Offshore drilling is the right thing to do for the United States.

Hello, I'm XStrikeX, representing the proposition in this debate, "Offshore drilling is the right thing to do for the United States." I'd like to inform the audience of the background of the situation. Recently, on March 31st, President Barack Obama announced a plan to open portions of the Eastern seaboard and the western coast of Florida. This then ended two major federal bans that previously prevented offshore drilling and in the US. Debates have surged over enviromental issues and the benefits of oil. To open up my arguments, I'd like to begin with a definition of "right." I define 'right' as "for the greater good of the economy." Contentions 1. Offshore drilling can avert an energy crisis. Critics note that the potential supplies offshore are a tiny part of the world market, but even so the Interior Department's estimates range from 39 billion to 62 billion barrels of oil. We use 7 billion barrels a year, so if the oil is really there, it could be five to nine years worth. True, robust production wouldn't kick in for a decade or more. But that same argument helped block action 10 years ago. Domestic gas supplies, meanwhile, are massive and underutilized. The very fact that offshore drilling has been approved may have some further positive effect on lowering world oil prices." Mark Hemingway concludes that President Bush's announcement that he would life the executive moratorium on oil was the direct cause of a dramatic drop in oil prices from $147 to $132 a barrel in mid July, 2008. Based on this conclusion, if congress were to lift their moratorium, oil prices could be expected to drop even further. http://blogs.usatoday.com... 2. Offshore drilling is consistent with the environment. Some of the most ironic objections come from those who say offshore exploration will destroy beaches and coastlines, citing the devastating 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska as an example. But tankers like the Valdez continue to carry the imported oil we're ruinously addicted to and have gone aground more frequently, more recently and far more disastrously. Lastly, with new technological advances, oil rigs have become much safer. Evidence: USA Today 3. Offshore drilling will significantly contribute to oil production. Due to restrictions on drilling, much of America's coastline has never been fully explored, let alone with the latest technologies. In 2008, an oil find was made off the coast of Brazil that contained 33 billion barrels of oil. Now imagine what a similar find off the coast of America would do for oil prices! A USA Today article published on June 28, 2008, titled "Deepwater oil fields are a final frontier," notes, "By 2015, Chevron expects deepwater wells to account for one-quarter of offshore oil production vs. 9% today." The US must recognize this potential, and tap into it by lifting its ban on offshore drilling. http://article.nationalreview.com... 4. Environmentalists against offshore drilling state that the oil rigs will simply make sight-seeing places like Florida "ugly" because they are too close to the beautiful shore. This is untrue, however. Offshore oil rigs are not visible from coastlines. Many are too far to see, and thus do not represent an eyesore for residents, tourists, beach-goers or anyone else. Evidence: Port Director Ted Falgout 5. Most of the US supports offshore drilling. A Rasmussen poll found that 67% of voters nationwide support offshore drilling. In Florida, a poll released on June 30 showed that 59% of Floridians supported offshore drilling. Thank you.