Could offshore drilling lower gas prices?

With gas prices hitting $4 a gallon (again), House Republicans are pressuring President Obama to expand offshore oil drilling, saying that increased domestic production will help bring

prices down. The House passed a bill on Friday that would require the Secretary of the Interior to grant approvals on offshore lease applications within 30 days to help get more oil flowing

quickly. But administration officials say they need more time to assess the potential environmental impact of new wells, and energy industry experts say the new production will have little

impact on gas prices anyway. Is more domestic drilling really the cure for $4-a-gallon gasoline? OF COURSE INCREASED PRODUCTION WILL BRING DOWN PRICES: President Obama's war against

offshore drilling is one of the reasons for "rocketing gas prices today," says David Limbaugh in the _Washington Examiner_. Gas prices went down by 9 percent when George W. Bush

was in office, because he "took proactive steps to increase our supply and reduce price." Expensive gas is back because Obama is discouraging oil production so he can "cram

his preferred energy alternatives down Americans' throats." "Obama's scandalous war against domestic oil" SUBSCRIBE TO THE WEEK Escape your echo chamber. Get the

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inbox. DRILLING MORE WON'T HELP: The Right's mindless drill-baby-drill chant is no solution, says _The New York Times_ in an editorial. The U.S. has just 2 percent of the

world's oil reserves. Even if we triple production on the outer continental shelf, it would have no impact until 2020, and even then we'd only save pennies a gallon. But doubling

the fuel economy on America's cars over the next 15 years would reduce fuel prices by 20 percent. So why aren't Republicans helping Obama repeal $4 billion in annual oil-industry

savings and investing the savings to develop more fuel-efficient cars and alternative fuel sources? "The return of 'drill, baby, drill'" HIKING TAXES ON BIG OIL

WON'T HELP EITHER: Nothing revs up politicians quite like $4 a gallon gas, says former Republican Sen. John Sununu in _The Boston Globe_. But demonizing oil companies and hiking their

taxes — as we'd effectively be doing by eliminating tax benefits — is certainly not the way to get them to reduce their prices. Nor will throwing tax money at ethanol plants, hydrogen

cars, and bullet trains. "If cars ran on crazy talk, we'd all drive for free." "Wasting time on oil company taxes"