Some Knowledge

President Bush suggested drilling for oil in the Alaska National Wildlife Reserve at his Tuesday morning news conference.  It is believed that a peak production of a million barrels a day might be available from this north Alaskan coastal region, after development peaks in about 2025.  Predicted effects of the tapping of this reserve are a decrease in the price of oil by 30 to 50 cents a barrel.  It is predicted that the use of this resource will reduce American dependence on foreign oil from 70% to 66%.

The idea of drilling for oil and gas in this region has been around for a long time.  It has been known that this area has oil reserves since oil seeps and sands were found there by the first explorers in the region.  While any increase in domestic production of oil will help reduce our reliance on foreign sources, it is debatable if opening this region to exploration will do much to reduce the price of petroleum.

The supply of oil in the earth’s depths is limited.  People have been using petroleum at an increasing rate.  More and more regions of the world are becoming developed, with automobiles and high energy consumption rates.  It is certain that the price of oil will increase in the future as supplies run out.  We need to come up with alternatives to petroleum and start to conserve the amount of energy we use.  This will take a lot of planning and research.  We will need to invest in alternative sources of energy.  The resources of the earth are finite.  We should preserve what we have and not squander resources on ridiculous lifestyles.