Waiting to drill in ANWR beneficial

Breeze Perspectives

Congratulations, George Bush on another astounding political movement. Of course, that statement is inundated with sarcasm, because supporting oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, more commonly known as ANWR, is blatantly ignorant.

This column isn’t meant to cry about the animals that are currently being preserved within the refuge. Wildlife preservation is an important responsibility that the American government performs. The reality of the situation is that the oil within ANWR is worth so much now and will be worth so much more in the future that at some point, the refuge will suffer. Whether it happens today or years into the future, someone will drill the oil from ANWR.

The reason drilling now is irrational is because of the scarcity of oil on American soil. The idea that oil will deplete in the near future is an apocalyptic belief. These ideas are usually guilty of being pathetic conjures of human emotion. Of course, oil won’t be gone tomorrow or probably within the next 50 years at least, but there is merit in starting to change the economy now. There is also merit in conserving oil, because it will still be demanded for its chemical properties long after its use as a fossil fuel terminates.

We must look at the situation objectively. There will always be an increase in the demand of oil, unless economies are reformed. There will always be less oil on the planet tomorrow than there is today. These two reasons foreshadow that oil will always be more expensive in the future.

ANWR has been shown by Congress to only have the ability to help the oil situation slightly. By introducing this oil into the economy now, it will not be used for anything substantial. It would only have the mere utility of making people more complacent by seeing gas prices stagnate for a few years before the ANWR reserve would deplete.

It would be good for America to see gasoline prices reach new highs. Ultra-high oil prices will be the only driver that ever pushes the economy into a state less dependent upon petrol. America will only change its economy when the cost of change becomes less than the cost of sustainment. Higher oil prices will be crippling to the global economy but will push it into reformation. The first nation to modernize itself will be the first country to hedge itself against the unknown nature of the future of oil.

The idiocy with drilling the oil now is that the oil will only be used to sustain the current wasteful economy in place today. Using this precious source of oil that the United States has safe in Alaska to fuel American SUVs is ignorant. America needs to savor its oil instead of continually acting as a glutton of every little bit of it that can be found. ANWR should be a strategic stronghold of petroleum that is kept for a use more profound than only for propping up America’s current wasteful economy.

Tim Rose is a sophomore finance major.