Drill baby Drill! vs. Alternatives now!

WNYC's Brian Lehrer show has an awesome series called "30 issues in 30 days," which is a daily segment that he started running late last month. The special segment runs through the end of October and has tackled important issues such as immigration, education, middle east policy, and infrastructure. Last Friday they aired the #1 issue as voted by listeners, and that was energy independence. Drill baby Drill vs. Alternative Energy contains some interesting interviews, such as the one with the guy who traveled across the US in a car that ran on veggie oil, but the interview I want to highlight is the one between David Kruetzer, an energy policy analyst from the Heritage Foundation, a right leaning think tank, and Antonia Juhasz, author of "The Tyranny of Oil."

The debate highlighted the contrasts between the two sides of the energy independence debate - which is the one side's belief that we have enough oil offshore and in places like ANWR so there shouldn't be an urgency to displace oil, or the other side, which says we need start working on replacing oil completely right now. I think I'm in the latter category, although I agree with Senator Obama that it is okay to compromise on additional offshore drilling as long as incentives for renewables are part of the package.

I learn something new every time I listen to a lecture or read a book on energy issues, and listening to their debate was no different. It is well known that the US is #1 in worldwide energy consumption, but did you know that we are #3 oil producing nation in the world? Hard to believe but it is true! (Although Mr. Kruetzer seemed surprised by it!) The full show is at this page or you can listen using the embedded player below.