After getting zero traction on his Gas Tax Holiday Plan, Mac is Back (what a great chant…) this morning as he announced his opposition to the federal ban on offshore oil drilling. If demand is going to remain high in the face of record prices, boosting supply does seem to be a logical solution.

Big Mac is back on the attack. But he’s catching some flak.

Environmentalists are up in arms talking about….okay, I don’t know what they’re talking about, but as long as I can get cheap gas and my local sushi restaurant still serves me my Spicy Tuna Hand Roll without extra oil slick, I don’t particularly care. We have the EPA for a reason, and we should put at least some stock into the ability of oil extraction firms to keep their brand positively regarded and regulatory agencies to limit dangerous negligence.

The most important thing is that ending the ban be seen as a stop-gap measure, not as a solution. As China, India and other developing economies continue to up their oil consumption, the gas crisis is not going away anytime soon. America has already reached Hubbert’s Peak, the point at which tapping oilfields greatly decreases efficiency. Short version: global oil consumption is increasing while supply is, or will be, decreasing. Like all other oil supplies, the ocean bottom will eventually be tapped out. At that point we are back where we started, with less Spicy Tuna Hand Roll.

We have a pressing need for “alternative energies”. Wind, solar, and biofuels are all long-term options, but short-term nightmares. Windmills are expensive and are most profitable in low-population areas. Solar power is currently inefficient in transforming heat to electricity. Most biofuels currently take more energy to create and transport than is intrinsic to the product. Hear that, Prius drivers? ETHANOL USES MORE OIL THAN OIL! I’m not saying we should give up on any of these projects, but we are a few years away from making them better.

Big Ideas for a Small Planet had an episode which focused on these three solutions. It’s a great watch, giving an optimistic look at the future. In the meantime, we have to deal with the present. And at present, we are facing an oil shortage which is eating up disposable income, suppressing economic growth, relinquishing our national sovereignty to Petrostates, and spurring global climate change.

The last thing I want is to be able to buy less Spicy Tuna Hand Roll, have fewer producers of it, have to eat it only if Iran lets me, and deal with changing migratory patterns of tuna result in a less delicious treat.