...not our resources.
Last I checked, we had over 800 years(!) of known oil reserves in the US and Canada, at US current consumption rates, in oil sands and oil shale. We can get the oil out at around $70 a barrel using today's technology, and I'm sure we'll figure out how to do it cheaper. Of course, it would help if one of the presidential candidates would stop pissing off Canada to the point where they're thinking of inviting someone else besides us to develop their oil sands and shale. Hint: not McCain.
We have at least 50 years of known oil reserves off of the US coasts. US law prevents our drilling for it, but Venezuela and China and Cuba are looking to come get it (in international waters, more than 12 miles off our coasts). Hmmm.
How much oil was spilled when Hurricane Katrina went through the Gulf? Not a drop. We know how to drill offshore without polluting.
Our problem isn't lack of resources, it's that we are unwilling to allow ourselves access to our resources. Other countries, like Brazil, China, etc., don't have enough people with enough money to be stupid about it the way we are.
We need to get to this oil, to keep our economy going and so that we can send our petrodollars to Americans rather than folks who would just as soon spit on us. This oil will buy us the time to come up with new technologies (see http://www.ls9.com/) that will allow us to cheaply and easily get petroleum from waste biomass (corn stalks, sugar cane bagass, suburban yard waste, meat processing, etc.).
One political party is anti-oil. One isn't. Who we choose for president and Congress will make a difference. It's not enough to care, and to have good intentions. The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.
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