by Christi Parsons
President Barack Obama announced plans to expand off-shore drilling for oil and gas today, arguing that it is critical to the cause of energy independence and thus a matter of national and economic security.
Speaking before a military audience in a hangar at Andrews Air Force Base, the president said his administration will consider new areas for development in the mid- and south Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, while working to protect tourism and the environment in the process.
In particular, Obama said the government will support development of leased areas off the North Slope of Alaska, while protecting Alaska's Bristol Bay -- where plans to drill under the Bush administration infuriated environmentalists.
"There will be those who strongly disagree with this decision, including those who say we should not open any new areas to drilling," the president said. "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 home-grown fuels and clean energy."
The announcement represents Obama's first policy decision as president on this politically charged topic, and it is bound to ignite debate across the political spectrum. Energy executives and conservatives have pushed for an expansion of drilling since gasoline prices spiked in 2008, and today's news comes as consumers begin to register the effects of the latest rise in prices.
But environmentalists argue that more drilling could lead to oil spills and destruction of fragile ecosystems. Even as the president presses for comprehensive energy and climate legislation, the plans are likely to spark resistance among key supporters of the president's Democratic base.
Offering his case at this Air Force base, home of the presidential aircraft, Obama urged both sides of the debate to rethink the standing political battle lines on this issue.
He spoke on a podium in front of a Navy fighter jet that the Army and Marine Corps have been testing to run on a mixture of bio-fuels. Military officials say the so-called "Green Hornet'' could soon be the first plane to fly faster than the speed of sound on a fuel mix that is half-biomass.
Military leaders aren't seeking these alternative fuels just to protect the environment, Obama said, but are pursuing new energy sources in order to protect national security.
"This is not a decision that I've made lightly," Obama said. "But the bottom line is this: given our energy needs, in order to sustain economic growth, 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."
Comments
Hey Barack! Candidate Obama has some words for you...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8fkbEuCQss
Click!
Posted by: Killa Priest | March 31, 2010 12:13 PM
Big Oil that Cried WOLF Speak! Wah, Wah what what! Get out of here! We're back to $3.25 a gallon! We're back to being bigger than "Big Dairy" Big Energy! What! Stop the press! Stop the press! We got rid of 44 miles to the gallon! TOYOTA is in RETREAT! Stop the press! Get the Boehner on the line! Get Haley! Get Lindsey! Call Colo Solo Panama Canal (birthers) 1936 naturalized american soil born McCain. Get Senator David! Stop the press! He wants to drill! He wants to end our $3.50 a gallon just fo you GOP Generational Theft by Deception Oil Axis of Evil! Stop the press! This is an outrage! He's YOU LIE, brown skin, brown eye, YOU LIE! He's a "socialist, marxist, communist" Drill baby Drill! He's an appeaser! Stop the press! Stop the press!
Posted by: Roger Morris | March 31, 2010 12:53 PM
The Oil Slickster-in-Chief forgot about opening up the Left Coast to drilling. Hmmm... wonder how that happened. This is just a Trojan Horse for Cap-and-Trade.
Posted by: BOS | March 31, 2010 1:44 PM
Sounds realy Bushy to me!
Better start screaming little bill & donny. This cat in the White House is turning on your little guys big time!
Hopey Changey - really Bushy!
What did candidate Obama tell you to get your votes?? Hah! the jokes on you!
Posted by: springfield | March 31, 2010 2:40 PM
Obama's announcement not only reverses what he said during the campaign (yes, some people believed what he said!), it's a feint, a phony designed only to fool the credulous media.
GOP Rep. Mike Pence adds:
“As usual the devil is in the details. Only in Washington, D.C., can you ban more areas to oil and gas exploration than you open up, delay the date of your new leases and claim you’re going to increase production.
“The President’s announcement today is a smokescreen. It will almost certainly delay any new offshore exploration until at least 2012 and include only a fraction of the offshore resources that the previous Administration included in its plan.
“Unfortunately, this is yet another feeble attempt to gain votes for the President’s national energy tax bill that is languishing in the Senate. At the end of the day this Administration’s energy plan is simple: increase the cost of energy on every family in America and trade American jobs oversees at a time when millions of Americans are looking for work.”
Posted by: Equal time | March 31, 2010 3:50 PM
Must be Bush's fault.
Isn't Obama supposed to say that this won't do any good for 5-10 years, blah, blah, blah. And aren't we supposed to have windy solar greenies by now? California has been "concentrating" on green jobs for years and are churning out a whopping 3000 per year. The good news is that is will only take another 150 years for those green jobs to replace the millions lost by the environmental wackos.
Posted by: Free to Watch Liberals Meltdown | March 31, 2010 3:51 PM
Even a blind squirrel can sometimes find the acorn.
Paulo
Posted by: Paulo | March 31, 2010 6:09 PM
It was a bad idea for dat old white man but Barry know now that it ams a really good idea and all yall just be hatin
Posted by: LibTard | March 31, 2010 9:14 PM
Last weekend the NY Times reported on a "war game" exercise, a desktop war game, wherein Israel bombed Iran.
None of Iran's responses were happy reading.
Iran could sink ships in the straits, discommode pipelines and otherwise shut off a lot of the world's oil supply in retribution.
Also don't assume Iran did not have a hand in Monday's subway bombings in Moscow. That could have been Iran's work, to "send a message" as to what might happen in subways in NYC Chicaco DC etc....
Henry Kissinger said last summer "Obama plays chess".
I think the President is several moves ahead of everyone, probably including the Iranians and Israelis.
Glad he's on our side!
(Just teasing.)
PS: The Saudi Royal Family could be overthrown at any time just as the Shah of Iran was in 79. That, too, would prove the wisdom of the President's action today: Saudi oil would be controled by the Wahabis, not a happy prospect.....
Posted by: ornery | March 31, 2010 10:47 PM
Equal time, YOU HAVE NAILED IT. The Environmentalist tree nuts can chill. This is just another Mustapha Smoke and Mirrors show.
Mustapha went off to Afghanistan, and now he is back to being Mustapha ~ saying something that his fan club may consider so amazingly brilliant but actually does nothing even remotely related to his loopy drivel. He is one amazin’ magician. Those amazin’ Mets. They lost like 122 games in 1962. Simply amazin’.
One Swamp Socialist, here, is worried about the price of gasoline. Hey Amerika, if this economy ever comes out of its fetal position long enough to savor the abject darkness, the price of gasoline will easily approach $3.50 per gallon ~ U.S. If there were a fair market reaction to years of miserable democrat policies, it would be $6.50 per gallon ~ U.S. What’s it to you anyway???
Amerika, don’t worry about the price of gasoline. Youse got bigger problems than the price of some commodity that Liberals only have total contempt for. Something that Liberals would never appreciate as much as they do the $3.75 swill that Starbucks manufactures and dumps in a little made from petroleum, styrofoam cup for their daily, sanctimonious, pleasure. This is one terrible movie.
Posted by: Django - N Exile In/Around the 30th Parallel | April 1, 2010 3:16 AM
It was a bad idea for dat old white man but Barry know now that it ams a really good idea and all yall just be hatin
Posted by: LibTard | March 31, 2010 9:14 PM
Could you use a little more black inflection in your voice so we better understand your inbred feelings?
Posted by: bill r. | April 1, 2010 7:37 AM
Youse got bigger problems than the price of some commodity that Liberals only have total contempt for. Something that Liberals would never appreciate as much as they do the $3.75 swill that Starbucks manufactures and dumps in a little made from petroleum, styrofoam cup for their daily, sanctimonious, pleasure. This is one terrible movie.
A little dissapointed you picasso like brush strokes have grown to more of a spray painter. Of course we all have our Starbucks coffe cup that we discard on the side of the road. great example...it only lacks one item...fact. I can't actually ever remember buying a cup of Starbucks let alone throwing it away. But facts are a slippery slope to most. Is this where I ask if you throw your cup out of your 6 mile a gallon Hummer or Escalade?
Posted by: bill r. | April 1, 2010 12:53 PM
Mike Pence wants to run for Prez but can't get traction for some reason.
In fact none of them can get traction for some reason.
If they think Obama is "crowding them out" with his incredible schedule of events and speechs, just think what it would be like to actually CAMPAIGN against him.
Not a happy prospect.
They can still just concede the 2012 election now and save a lot of $$.
Which they could then spend on entertaining themselves at the Voyeur Nightclub......
Posted by: ornery | April 1, 2010 2:44 PM
Hey bill r, how the heck are u? It is cosmic that you would mention Picasso. I am trying to lock “Picasso’s Last Words” into my hard drive memory. Always a song here to be learned.
Bill r, Chrysler should place a plaque in some obscure place to honor me for all of the (mostly) fine Chryslers that I have purchased with American currency over the years. A Challenger may yet hook me again, but to be sure, I do have much, much, much bigger fish to fry in this moment, and this team of Socialists are certainly doing their part to counter Every move that I make, Every breath that I take. That song, I have already HD mapped ~ 3 key centers, G, C and Eb, then back to G.
Litter Not / Want Not. It’s when strange stuff continually gets shoved down the throat of lawful, respectful Americans, that you must expect the backlash reaction.
Obama condemned Bush and McCain for wanting to do more of this very same thing. What’s up with that? Did Obama suddenly have another revelation? Many Oil Industry jobs, that most rational folks would consider to be good jobs, in what most rational folks would probably consider as a critical industry, have been destroyed, for no real, good reason. I do take it personal.
We can only “hope” not, but there could surely come a day when America’s security is placed in serious jeopardy due to abjectly stupid energy policies, and there will NOT be any quick fix to be had. This administration is NOT serious about energy. It is just something there only to be taxed.
Posted by: Django - N Exile In/Around the 30th Parallel | April 1, 2010 2:52 PM
Bill that be racisms the R must be for Republican dont be hatin on Barry "Could you use a little more black inflection in your voice so we better understand your inbred feelings?
Posted by: bill r. | April 1, 2010 7:37 AM
Posted by: LibTard | April 2, 2010 10:17 AM
Posted by: bill r. | April 1, 2010 7:37 AM
Posted by: LibTard | April 2, 2010 10:17 AM
I know now a days it's hard to tell the difference between success and having the largest "Jack" in the yard or the largest blow-up Santa in the front of the doublewide, but it isn't the gold standard for education. There are programs even available for poor uneducated white people that one can use. I was wondering how many different dialects you actually do...do you do one for each minority threat? I recommend learning Mime for the uneducated as it could only improve your posts.
Posted by: bill r. | April 3, 2010 2:13 PM