Just Drill It

Have you heard of the Bakken Formation?  How about the Marcellus Shale?  If not, then you haven't heard about two of the most promising oil and natural resources in the United States today.

The Bakken Formation is a huge swath of shale beneath North Dakota and eastern Montana, believed to hold about 4 billion barrels of technically recoverable oil, according to a new study by the United States Geological Survey (USGS). With today's oil prices and new technologies, it can be produced in an environmentally sound way, lessen dependence on foreign energy supplies, and create jobs.

The Marcellus Shale stretches from the Fingerlakes region of New York through Pennsylvania and into eastern Ohio and West Virginia. It is believed to contain a significant amount of natural gas that could be used to heat homes and power industry. It, too, is producible with today's natural gas prices and technologies.

The big question, though, is whether U.S. energy companies will be allowed to develop these tremendous natural resources because, as Rick Martinez writes in the News & Observer , "oil and gas have become politically incorrect energy sources."

Martinez implies that we no longer have the luxury of being PC and failing to produce our own oil and natural gas. The world population is rising, and the global population could climb to 9 billion by 2050. With more people, the world will need increasing supplies of energy of all types -- oil, natural gas, wind, solar, renewables and others. 

As Martinez puts it, "the world is going to need every bit of energy that can be responsibly developed. Significant energy discoveries, such as the Bakken Formation, shouldn't be feared for their supposed environmental damage. They should be cheered for their humanitarian potential."