Then What?

I could not help but write this blog post despite it's political nature; the solution provided by the presumptive republican nominee senator John McCain for decreasing oil prices got me fuming on the inside.

McCain's solution for the short to medium term relief from high oil prices is to increase the supply side by drilling in Alaska and offshore while doing nothing on the demand side. This is a partially flawed proposal in several ways.

First of all, increasing the supply would shift the short and medium term focus away from renewable energy and improvements in efficiency and other related research. This will produce devastating results in the medium and long term.

Secondly, drilling in Alaska and off shore would almost surly harm the ecosystem, and drive many species extinct.

Finally, and this can not be stressed enough, this is only a short term solution, a quick fix if you will, that will last for the next 10-20years. Then what? What will happen when the oil dries up? It would seem that just like with social security, Iraq or the budget deficit, the modus operandi here is to leave the problem for the the next president or next generation to deal with.