Actress Kate Walsh of ABC’s “Private Practice” told CNSNews.com that drilling offshore will not reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil and Americans who support domestic drilling are “misinformed.”
Walsh was on Capitol Hill with the nonprofit organization Oceana speaking at an event held to mark the one year anniversary of the BP gulf oil spill.
CNSNews.com asked Walsh about a recent CNN poll showing that the majority of Americans support more domestic drilling given the rising cost of gasoline.
“That’s surprising to me but not surprising in that I think that people are misinformed largely. I think that people are under the impression that if we drill offshore that we’ll reduce our dependence on foreign oil because that’s the messaging because the big oil companies have a lot of money. They have a lot of money to lobby and do advertising and tell a story which is actually untrue and that story is that if we drill offshore and eventually we will reduce our dependence on foreign oil,” she told CNSNews.com after the event.
“So, if there’s a tsunami that’s happening or if there’s a conflict in Libya or anywhere in the middle east where our oil comes from, that somehow we will be protected and ensured no matter what or that our people believe also which is fallacious that the gas prices will be reduced significantly if we expand our drilling and the truth of the matter is that there are studies have been shown it will not. It will take until literally the year 2030 to see any decrease in gas prices at the pump and that would be about 3 cents a gallon.”
Walsh was also asked which she thinks is better for the country – high or low gas prices.
“I don’t think that’s the question. I think the real issue is that we have to absolutely move away from petroleum use. Obviously, look, petroleum is in everything that we use. It’s in plastics. It’s not just in gasoline. It’s not just in heating our homes but we need to start looking at other resources and they are out there. I mean, it’s just evolution,” she told CNSNews.com.
“That’s the great thing about being an American is that we can come up with different ideas and different plans but what bothers me is that what drilling offshore is about is about profit for oil companies. It’s not about what’s good for America. It’s not about what’s good for the most people. It’s good for about, you know, one percent of people who make a lot of money off of drilling here in the United States offshore. It has nothing to do with what’s good for the American people, what’s good for the future, what’s good for our economy.”
