And those were the good ol' days

1,069: The number of rigs drilling for oil in the U.S. this week. The figure reflects a huge surge in U.S. oil drilling, up nearly 60% in the past year and the highest total since at least 1987, when oil services company Baker Hughes Inc. began keeping track.

Joe Romm flags a Wall Street Journal infographic showing that oil drilling is at a record high:

Despite all that drilling, gas prices are still high. Nonetheless, Republicans continue to blame high gas prices on President Obama's alleged anti-drilling policies. But as Romm points out, the opposite is true. We've been trying their "drill, baby, drill" strategy. And it's not working.

The fact is oil prices soared despite both record drilling and the highest domestic oil production levels in almost a decade. It should be obvious that yet more drilling can’t have any significant impact on oil prices.

So what's the solution?

The only viable long-term strategy is one aimed at ending our addiction to this climate-destroying fossil fuel.

There simply isn't enough cheap oil in America or the world to sustainably fuel our economy, and even if there were, using it would end up destroying the planet. Our only option is to find alternatives.