black gold as earth’s most precious commodity.  There is a growing concern that fresh water supplies are falling short, which could lead to disastrous consequences.  A thorough report from the UK Guardian explains:

Global population, economic development and a growing appetite for meat, dairy and fish protein have raised human water demand sixfold in 50 years. Meanwhile, supplies have been diminished in several ways:

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Democrats have decided to let a 26-year-old ban coastal oil drilling expire, conceding to opposition from President Bush and the pressures of high gas prices.   Considered a Republican victory, the move leaves the decisions of offshore drilling in the hands of the next administration.

takepart by telling Congress to say no to offshore drilling.

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Inconvenient Truth of the Day

Now that the Democrats in the House have changed their minds in the face of what Nancy Pelosi called “the political climate,” they’ve passed a bill that allows drilling 50 miles offshore, which will now make its way to the Senate.

It was only a few weeks ago that “Ms. Pelosi was adamant that she would not clear the way for a House vote on new coastal exploration,” however increased Republican pressure and the whole expensive gas thing has made many Democrats, Pelosi included, attempt to reach a compromise.   As Pelosi said, if we don’t have something in the bill, it’s drilling three miles offshore.   The issue of offshore drilling is, says The New York Times, “an issue that has been a Democratic environmental touchstone since the 1980s.”

The bill passed the House 236-189, and allows drilling if states adjacent to the water approve of it.   Now it comes to the Senate, which, according to the Associated Press, “has no intention of going as far as the House in expanding offshore oil and gas drilling beyond the western Gulf of Mexico.”  The Senate may open drilling in the Southern Atlantic (Virginia, Georgia, the like), but seem disinclined to go to the Pacific or Alaska.

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Suddenly energy is sexy. From hybrid cars to wind farms to offshore drilling, activists from across the political spectrum are raising their voices to champion their own solutions to a complicated crisis. It is a perfect storm of issues and ideologies, as left-leaning environmentalists seek to curb human-driven global warming, and right-leaning security hawks strive to achieve energy independence.

This is an opportunity for me, I thought, to write in support of one of my favorite issues, a carbon tax as an economically efficient way to lower greenhouse emissions, spur investment in alternative energy, and reduce dependence on foreign oil. And, what’s more, its net impact on ordinary Americans can be minimized by returning tax revenue to citizens in the form of a dividend, offset of other taxes, or something similar.

But when you get right down to it, the resurgent interest in energy isn’t about green technology or national security, is it? It’s about high gas prices. Policy wonks on the right and the left may be happy that there’s now popular support for their issues, but mainstream Democratic support for investment in clean technology and mainstream Republican support for unfettered exploration have more to do with the impact on individuals’ wallets than with loftier notions of climate change or energy security.

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McCain gave a “blunderful” speech about energy independence on an oil rig this week, calling for more offshore drilling as the solution to lowering the price of food, gas, heat, and other energy-cost effected commodities. My favorite part is when he tells one of the rig workers he has no idea how to use a computer. I couldn’t get a job at Carl’s Jr. if I admitted that. Seriously, can someone please make this a requirement for the “Leader of the Free World” position? The internet is not a series of tubes!

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Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is sticking to her guns, firmly rejecting the notion the House solely vote on whether or not to drill offshore.   The California Democrat will instead introduce comprehensive energy legislation which includes limiting tax breaks for oil companies and funding alternative, renewable energy with the royalties from new drilling in approved areas.   The Republican backed measures for a simple yes or no vote on offshore drilling, sidestepping or ignoring all other energy concerns in the United States for the GOP’s corporate oil sponsors, were described as “a hoax on the American people,” by the Speaker.

The Baltimore-bred, San Francisco Congresswoman went on to tell KQED television’s “This Week in Northern California“:

You want to drill? We want the royalties for the American people, and we want that to pay for renewable energy resources. We want to connect all that together.

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It’s time to set the record straight: Properly Inflated Tires Save Gas. There’s been a large amount of petty political posturing over this embarrassingly simple fuel efficiency technique recently, with John McCain’s Presidential campaign attempting to mock Barack Obama for including it in his energy plan.

So now that we’ve heard the spin, what are the facts?  Properly inflated tires across this country when coupled with regular service and tune ups could save between 3% and 4% of all the gasoline consumed in the United States per year.   When compared to the recent Republican gimmick policy initiative demanding more drilling off of U.S. coastlines which will net, at most, 200,000 barrels of oil per day, which is at most 1% of US gasoline demand, five to ten years from now, it’s pretty clear which solution makes more sense.

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There are those in Congress who take a measured approach to serious issues, and then there are the Republicans.   This week, in an all out effort to shed its abysmal approval numbers and disastrous polling predictions in Congressional races across the country, the GOP took up the one issue that they hope could provide political light at the end of a very dark tunnel: drilling for oil off of America’s coastline.   It’s a bit of a political masterstroke.   Republicans have found a way to frame an issue and a “solution” that could make the general public feel as though their concerns over high gas prices are being addressed, while at the same time doing the bidding of one of their chief benefactors, Big Oil.

The logic of this so-called solution asks us to forget global warming, the quest for higher fuel efficiency, the burgeoning alternative energy sector, and, most blatantly, the fact that drilling for oil off of US coastlines will bring zero short term relief whatsoever to gasoline prices and little to no impact in a future where Chinese and Indian consumption could soon dwarf that of the United States if we proceed on our present course.   But who said politics was about facts?

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I always look forward to receiving my Harpers Magazine when it arrives snuggly stuffed in my narrow apartment mailbox, and when it does, I usually go straight to the Index. The Harper’s Index, for those not in the know, is a list of fun and fascinating figures and statistics that will make you seem really smart and interesting if you can rattle a few off at cocktail parties. Today’s featured fact: the estimated amount by which per-gallon gas prices would change if the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge were drilled is a whopping 4 cents (some figures are as low as 2 cents). In other words, if we let oil companies have free reign to scourge one of America’s most important onshore habitats for millions of species, I’ll spend $67.40 instead of $68.00 to fill my gas tank. Worth it? I don’t think so.

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