KERPEN: Drilling down on the drill ban

Democrats could allow this to expire in order to increase election chances and then reimpose it when they maintain control of Congress and win the White House. That's the strategy I think Dems will pursue. It would be suicide to come back and reimpose the ban right before the election. But if it appears that McCain has a decent chance to win in November and the Dems to maintain control of Congress, then I think the Dems will be forced to push the ban thru. The key of course is the American people - more specifically the voters.

Energy independence is a more critical issue to follow the energy prices. Russia is on the move and the only energy independent country in the world with a substantial military force to back it's intimidation AND they don't believe in global warming. It is going to be extremely difficult to help Europe out of an energy intimidation scenario this winter without additional energy supplies for ourselves. 28 years years of congressional stonewalling on drilling have not produced any addition energy technology, infrastructure or supplies. We are seeing a Gray Davis scenario developing across the entire nation.

Offshore drilling will provide us with more than just oil. How about seafood? On June 2, 2008, Townhall.com published an op ed by Humberto Fontova, "The Environmental Benefits of offshore drilling." Use your favorite search engine and you will find it; it's on several Websites. The waters off Louisiana contain about 3,200 offshore production platforms. Those same waters produce almost 30 per cent of America's commercial fisheries. Fontova refers to a study that found 50 times more marine life around an oil production platform than in the surrounding Gulf bottoms. Fontova also quotes an NOAA report that says, "A key measure of the health of a reef is the amount of area taken up by coral. Louisiana's Flower Garden [coral reefs] boasts nearly 50 percent coral cover. In the Florida Keys it can run as little as 5 percent." Florida does not allow offshore drilling. So, who is really saving the planet? Is it Pelosi or the oil companies?