President Barack Obama has been at the center of multiple Republican attacks regarding health care and educational reform. Now his decision to unfreeze oil drilling off United States coasts has garnered critiques from both sides. According to the Associated Press, Obama announced his decision Wednesday to reverse the ban on oil drilling off most U.S. shores, including the eastern Gulf of Mexico, parts of Alaska and possibly parts of Florida and Virginia. At a time of the hurried greening of many initiatives around the world and the recent climate conference in Copenhagen, this decision can only be seen as wrong.

Obama states that reopening drilling would diminish U.S. dependence on Middle Eastern oil and create a domestic source of energy. The fault in Obama’s plan is that the existence and volume of oil within U.S. territories are simple speculations. Amounts calculated by the president’s advisors and any numbers they come up with are hardly concrete results, and therefore decisions should not be made upon them. Our reliance on foreign oil, while risky to say the least, is still the safest option during this time of constant greening in all sectors.

At the Copenhagen climate conference, Obama and other world leaders promised to decrease the world’s reliance on oil and oil-based technologies while temperatures are rising and global warming issues loom. The decision to open up drilling for fossil fuels in U.S. territories is a step back from agreements made in Copenhagen.

The health of the biospheres in the planned drilling spots would also suffer. While cleaner rigs and technologies have been introduced into oil drilling, the flora and fauna — especially in Alaska — could be destroyed by massive, man-made drilling platforms. Malfunctions, such as oil spills and the destruction of the biosphere, threaten the careful balance that is at the center of Obama’s plan for drilling.

The truth is the U.S. needs some sort of an alternate source of energy apart from foreign fossil fuels, and perhaps in the future, oil rigs should be built, if only to continue to rely on oil. But if we were to continue on this green path that we have vowed to take, reliance on oil must slowly be phased out — a move that directly opposes Obama’s decision to allow offshore drilling. Wind energy and other alternative energy sources could easily replace fossil fuels. We agree that realistic factors must be taken into question, but when it comes to the ethical question, allowing oil drilling off U.S. shores is a mistake.