In his commentary on America’s energy issues, Rep. James Clyburn reveals that he is more concerned with gaining partisan political advantage than in protecting the economic and national security interests of the American people. In sharp contrast to the common sense opinions expressed in The T&D’s own editorial on the issue of energy exploration, Clyburn was unwilling to acknowledge that offshore drilling should be one part of a broader strategy to address America’s energy needs.

Rather, Clyburn resorted to the politics of fear by raising the specter of oil rigs within sight of the South Carolina coast and the prospect of massive oil spills. Clyburn seems to be unaware of the fact that offshore drilling is generally conducted far enough out to sea (40 miles or more) to be over the horizon; i.e. not visible from shore. It also should be noted that during Hurricane Katrina there were no spills in the Gulf due to the fact that the rigs were shut down and secured as a safety precaution.

Technology and well-conceived safety procedures will allow for exploration and production without damage to the environment. Further, as The T&D itself points out, off-shore drilling is a better option, from an environmental risk point of view, than transporting vast amounts of oil via ships across oceans.

As to Clyburn’s suggestion that the oil companies are not exploiting existing leases as part of a conspiracy to keep the price of oil artificially high, it is a matter of record that Congress has investigated the oil companies time and again without ever producing evidence of such collusion. Clyburn seems unwilling to consider that there may be legitimate technical and economic reasons that explain why those leases have not worked out, such as the lack of ability to transport the oil from those fields or other restrictions on production. 

The fact that old, once-unprofitable fields in Texas are now the scene of a new oil boom contradicts Clyburn’s position here. Clyburn should abandon his conspiracy theories and focus instead on how Congress’ inaction adversely impacts the laws of supply and demand and the value of the dollar.

Fortunately, not all of Clyburn’s Democratic colleagues in the House share his views on drilling. A bipartisan group of two dozen congressmen, led by Rep. John Peterson, R-Pa., and Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawaii, is preparing to put forward legislation that would allow offshore drilling while dedicating royalties from this activity to fund environmental restoration projects and renewable energy research. 

It remains to be seen how Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Whip Clyburn will react to this bipartisan effort to take real action to address the economic and national security challenges presented by America’s dependence on foreign sources of oil.

I hope The T&D will continue to track developments in Congress on this extremely important issue.

— Ronald Shattuck, Bamberg

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