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Obama’s Got A Strong Vision for Energy. He Just Needs To Stick With It. |
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After admitting over the weekend that he is willing to compromise on offshore drilling, Obama gave a major energy policy speech on Monday. His vision includes a number of methods beyond offshore for boosting domestic oil supplies:
We should start by telling the oil companies to drill on the 68 million acres they currently have access to but haven’t touched. And if they don’t, we should require them to give up their leases to someone who will. We should invest in the technology that can help us recover more from existing oil fields, and speed up the process of recovering oil and gas resources in shale formations in Montana and North Dakota; Texas and Arkansas and in parts of the West and Central Gulf of Mexico.
We should sell 70 million barrels of oil from our Strategic Petroleum Reserve for less expensive crude, which in the past has lowered gas prices within two weeks. Over the next five years, we should also lease more of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska for oil and gas production. And we should also tap more of our substantial natural gas reserves and work with the Canadian government to finally build the Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline, delivering clean natural gas and creating good jobs in the process.
Unfortunately, Obama did not relate any of the permanent environmental consequences that might come from these efforts, even though he did concede that they were far from being lasting solutions.
The truth is, none of these steps will come close to seriously reducing our energy dependence in the long-term. We simply cannot pretend, as Senator McCain does, that we can drill our way out of this problem. We need a much bolder and much bigger set of solutions. We have to make a serious, nationwide commitment to developing new sources of energy and we have to do it right away.
At this point, he’s starting to show some sound leadership, moving away from policy details and temporary political considerations toward the type of broader challenge and inspiration that America needs:
Breaking our oil addiction is one of the greatest challenges our generation will ever face. It will take nothing less than a complete transformation of our economy.
Energy independence will require an all-hands-on-deck effort from America — effort from our scientists and entrepreneurs; from businesses and from every American citizen.
Obama then lists several goals for us to shoot for, such as driving 150 mpg hybrids, doubling the amount of renewable energy we use, and decreasing electricity demand by 15% - all backed by the following words of reassurance:
I know we can do this. We can do this because we are Americans. We do the improbable. We beat great odds. We rally together to meet whatever challenge stands in our way. That’s what we’ve always done — and it’s what we must do now. For the sake of our economy, our security, and the future of our planet, we must end the age of oil in our time.
All in all, it was a very good speech. Obama was sensitive to both the immediate economic crunch and the long-term realities of our changing world. There are many technical questions yet to be answered, but those will be worked out in due time. Presidential campaigns should be more about vision than policy details, anyway.
Which makes me wonder why Obama feels it necessary to talk about compromise on offshore drilling. He can’t tell us on the one hand that something is a rotten idea, but then on the other say that it might be OK to do. He calls it “not wanting to make perfect the enemy of good.” This would make sense were he on the floor of the Senate trying to get an energy bill passed. But Obama is on the campaign trail.
First and foremost, we need to know what he believes and that he won’t back down in the face of political pressure. Let the 98 Senators who are not running for president worry about compromise. This reversal makes it look like McCain has been right about drilling and that Obama has finally seen the light, which couldn’t be further from the truth.
Nonetheless, kudos to Obama for stepping up and saying many things about energy that need to be said.
“Which makes me wonder why Obama feels it necessary to talk about compromise on offshore drilling. He can’t tell us on the one hand that something is a rotten idea, but then on the other say that it might be OK to do. He calls it “not wanting to make perfect the enemy of good.” This would make sense were he on the floor of the Senate trying to get an energy bill passed. But Obama is on the campaign trail.”
I agree with this. He seems to be using the shotgun strategy by introducing a very diverse plan and hoping some elements resonate. My take on the plan is coming in a few hours.
Not only that, he’s created interference for his own message. Instead of just sounding like a visionary leader, he’s given the media an easier sound bite for their typical feeding frenzy, and that is that he has “flipped” or “compromised” on offshore drilling. Instead of contrasting Obama’s vision of the future with McCain’s retread of the past, we are arguing who wants to drill more and who wanted to drill first. . . or perhaps even more in line with the tedious narrative, we now, again, have to hear more about how Obama is tacking right for the general election.
It is not just a shame, it is a messaging disaster. The Obama campaign needs to learn from this going forward–not just for the sake of the campaign, but for the sake of his effectiveness as a president.
Agree completely. The fact is, nothing he does to move right on this issue will prevent the right and the media from nailing him mercilessly. By flipping on offshore drilling and tapping the strategic reserve, he only hurts himself.