Should the U.S. Drill for More Oil and Gas?

December 15, 2025

The United States pumped record amounts of oil and natural gas in 2023 and 2024. Oil and gas currently account for three-quarters of America’s energy use, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

But while the U.S. annually produces more oil and gas than it uses, some lawmakers have been calling for increased drilling on America’s public lands and waters. A surplus of oil and natural gas, they say, will make the U.S. less dependent on foreign sources and provide for the nation’s growing energy needs. Critics point to the toll that drilling and pollution are taking on the environment and urge the development of greener energies, such as wind and solar.

So should the U.S. drill for more oil and gas? The president of an oil and gas industry trade group and a policy analyst for a liberal think tank square off.

Oil and natural gas will be our main sources of energy far into the future, powering advances in technology and the development of artificial intelligence. It’ll all depend on drilling for America’s vast oil and natural gas reserves.

Today just about everyone is plugged in to a digital device, with 9 in 10 Americans owning a smartphone. That phone, not to mention your tablet, television, and game console, wouldn’t exist without oil and natural gas. Fossil fuels are the only major sources of hydrocarbons, the complex molecules needed to make the plastic in your devices. And natural gas is the key player in powering those devices. It’s the largest energy source used by power plants and generates 43 percent of America’s electricity.

That makes natural gas a vital energy source in the advance of artificial intelligence, from immersive gaming worlds to robots that do your chores. A.I. uses lots of power. By 2030, the electricity A.I. uses will have skyrocketed from 4 gigawatts-- per year—about what four large power plants produce—to 123 gigawatts. That’s because tech giants such as Amazon, Microsoft, and Google are building massive computer farms to power A.I. These data centers will use as much electricity in a month as New York City now uses in 20 months. Lawmakers who are thinking about our future energy needs see continued drilling for oil and natural gas as vital.

Oil and natural gas will power our digital future.

Renewable sources like wind and solar won’t supply nearly enough electricity. These intermittent sources—supplying power only on windy or sunny days—can’t provide the continuous energy that natural gas plants do, nor do we have batteries big enough to store all the power they generate. The good news is that with drilling innovations such as fracking, the U.S. has been able to tap its vast fossil fuel reserves to meet the demands of our evolving technologies.

So whether you’re scrolling through Instagram or using a chatbot, remember that oil and natural gas are making that possible and will for years to come.

—MELISSA SIMPSON
President, Western Energy Alliance

The U.S. is facing both a greater need for more energy and an urgent need to address climate change. Energy policy focused only on oil and natural gas drilling isn’t sustainable. The future demands that we diversify energy sources by developing renewables such as wind and solar instead of expanding fossil fuel extraction.

The Trump administration has prioritized more of our public lands and waters for oil and natural gas drilling. New drilling projects, in addition to hindering the fight against climate change, would expose places such as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge or national monuments to destruction. Under new leasing rules, these places would be prioritized for drilling instead of for things like camping, wildlife preservation, and renewable energy production.

The intention of increased drilling is to boost domestic energy production while lowering costs at the pump. But it’s not likely to have either effect.

Both global and U.S. energy production is already at an all-time high. For that reason, oil companies are reluctant to increase drilling operations because of the law of supply and demand: A greater oil supply usually means lower prices for everyday Americans, but it also means lower profits for the oil companies. They’re now producing oil on less than half the 35 million acres of public lands for which they own leases.

Drilling isn’t a sustainable energy solution.

Meanwhile, the rest of the world is discovering that clean energy is the future. Renewables are now more affordable than fossil fuel, according to a recent United Nations report. Solar energy is 41 percent cheaper to produce; offshore wind is 53 percent cheaper. And these costs will continue to fall.

The U.S. can’t drill its way to energy independence or lower prices. We need to get back to building the clean energy economy, and this will require the leadership of young people, many of whom have been fighting for climate action for most of their lives.

—JENNY ROWLAND-SHEA
Director for Public Lands, The Center for American Progress

By the Numbers

13.2 million

NUMBER of barrels of oil the U.S. produced per day in 2024, more than any other nation. Russia was second, with 10.2 million barrels a day.

44%

PERCENTAGE of U.S. electrcity expected to come from renewable sources, such as wind, solar, and biomass, by 2050. Today the figure is about 21 percent.