The Obama administration is proposing to open vast expanses of water along the Atlantic coastline, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and the north coast of Alaska to oil and natural gas drilling, much of it for the first time, officials said Tuesday.
I'll go along with this if the president agrees to allow oil rigs to be constructed along the coast of Martha's Vineyard. See how well that goes.
This is a bad, bad, bad idea. Arguably his worst policy proposal since clean coal. All of our energy dollars should be going towards innovation -- not this huge step back in time.
We could install photovoltaic solar panels (for electricity) in 4,000 homes for the cost of a single oil spill cleanup. (Based on this number and this number.) But whatever -- let's go with the "drill baby drill" nonsense from the same convention that used community organizing as a racist dog whistle.
Adding... Benen asks:
My confusion, then, is over the administration's negotiating tactics. In February, the president cleared the way for the first new U.S. nuclear power plants in more than 30 years. Today, the president will reportedly open up new opportunities for coastal drilling.
In other words, Obama has already effectively given Republicans what they wanted on energy. What is he getting in return?
I wonder if the Republicans will suddenly oppose nuclear power plants and offshore drilling.