Why are Democrats being so stupid about drilling for more oil?

If it's supposedly going to take over 5 years to benefit from drilling more oil now, then why didn't they let oil co's start 5 years ago? So, by their logic we keep waiting until gas is $10/gal before they think it's ok to drill more? Since when does being dependent on OPEC make any sense whatsoever from any point of view - economic, political, strategic, or even environmentally? How are off shore oil wells so environmentally unclean. How is the US supposed to develop and get off of oil within 5 years - when gas is $20/gal?????