Offshore Oil or Offshore Wind, Part 2

John McCain is repeating the old conventional wisdom that we should set aside environmental concerns and open up more of our coastal waters to oil drilling. You know the conventional wisdom: Environmental benefits are nice, but expensive. Clean energy proponents are well-meaning, but naive and not very practical. Put another way, if we want real energy, we need to make a mess somewhere.
John McCain is either unaware of the extent to which the world is changing, or hopes the rest of us won't notice. But more and more people are noticing the world is changing, and that environmentally sound energy choices are increasingly more economically sound than simply burning more fossil fuels. This is a theme I have stressed repeatedly, as when I first spoke publicly in favor of wind power in Delaware in March of last year:

The conventional wisdom is that the public’s environmental interest is in conflict with the public’s economic interest. But my review of the record leads me to conclude that the conventional wisdom has been turned on its head in this case; burning more fossil fuels doesn’t make economic or environmental sense for Delaware. Simply put, 19th century technology is not suited to meet the environmental and economic needs of the 21st century.

I have at times used the financial analysis tools I learned in business school to demonstrate the economic value of sound environmental policy. But sometimes the reality is so clear that it can be understood without complex models.
The debate over wind power in Delaware was won because most people understood that rising fossil fuel prices would make the offshore wind farm a good deal by comparison. The idea of a gas tax holiday didn't work for Senators McCain and Clinton because people could easily see that oil companies would just keep prices high and pocket the difference.
I think McCain's proposal to open up offshore drilling will not be the vote winner he hopes for the same reason. You don't need to be trained in present value analysis to understand that oil that would not flow for another ten years isn't much use to anyone now. And as more people see the possibility of offshore wind coming online in four or five years, the idea of what's naive and what's practical will shift even more dramatically.
When confronted with the uncomfortable fact that offshore oil would not come online for ten years, John McCain resorted to the argument it would provide a psychological benefit. The New York Times reports Barack Obama's sharp retort:

Mr. Obama was responding to remarks that Mr. McCain made on Monday in Fresno, Calif., when he observed that even though the nation might take years to benefit from offshore drilling, "exploiting those reserves would have psychological impact that I think is beneficial."
Mr. Obama seized on those comments while speaking at a town hall-style meeting here.
"'Psychological impact'?" Mr. Obama said. "In case you’re wondering, that’s Washington-speak for 'It polls well.'"
He added, "It’s an example of how Washington politicians try to convince you that they did something to make your life better when they really didn’t."

It's the 21st century folks. Fossil fuels are running out. The gee whiz era of renewable energy production is over. The Bluewater Wind project is scheduled to come online in four years. When offshore wind turbines can be erected twice as fast as offshore oil rigs, it's a clear sign that the energy economy is changing, and for the better.
Keep in mind I am not suggesting that wind power can replace gasoline for our cars now. The Economist last week published a good review of how the electric grid needs to change to make the fullest use of wind power.