Oil in the Gulf

Cal Thomas | Syndicated Columnist | Updated: Mar 30, 2007

Oil in the Gulf

February 23, 2007

For years, environmentalists and their political allies have opposed drilling for oil and gas in the gulf of Mexico and Alaska. They raise the specter of massive oil spills and damaged wildlife. That the technology has approved to make such accidents extremely rare, the environmentalists and their political allies continue to dominate.

Now comes word that Cuba may start building, by the end of the year, oil rigs and drilling in the Gulf of Mexico less than 100 miles from the Florida coast. There are an estimated 4.6 billion barrels of oil and 9.8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in the region. And Cuba will get all of it if the United States doesn’t begin drilling in the area first.

Cuba is a third world, also-ran, communist nation. The United States is the biggest industrial nation in the world. We should go after this oil and gas to make us less dependent on middle east nations and Venezuela. And we should go after it in part to keep Cuba from getting so much of it. Where is the leadership on this?


Cal Thomas is a nationally syndicated columnist based in Washington, D.C.

Oil in the Gulf