Why U.S. oil ought to be left in the ground

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last updated 8 January 2015

Obama's decision to open up vast swaths of the Atlantic and Arctic oceans to oil and gas exploration sets a very bad precedent for other countries when it comes to dealing with climate change, argues the Economist's "Democracy in America" blog:

"Some of those who object to Barack Obama's decision to open up America's south-central Atlantic coast to oil drilling say it makes neither environmental nor political sense. I disagree with the last part; the political logic is reasonable enough.

"As energy or environmental policy [though ...], the fundamental problem is this: there is a finite amount of fossil fuel. The more of it we find and burn, the more carbon we put into the atmosphere, and the more severe the greenhouse effect becomes. [...] If we want to limit climate change, what we have to do, one way or another, is to leave fuels in the ground wherever possible, not find and burn them. [...]