Save the Whales! Drill Offshore

Jim Geraghty gives some good reasons why more offshore drilling will be good for the environment:

Earlier this week I mentioned a natural oil seepage off the coast of California that leaks 150-170 barrels of oil a day into the Pacific ocean. Just managing to tap that seepage would generate 2,940 to 3,332 gallons of gasoline per day. To put it in terms Senator Obama can understand, it's the equivalent of nagging 19,216 to 21,778 drivers who currently have underinflated tires to inflate their tires.

According to the Department of the Interior, more than 2,000 active submarine seeps have been mapped along the California coast. While the exposure isn't always harmful to every species, it seems that most birds and fish avoid exposure to the oil when they can.

The usual complaint about offshore drilling is environmental concerns. But as the National Academies have calculated, "accidental spills from platforms represent about one percent of petroleum inputs in North American waters and about three percent worldwide." And some research indicates that as you drill more in a region, the natural oil seepage slows. In other words, the oil down below is going to get to the surface in one way or another. The question is whether it ends up in your gas tank or choking some fish.

Put derricks off America coasts... to save the whales!

The oil's there - let's go get it.