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Originally Posted by coollikeme  we said ten years ago. Start drilling now and the rest of the world can't hold us hostage. You are probably right it won't help that much now, but I am thinking long term. If the rest of the world sees that we are going to drill are own oil. It might change the way they think? |
The US doesn't have enough oil reserves do make much of a dent, given its current consumption. The US has large enough coal reserves that using the Fischer-Tropsch process to convert coal to petroleum, it could provide all its oil needs at the current consumption rate domestically for over 100 years (approx. 900 billion barrels). The downside is environmental pollution and destruction far in excess of current levels, so we'd probably poison ourselves before we ran out of coal.
Best strategy: algae and genetically engineered bacteria based biofuels, combined with highly efficient rechargeable electric hybrids, wind, solar, 4th generation pebble-bed nuclear reactors, and, if we're lucky, nuclear fusion (see
Daily Kos: State of the Nation -- I know KOS posts a lot of crap, but this is a legit).
(If oil gets too much more expensive, expect Hugo Chavez to suffer an unfortunate accident, and Citgo to agree to exclusive US contracts. Chinese protests will be met with a vigorous recital of the Monroe Doctrine.)