We, therefore, the undersigned citizens of the United States, petition the U.S. Congress to act immediately to lower gasoline prices (and diesel and other fuel prices)* by authorizing the exploration of proven energy reserves to reduce our dependence on foreign energy sources from unstable countries.
There are several problems with this and I'll let the Wall Street Journal take over and explain some of them.
Lifting Ban Wouldn't Be Immediate Fix for Oil
Output Could Be Seven Years Away;
A Vast Unknown
By BEN CASSELMAN
June 19, 2008; Page A6
As politicians debate whether to open federal offshore waters to oil and natural-gas drilling, there is agreement on at least one point: It isn't a short-term fix.
If the bans were lifted tomorrow, it would be at least seven years -- and likely as long as a decade -- before the first oil began to flow off the coasts of Florida, California and the eastern seaboard.
Underlying the argument is a vast unknown: With the disputed areas long off-limits even to exploration, neither government nor industry experts know exactly how much oil and gas is there, how best to get at it, or even where it is.
By broad government calculations, there are 86 billion barrels of oil in offshore waters, with about 18 billion barrels of that located in areas now off-limits.
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