...because they are incapable of rational thought.

I have always thought of myself as a conservationist, and with the rising price of oil I am finding that there are some folks out there who's voices are starting to rise above the din of wacko environmentalism with rational conservation principles.

Case in point. I found this article on MarketWatch.com which talks about the debate about drilling off the coast of California, particularly Santa Barbara. Here are a few choice quotes:

Oil is still so plentiful in the region that it often bubbles uncontrollably to the surface, and shows up in the form of tar globules on some of the area's beaches. Tourists and new residents often curse the offshore platforms as they scrub their blackened feet, but long-time residents know the phenomenon has occurred naturally for thousands of years.

Bubbling Crude in California? I thought only Jed Clampett had that stuff.

[Bruce] Allen is the president of a group called Stop Oil Seeps, which argues that additional offshore drilling could be used to prevent oil from bubbling up on to beaches. And the region could produce nearly 2 billion barrels over a period of 25 years, he says.

Natural seepage alone over a four-year period amounts to roughly the same amount of oil that spilled from the Exxon Valdez incident in Alaska in 1989. He points out that a University of California, Santa Barbara study conducted in the mid-1990s shows that seepage around one of the nearby oil rigs known as Platform Holly dropped by more than 50% over 22 years as a result of production.

Drill more to save California Beaches!? Ohhh...wait, but there is the "local environmentalist" who hearkens back to a drilling accident in 1969 that fissured the caprock and spilled oil into the sea and thinks it is risky.

I guess we need to add a few more dollars to the price for fuel to quiet everyone down.