First of all, some of you have asked if I am going to comment on the Hutaree cult and their recent arrests. To be quite honest, I don't really feel like it. For the time being, I have said all I need to say about the rise of right wing nut bags.
Instead, I thought I would examine the stunning announcement today by President Obama that offshore oil drilling in areas of the Atlantic Ocean, Alaska's North Slope, and the Gulf of Mexico. Combine this with his recent dedication to pursue nuclear energy solutions and, my oh my, do we have a whole shit load of pissed off tree huggers.
The plan authorizes the Interior Department to conduct seismic surveys off the south- and mid-Atlantic coasts to "determine the quantity and location of potential oil and gas resources to support energy planning," according to a statement from a White House official. It would include lifting a 20 year ban on drilling along the Virginia coastline but keep the ban on drilling around Bristol Bay in Alaska.
"This is not a decision that I've made lightly," Obama told an audience at Maryland's Joint Base Andrews Naval Air Facility. "But the bottom line is this: Given our energy needs, in order to sustain economic growth and produce jobs and keep our businesses competitive, we're going to need to harness traditional sources of fuel even as we ramp up production of new sources of renewable, homegrown energy."
I've heard this same suggestion from several of my conservative friends and wonder if they will now give him credit for doing this. In fact, I'm really curious as to how they are going to spin this one. Drill Baby Drill has been their cry for awhile and now that he is actually doing it, how can they complain? I'm certain they will find a way.
While I wholeheartedly support all in roads to nuclear energy (in fact, I think efforts should be greater), I'm not sure I can get on board with him on this one. I'm sure he sees things that I don't (obviously) but Drill Baby Drill has always seemed to me, as Thomas Friedman said, like someone in the year 1994 screaming about the effectiveness of a typewriter. To me, drilling for oil around our coasts is a waste of time, money, and energy that could be put to use somewhere else.
I can't help but think that this new drilling will stymie our effort to keep ahead of China in the green energy race. I get the fact that we need to reduce our dependence on foreign oil but shouldn't that mean that our efforts should be doubled in wind, solar, and nuclear energy?
10 comments:
There is no need for me to spin anything. I asked for your thoughts and I got them. Couple small swipes directed at the "conservative reaction" (as if that has more weight than the policy itself).
What are the rest of you thinking?
And yet he addressed an issue which is something that you lament constantly on here that he does not do. Instead, you whined about swipes at conservatives. Sucks being you, don't it Markadelphia?
This shows again that Obama is leading from the middle. He has tried again and again to be bipartisan, and despite the treatment he's received he's still trying.
You really have to give him credit for doing things that make his strongest supporters mad. He's not just giving them raw meat, he's making a real attempt to be a leader for the whole country.
And this isn't new. Despite what many have been saying, the health care bill was middle of the road. As Obama noted recently, it wasn't much different than the law passed in Massachusetts under Mitt Romney.
Here's hoping that Republican leaders in Congress will reciprocate and support Obama's other energy proposals. If we don't start working together countries like China will, as the saying goes, eat our lunch. We don't have any time to waste bickering about nonsense.
Saying "I got them" was a compliment...and it wasn't "whining", it was pointing out the obvious.
Another thing I lament constantly on here is that there are too many chickenshits who only stop by to provide 1 line insults. Post your thoughts on the policy donald - nut up or shut up.
blk only talked about the political ramifications of supporting the policy but didn't talk about the policy itself.
China is not going to eat our lunch.
Blk said..
"Despite what many have been saying, the health care bill was middle of the road. As Obama noted recently, it wasn't much different than the law passed in Massachusetts under Mitt Romney."
Was that supposed to elicit some kind of proof that it was a good bill? Check the state of the "model" of health care: http://bit.ly/aFjv4z
The jist of that? It is destroying medical care in the state of Massadimwits AND is only still afloat because of massive propping up with federal funds. Nice plan eh? Now when the Federal system needs propping up, where they going to go - United Federation of Planets?
This plan was not middle of the road, it was a power grab masquerading as a plan. It isn't even a good plan which now that people are digging around in it, they are finding out how awful this piece of legislation is.
I will give credit where credit is due and Obama is heading in the right direction for energy policy from what little I have read. That said, it does nothing to counter balance the complete incompetence he is displaying in other areas.
I'll give credit to Obama, no problem. My only remaining question is how this will play in Congress and the federal courts where the tree-hugger contingent is well dug in. I just don't see Pelosi dragging this across the floor.
For all the worry about China going on...yes – China is growing at 10% GDP right now. They are desperate for growth right now because of the demographics of their country. Due to their 1 child policy, Chinas workforce will begin to decline in 2017 and unless they have a European-style welfare system in place they are going to have a lot of angry people over there because their population is aging and there will not be enough young workers over there to provide the social benefits that will be needed to ensure growth in their countries economic system. I’ve read both blk and Mark mention "if we could be more like China" several times on here. Myself, I’m not too worried. I remember our country thinking "if we could be more like Japan" in the 1980’s. Well, Japan has been in a recession for a long time and they are an old country who doesn’t allow immigration. You’ve all read about Europes debt problems...multiply those debt problems by 2 and you will have Japans problems...their debt is 2 times their GDP.
I’ll give him credit when the actions match the words. Sure the words made for a good middle-of-the-road soundbite on the surface but the truth is that none of this has been finalized and most new drilling will not occur until after 2012 at the earliest. All he did was announce plans to lift a 20-year moratorium on oil exploration and development in Atlantic coastal waters running from Virginia to Florida, as well as further activity off Florida’s Gulf Coast. In other words, before any drilling can occur, the Interior Department has to conduct seismic surveys...don’t move those rigs anywhere just yet fellas.
The ban on offshore drilling expired in September of 08 and within a month of taking office, Obamas Interior Secretary Ken Salazar halted leasing by extending the public comment period by six months. When that period ended last September, Interior said it would take "several weeks" to analyze the results. It has yet to release a summary of that analysis. Obamas interior department also canceled oil and gas leases on 77 parcels of federal land in Utah and Mr. Salazar also yanked eight parcels from a lease sale in Wyoming. Several weeks ago a leaked Interior Department memo disclosed plans to have Mr. Obama use executive power—under the Antiquities Act—to designate 10 million acres of western land as "monuments," putting them off-limits to energy development as well as current timber or mining work.
The Obama administration failed to meet a deadline last month for submitting a court-ordered analysis of the environmental impact of new leases off the Alaskan coast and in January of this year, Mr. Salazar rebuffed Virginia's request — endorsed by its governor and legislature — to allow drilling offshore.
Obamas FY 2011 budget proposal includes upwards of $36 billion in new oil and natural gas taxes, which will discourage domestic production.
It's all similar to his announcement on nuclear loan guarantees - Obama talked a good game, then eliminated funding for the only nuclear waste repository in the nation.
Sensing a pattern?
Allowing new leasing in selected offshore areas does not mean that actual drilling will occur. Each offshore tract that the administration proposes will no doubt fall victim to an array of court challenges and bureaucratic hangups, each of which will push back new offshore drilling even further. Plus if cap and trade passes, the EPA will have the right to deny carbon permits as they see fit.
You seasoned veteran political warriors should wonder how you can ban more areas to oil and gas exploration than you open up, delay the date of your new leases, and claim that’s going to increase production. Thus far, there is always some regulatory or legal hang-up that’s cited to keep any domestic energy production from moving forward.
Obama has a cap-and-trade bill stuck in the Senate that would disincentivize precisely this kind of exploration and production. Opening up the coastlines for oil and gas production will add a ton of jobs (a lot of them probably union Jobs) which probably looks good to an administration that has proven itself inept at creating private sector job creation and government revenue will boom at the state, local and federal level once drilling ever starts. Sure the environmentalists will be mad but where else are they going to vote?
Obama knows that those oil leases will never be drilled. Congress (controlled by the most radical elements of his own Party) will never allow it.
Radical elements? Dennis Kucinich and Bernie Sanders run Congress? Someone's barometer is a little off especially when you consider that people like Mark Warner are supporting this endeavor. As soon as Democrats see how much money is to be made, they'll fall in line.
Nice blog, Mark. Thanks for pointing me to it!
shane
Well someone found 2 words to disagree with. Of course Mark Warner supports it - he's a democrat from the state of Virginia...a state where 2/3 of the population - including Governor Bob McDonnell and virtually the entire Congressional delegation — support drilling offshore in the state’s waters. Obama’s plan would allow leasing off the coast of Virginia, but that’s about all. Fact is, the cap and trade bill is specifically designed to make carbon-based energy production a red-ink affair.
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