Politics is all about proving to a larger sector of the population that you are the perfect President for the job. With an energy crisis looming and our environment suffering at the hands of fossil fuels and waste, will off shore drilling save the day? That depends on which candidate you ask.
In the Beginning...
The rising cost of gasoline over this summer combined with the damage to oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico has caused a heated debate between Barak Obama and John McCain about offshore drilling around the United States. They both maintain their position as the best answer. In fact, neither position will benefit Americans in any significant way.
The Candidates and Their Positions
Both candidates are quick to quote statistics that favor their position. They would have us believe that only they know the truth. They are treating us like the prisoners of Plato’s cave in that they want us to believe that our concerns about future energy are just shadows on the wall keeping us from seeing that everything is going to be ok. Mr. McCain would have us believe that there is sufficient oil under the ocean around the United States to provide plenty of fuel oil for the country. While Mr. Obama disagrees with the amount of the oil, he promises that limited offshore drilling will ease the burden of Americans and allow us time to find alternate energy resources.
The American "Eye"deal
In fact, they are both acting as if we couldn’t see the truth with a microscope. In their positioning they display their lack of faith in the people of the United States. If anyone in the country today believes we are not in trouble, then they are living without access to the media. Further, this person does not pay a light bill, drive to work or to the market, or heat their home with anything but wood. For the rest of the country, the cost of gasoline, home heating fuel, and electricity is devastating to the family budget. Offshore drilling can’t produce enough oil to fuel the United States for more than 3 years according to sources cited by Carolyn Y. Johnson and Lisa Wangsness of the Boston Globe and Rick Jervis, William M. Welch, and Richard Wolf of USA Today. Further these sources state that it will take at least ten years to bring the oil from under the ocean. Our presidential candidates are attempting to keep our minds focused on the shadows on the wall by not discussing our energy crisis with us honestly. The voters of the country need to challenge their statements and re-establish the faith in us they should already have. Wake up America! It’s time to face the truth.
Reference Materials