"Drill Baby Drill!" Is no longer the rallying cry of the Republican party but rather the Democrats, after President Barack Obama announced a new plan earlier today that would eliminate a decades-old ban on oil and gas drilling along much of America's coastal lines. The decision to drill along the American coast is part of a new bi-partisan effort by the president to win support for a energy and climate bill. The policy change will allow drilling as close as 50 miles to the Virginia shore, and end a longstanding moratorium on drilling from Delaware to central Florida. Exploration would also be expanded in the Gulf of Mexico, including opening up regions in north Alaska.
"There will be those who strongly disagree with this decision," Obama said during a speech at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. "But what I want to emphasize is that this announcement is part of a broader strategy that will move us from an economy that runs on fossil fuels and foreign oil to one that relies more on homegrown fuels and clean energy."
The U.S. Atlantic coast is estimated to hold as much as 37 trillion cubic feet of gas and four billion barrels of oil, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
While this is a major blow to liberals who have fought against such offshore drilling for decades, including yours truly, on the bright side the legislation is not intended to take effect for decades and will also forbid drilling in Alaska's Bristol Bay region (National Wildlife Refuge) and will uphold a moratorium on drilling off the West Coast.
This maneuver is obviously aimed at bringing on Republicans to help pass the president's highly coveted energy and climate bill. The president had hinted at such a move during his State of the Union address, but now that it could become a reality it holds a little more cache for the base of the party that has stood against such actions for decades. While it's extremely disappointing to hear of this decision, I do think the president is just trying to compromise while passing a bill he believes will help make us more energy independent and safeguard the environment for the future. While the president defends the decision as a sensible step towards energy independence, there is no way that we can drill our way out of the mess we currently find ourselves in - especially considering the coastal reserves only amount to two percent of the world's oil, while Americans consume 20 percent of world's oil each year.
Obama's speech did, however, include provisions meant to satisfy environmental groups, as The Environmental Protection Agency and the Transportation Department is finalizing increased fuel efficiency standards on new cars. The president also announced the addition of hybrid vehicles for government use that the U.S. military is currently developing. And most importantly the bill includes caps on carbon emissions, which many environmental groups believe is the key to slowing global warming.
"Already, we've made the largest investment in clean energy in our nation’s history," Obama said. "It's an investment that’s expected to create or save more than 700,000 jobs across America: jobs manufacturing advanced batteries for more efficient vehicles, upgrading the power grid so that it’s smarter and stronger, and doubling our nation’s capacity to generate renewable electricity from sources like the wind and the sun."
Republican Senator Mitch McConnell has said in the past that if the president would consider offshore drilling then the party could be open to working with him on his energy bill. Still one has to worry that once the coasts have been open to drilling, what will stop future Republican leaders from attempting to open up all of our coastal lines to the rich oil companies. While I support the health care bill because it does make health care a right and not a privilege for Americans, it was in the end a gift to the health insurance companies. And while I am in strong support of an energy bill, as I view it as not only protecting our environment for future generations but a way to make America a global super power for decades to come, I am very concerned about the power this puts in the hands of oil companies and future Republican administrations. It is just sad that liberals continue to have to make concessions on their core beliefs in order to motivate Republicans and moderate Democrats to move this country forward.
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