I heard something on TV yesterday that said there are billions of gallons of oil (yes, billions) that haven't yet been tapped on the continental shelf off the coast of Florida. I'm sure you've heard of the Alaska Wilderness oil supply, as well.

The scientist that I was listening to said that oil is a renewable resource, unlike prior belief that once an oil pool was empty it wouldn't refill itself. He said that the United States has enough oil to supply itself if the oil wells are drilled and refineries are built.

I agree that oil is a renewable resource because the Gilbertown, Alabama oil field (the first in Alabama, I think discovered in the 1940's) has been shut down for about 35-40 years because they thought all the oil had been pumped out. NOW, today, they are working cleaning and re-opening those very same oil wells and they have as much, or more, oil in them now than when first drilled.

This is not a rumor, I know what I'm saying because I own real estate about 1/2 mile from one oil well, and 1-1/2 miles from two wells owned by my uncle and first cousin, respectively. They are not even in Gilbertown Oil Field and they're also being cleaned and re-opened.

We shouldn't blame "big oil" altogether. OPEC and the United States Government are the reason things have gotten into the mess it's in. We have senators and congressmen who hold hearings about every ten years on the price of oil, and that's the end of it for another ten years. The only reason they do it is to make people think they're doing something about it so they'll stop complaining. In my opinion, the senators and congressmen have deep pockets and aren't about to upset the money coming in from lobbyists.