California consumes 3rd most oil in world, yet has only lukewarm support for increased drilling
The debate over whether to lift the federal ban on offshore drilling has been heating up lately. Looking at this issue, an LA Times columnist noted this week that California is guilty of hypocrisy and NIMBYism over its relatively tepid support for lifting the ban. This is because California, as an entity, is the third biggest consumer of petroleum in the world, behind only the United States and China.
While California is one of the biggest petroleum producers in the U.S. (behind Texas and Alaska), the state still produces only 39% of the oil that it consumes. Apparently, a recent poll by the Public Policy Institute of California, indicates that only 51% of California voters support increased offshore drilling.
It seems to us that the major disconnect between many of Californians’ opposition to offshore drilling and their embrace of a car-centric lifestyle stems from the lack of a real alternative to petro-fueled cars. While, there are some extreme examples of NIMBYs wanting their green cake and eating it too, many Californians are leading the push to get off oil. For example, California has the highest percentage of hybrid owners in the country, and the entrepreneurs of Silicon Valley are leading the push to implement clean technology in transportation.
However, with that said, the reality of the world today is that gas is still the overwhelmingly primary means by which cars are powered. The status quo of widespread reliance on petro-fueled cars and no increased drilling is not maintainable. Yet, it is this very fact, and the financial pain that it is causing right now, that we should use as inspiration to make a dramatic shift off of oil, instead of acquiescing to the current political winds.
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