Recently an article appeared in our local paper on the “will to drill”. It correctly highlights the fact that between the US and Canada there are enough hydrocarbon-bearing resources in the ground to supply these two countries for hundreds of years. The author did not even need to mention the additional huge oil sands deposits in Alberta and the huge coal deposits in the US to correctly make this assertion. And it is true that where there is a will there is a way, and the will comes with the potential profit from $60-$80/barrel oil. The problem is that every molecule of carbon burned in power plants, cars, or planes, produces a molecule of carbon dioxide, the main gas causing the global warming that we already have too much of. I am not saying to stop drilling, because we will need more oil in the short term for fuel, and in the long term for products, such as structural plastics. But, we must guard against letting an increased oil supply decrease our zeal for development of non-fossil power sources, as we did once before. A sensible government will see that we must seriously promote wind, geothermal, and solar power – even the old oil cowboy T. Boone Pickens agrees, so there must even be some money in it.