Drilling A Hole in the Sierra Club's Fantasy
Offshore drilling is bad. At least that's what the Sierra Club wants to you believe. Actually, what the Sierra Club really wants is for you to mail them a check which is why a "Join the Sierra Club" button in prominently featured on their ad encouraging the public to "Support States' Resistance to Offshore Drilling."

The Sierra Club blurb states that the "Bush administration support of oil and gas interests threatens to overturn longstanding drilling moratoria in California and North Carolina." The environmental watchdog's "petition" doesn't provide any rational basis for opposing offshore drilling. Instead the organization simply lumps a series of unrelated environmental issues together with a claim that "the Bush Administration is Eroding Coastal Protection."

The real silliness of the Sierra Club petition is the supposed energy policy that is being advocated by their petition. The petition's signers "demand" that the Administration "Promote cleaner, cheaper, and safer energy solutions. Enforce the laws that protect our health and safety. Renew the commitment to stewardship of public trust lands and waters." Wonderful. Our nation faces a multitude of complex energy security challenges and the Sierra Club's contribution to the debate is promote a three line energy policy that appears to have been written by Barney, the children's cartoon character.

Any realistic solution to achieving energy security will need to include policies which support enhanced development and utilization of domestic energy resources, economically efficient energy conservation measures and the development and implementation of new technologies.

Environmental watchdog organization are, in theory, capable of making a worthwhile contribution to the national energy security debate. Unfortunately, many of these groups appear to be primarily concerned with their fund raising campaigns and political agendas. Unless groups such as the Sierra Club grow up an engage in serious dialog, they will find themselves as relevant to the energy policy debate as a purple dinosaur.