The introductory discussion of the USD climate symposium featured a question and answer session in which an interesting query was made regarding the current legality of offshore oil drilling. The moratorium, which has been ended, on offshore drilling included the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas in the Arctic circle near Alaska, and parts of the East Coast and the Gulf of Mexico. The response from the speaker established that the feasability of offshore drilling would be explored in areas in the so called "military operations zone", which is 125 miles away from the coast and out of sight of beachgoers. This response however, continues the outdated and dangerous policy of "out of sight out of mind" environmentalism. Extraction of oil in and of itself certainly is not a problem, but the extraction of such oil requires massive mobilizations of manpower, machines, and raw material making the process highly carbon intensive especially when exotic locations such as Northern Alaska are in consideration. Furthermore, according to a Harpers magazine article published in October 2007 in the wake of Sarah Palins "Drill here, Drill now" campaign stated that drilling in the Arctic circle would produce a negligible amount of oil in any reasonable timeframe.
The ending of the moratorium on drilling represents a regression into an economy based on fossil fuels which cannot be sustained either economically, politically, or environmentally. Rather than squeeze for the last drops of a polluting fuel from a pristine wilderness steps should be taken to secure a new network of clean and renewable energy.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/31/science/earth/31energy.html
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