The holistic approach

Critics of relaxing the ban on offshore oil drilling argue that the United States cannot drill its way out of its reliance on fossil fuels. They're right. But right now, the U.S. also cannot conserve its way out or provide enough alternative and renewable fuels to end that addiction.

What's needed is a multi-pronged approach that includes conservation through the use of more fuel-efficient cars and mass transit; emphasizes development of alternative fuels through a Manhattan Project-like effort; and opens up more domestic fields, including off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, to oil exploration. Let's at least get a clearer picture of what's there.

Increasing the domestic supply, as GOP presidential contender John McCain and President Bush have proposed, only where appropriate and only where individual states would allow it, could help curb the appetite for speculation that has factored into the increase in gasoline prices. It also could replace some of the oil now imported from a volatile Middle East and buy the U.S. economy time to get to those new technologies that would replace oil.

Odds are that the immediate effect on prices wouldn't be dramatic, and it probably would take a decade or so to get that domestic supply online.

There is also the serious question of climate change and the imperative of reducing oil consumption and the emissions that contribute to global warming.

But with demand for oil increasing sharply in nations such as India and China, it makes sense to increase the domestic oil supply and ease the pressure on U.S. businesses and families. Pain at the pump is a prime motivator in reducing oil consumption. But that pain is not borne equally; it is felt more sharply by families at the low end of the economic spectrum.

Improved mass transit is necessary to ease that pain. But expanding the domestic oil supply could help, too.

Keep in mind that only about half of a barrel of oil goes to fuel; the rest is used for plastics and other products critical to the economy.

Yes, oil companies already have plenty of leases on land and offshore from which no oil is being produced. But a lease does not mean there is oil there or that it makes economic sense to recover that oil. Keep in mind, too, that exploration and development of oil fields offshore is more benign than it once was. But make no mistake: Increasing the domestic supply should not be used as an excuse to continue the addiction. The ultimate goal has to be to wean the nation away from fossil fuels and to develop cleaner fuels for a healthier future.

Reprinted from The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.