Ellsworth "spot on" regarding oil prices

Brad Ellsworth penned a great op-ed piece for The Lafayette Journal & Courier regarding oil prices and domestic drilling. An excerpt:

It seems the focus of the day is opening the entire Outer Continental Shelf and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to drilling. Some folks claim current restrictions in these areas are the only thing standing in the way between consumers and cheaper gas. It's a quick and easy fix, they say.

But here are some of the things they don't tell you. First, much of the OCS has already been opened up for leasing and domestic exploration, but in many cases, the oil companies have chosen not to significantly increase their production there. Instead they are buying up leases to these lands, but not drilling there.

Second, there's nothing quick about domestic drilling. Even if the drilling moratorium was lifted tomorrow and the oil companies chose to drill in the remaining areas, most experts believe it would be decades before consumers could see some relief.

That relief would be minimal at best -- about 75 cents per barrel, which is less than 4 cents per gallon at the pump -- and the savings aren't guaranteed to be passed along to American consumers.

Ellsworth is absolutely correct in his assessment of the situation, and his highlighting of the fact that oil companies already have authorization to drill in nearly all these areas. In ANWR alone, 95% of available resources are currently available for drilling. The laughable impact from further drilling in these areas is well-known outside of the mainstream media. It's refreshing to see a local politician so well informed - Perhaps we can have one next year in the THIRD congressional district.