With gas prices soaring, the American people might be happy to know that plans are in the works for new drilling for oil in the Gulf of Mexico.

Last week the Senate voted to overcome a filibuster for the bill, which would open new areas in the Gulf to drill for both oil and natural gas. The House already passed a more "ambitious" bill that would open the entire coastline to possible drilling.

Presently, it is unknown if the two legislatures will come to a compromise for President Bush to sign.

Then, if any action is taken, the process of finding drilling sites, contracting drilling platforms and rigs and actually installing them would require a long time commitment, certainly not giving any immediate benefits.

If any drilling would commence it could be a blessing as far as increasing domestic reserves of oil. Hopefully gas prices would be alleviated because of a lessening reliance on any Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). With less animosity between those nations and the United States, ideally it would ease tensions around the world.

Also, some of the energy production royalties would go to Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama - all states affected by Hurricane Katrina.

While the new income would be nice, oil rigs in the Gulf were actually destroyed and some sent adrift during that hurricane. As such violent storms tear through the Gulf Coast every year, who is to say that the new structures would last?

With each new drilling platform in the Gulf it seems like the odds get that much worse that something will happen to one. Any disaster could turn a noble cause into a poor investment.

On top of that, any drilling would draw negative attention from environmentalist groups and could cause rifts in any new energy plans coming from Washington D.C.

What might be the best bet at this point could be to begin moving away from nonrenewable fuels and use the money to put more efforts into alternative energy sources.