JesseWorley.com

The debate over whether or not to drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, a parcel of land totaling around 19 million acres in Alaska, first entered the public discourse as far back as the 1960’s. The battle lines haven’t changed much over the past 40 years; Democrats, environmental groups, and ecological interest groups have stood their ground against businesses, Republicans, and most recently, the increasing price of oil for more than four decades. As crude prices continues to rise and the dollar retreats even further into uncertainty, it becomes ever more likely that domestic sources of energy will become a critical priority, meaning that drilling in places such as ANWR is destined to continue whether environmental and ecological groups, and indeed even Democrats, like it or not. It is mandatory that these interests speak up now, or face the very real possibility of losing future concessions.

The most overlooked aspect of energy is not sustainability, conservation, alternatives, or pricing, but rather a complete refusal to admit that energy is in fact our most pressing foreign policy matter. According to the government numbers, the United States currently imports more than half of the oil necessary to keep our country on its feet. Any significant reduction in those imports for any reason could seriously disrupt trucking, air traffic, and other infrastructure. It is therefore of paramount importance to ensure that any event, no matter how profound or tragic, and no matter where it occurs geographically, is wholly unable to halt domestic production for any prolonged period of time. The only way to do that is to develop energy at home.

Renewable sources such as wind, hydroelectric, thermal, and solar are unquestionably our long-term energy future. In order to take advantage of these technologies an entirely new and expanded infrastructure needs to be built, and that takes time. Almost the entire sum of America’s energy capital today is invested in oil-based equipment, but as renewable sources of energy are stood up in the future the market should produce goods which take advantage of the new technology. It is irrational to believe that renewable energy sources can offset a significant portion of our energy needs in the short term, but the long term possibilities are quite literally endless.

In the meantime a fully-functional oil-based energy policy must be maintained, and that means reducing dependence on foreign oil while we convert to renewable energy sources. It’s a simple enough thing to talk about, but there are truly only two methods by which our dependence can be lessened: we can stop using as much of their oil and we can produce more of our own oil at home. To ensure that we have what we need while we convert to a renewable future, it is incumbent upon us to drill for oil in every available corner of land belonging to the United States of America, and to do so immediately.

For environmentalists, ecologists, or any other concerned party, this is the moment that you have been fighting for. The nation is desperate for domestic energy production, and your concerns will be heard and fairly implemented as our resources are tapped, but only if you speak up now. If you need oil companies to spend three dollars planting trees for every dollar of pipe they lay, put the argument on the table. If you need to protect some animal species from certain doom, factor it into the cost and get the machinery rolling. One thing is for sure: if interest groups don’t take their seat at the table right now, they’re not going to get one down the road when the cost of domestic solvency demands payment in expediency.