Last week, the Bush administration announced a proposal that would open 2 million acres in deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico to oil and gas drilling.

The area is estimated to have nearly half a billion barrels of oil and three trillion cubic feet of natural gas. That would be enough to fuel about 1 million vehicles and heat more than 500,000 homes for about 15 years.

Members of Congress, however, are divided over the plans and the size of the area to be developed.

Yet another proposal to open yet another site to oil and gas drilling seems counterproductive in an era when Americans should be trying to cut back on their reliance on fossil fuels.

Administration officials argue that drilling in the offshore zone could be a short-term solution to the United States' energy needs and possibly relieve consumers with lower fuel costs.

It is true that Americans are complaining more and more about rising gas prices, but if those prices continue to increase, a short-term fix is not going to be good enough.

We've only been offered short-term solutions for years. It is time for the government to look into long-term answers and start implementing them now.

Besides the U.S. reliance on oil, this proposal may also affect the way the international community views our country. What does it say about the United States that the government wants to drill for oil in the Gulf of Mexico?

Instead of merely proposing yet another in a series of short-term solutions, the government should be working toward more permanent resolutions to this problem. Officials need to push for legislation that encourages the public to switch to alternative fuels and automakers to produce cars that are powered by means other than gasoline.

Ultimately the government needs to find ways of using less oil instead of simply finding new sources to continue to feed the dependence.