Offshore Oil Drilling

Nancy Pelosi told Larry King last night that she is now open to a vote on offshore drilling. Typical spineless Democrat, always giving into the bullying by Republicans.

When I heard that Bush wasn't backing the House GOP's latest stunt to try to get Congress back in session, something didn't seem right. Now it makes sense. House leaders are pissed at Bush, or so they want us to think. This provides a nice way for the GOP to distance itself from Bush just before the election.

What if Congress went ahead and allowed offshore drilling, but with some provisions. For example, the government now dictates where the oil goes that we drill up. Also the price on that oil is set by the government. In other words, we tell the oil companies they can drill in this land, but there are strict provisions on it.

I got a feeling the GOP would block that, but why? It does what they claim (getting us better supply), and it helps protect the American people. I just don't think the oil companies should be allowed to destroy our environment and then export it at our costs. Oil and refinement exports continue to rise at a record rate in this country, so the whole supply thing is rather moot, but I think someone should throw this idea out to the Republicans and see how quickly they shoot it down.

PS - I still strongly oppose offshore drilling. It will not work, but if people want to buy into this fairy tale the Republicans are spinning, then go ahead and give them an offer with stipulations.

In his radio address yesterday, Bush did more of the "blaming Democrats" for the high oil prices, through their rejection of lifting the offshore drilling ban:

First, we should expand American oil production by increasing access to the Outer Continental Shelf, or OCS. Experts believe that the OCS could produce enough oil to match America's current production for almost ten years. The problem is that Congress has restricted access to key parts of the OCS since the early 1980s. So I've called on the House and Senate to lift this legislative ban and give states the option of opening up OCS resources off their shores while protecting the environment. There's also an executive prohibition on exploration in the OCS, which I will lift when Congress lifts the legislative ban.

Here's what the right-wing Wall Street Journal said about it this past week:

Mr. Bush argued that leaving most of America’s immense offshore oil-and-gas resources off-limits was “outdated and counterproductive,” and he called on Congress to end its quarter-century ban. Fair enough. But the ban actually has two components, one of which is a 1990 executive order; like launching a warhead, both keys must be turned. Mr. Bush said he would only turn his after Congress did.

Catch that? There are actually two bans in place. The one Bush conveniently fails to mention is the 1990 Presidential ban put in place by his father. Funny how that works. Even right wing bloggers like Malkin are calling Bush's bluff on this.

Bush also called for opening up ANWR in his radio address. I already posted about the huge savings we would see with that earlier this week. Yes we can see a $0.02 savings per gallon by 2025 if we start drilling in ANWR. What a great help that would be!