Most analysts agree that conservation will play a greater role in meeting energy demand than drilling in the U.S.
- CNNMoney.com, 5/30/08
Industry already has more lands than it can drill
The Wilderness Society recognizes that oil and natural gas development is a legitimate and important use of our public lands. However, The oil and gas industry has leases on more than 91 million acres of federal lands and waters (47.5 million acres onshore and 44 million acres offshore) but has developed less than 23.5 million acres (13 million onshore and 10.5 million offshore). Almost three quarters of that land - 68 million acres - has not been drilled. Although we object to some of the areas under lease, we believe that the oil and gas industry should make better use of existing leases before it attempts to lock up more public lands and waters in environmentally fragile areas.
Experts generally agree that more drilling will not lower gasoline prices
The Wilderness Society agrees with the many experts who insist - contrary to the oil and gas industry's misleading rhetoric - that leasing more federal lands for oil and gas development will not reduce gasoline prices. High oil prices in particular are established by a host of world economic conditions, and have little to do with how much drilling is or is not taking place on federal lands. Even so, there are tens of thousands of oil and gas wells on the public lands already.
See more on oil prices from the experts.
More drilling will not achieve "energy independence"
At current consumption levels, U.S. resources are inadequate to achieve energy independence. The United States contains 2.5 % of the world's oil resources and 3% of world natural gas resources. But we account for 24% of total world consumption of oil and 22% of natural gas consumption. Opening more areas to drilling in the U.S. can never make us less dependent on foreign oil or natural gas. The only way we will ever reduce our dependency is to reduce our consumption.
A better way forward: conservation, renewables, and efficiency
While the pro-drilling lobby advocates for more drilling on environmentally fragile public lands, The Wilderness Society is working with Congressional leaders to promote policies to increase energy efficiency and the use of renewable technologies to solve the problem of high fuel prices. In the past three years alone, conservation and new technologies have cut our projected need for oil through 2050 by 100 billion barrels. These sorts of forward-thinking approaches can help the United States meet its energy challenges while protecting our last wild places for our children and grandchildren.
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