Sunday, June 15, 2008 | 2:05 a.m.
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I recently read an article by the Interior Department’s Minerals Management Service that assessed the amount of “undiscovered, technically recoverable” oil and gas resources of our country’s Outer Continental Shelf — waters off our shores that are under our control.
The article stated that the Outer Continental Shelf contains an estimated 89.5 billion barrels of oil and 420 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
Also, in a report released last month, the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management stated that onshore federal lands are estimated to contain 31 billion barrels of oil and 231 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
Why are we, then, importing oil from foreign sources? Eighty-five percent of all lands under federal jurisdiction are off limits to exploration and production of oil and natural gas.
The next time you see a politician on TV pontificating about the nasty oil companies and demanding investigations, ask why Congress is withholding access to our oil from us, the people.
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