In the comments war section in my article on Obama, I asked (comment #28):

...[H]as anyone seen an estimate (not from an oil company, please) on how much oil all this off-shore and Rocky Mountain drilling is supposed to produce per year, and how much that's expected to affect prices, etc.?

Well, today's Washington Post just provided an estimate from the Department of Energy:

But developing those resources would take time. A report last year by the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration said that "access to the Pacific, Atlantic, and eastern Gulf regions would not have a significant impact on domestic crude oil and natural gas production or prices before 2030. Leasing would begin no sooner than 2012, and production would not be expected to start before 2017." It added, "Because oil prices are determined on the international market, however, any impact on average wellhead prices is expected to be insignificant."

Wow. And that's with Republicans in charge of the Department of Energy. Here's the whole article, by the way.

I know that off-shore drilling (not to mention oil share refining in the Rockies) is a prudential matter--but commenters like Tim Shipe have asked for more discussion of prudential matters, and we aim to please.

Conversation starter: I personally oppose President Bush's proposal to allow off-shore drilling off our coasts and oil shale refining in the Rockies. It would, by his own government's admission, have negligible impact in prices, and what impact it would have wouldn't arrive until 2030. Alternative energy could be trotted out far, far more quickly than 22 years from now, and it would be less harmful for the environment anyway.

While we're having our reasoned and rational discussion, for the sake of ease, let's just say that the phrase "off-shore drilling" includes the oil shale refining in the Rockies unless someone specifically says it doesn't.