Offshore Oil Drilling

The President's recent call to lift the ban on offshore oil drilling is nonsense on stilts and another example of selling a simple answer to a complex issue and ignoring the concequences of the action to our country's environmental and economic health.  In fact this idea is wrong on so many levels I am not even sure I can count them all.

1.  Too little too late.  The amount of drilling we are talking about will not ease pain at the pump for decades and even then the price cuts will be in the pennies range.

2.  Lack of Leadership.  A true leader would recognize that the end of the fossil fuel age is near and stop diddling around with stop-gap and ineffective measures.  That leader would lead us into the next energy age rather than keep us wallowing in this more than a century old technology.  Along with the environmental consequences of holding this course, how are we going to stay competitive economically if we lag behind other countries in renewable energy and conservation.

3.  Global warming.  Did we just toss this concept out the window?  Why do we want to continue down a fossil fuel path when it is clearly going to lead to catastrophic consequences.  Here again the President should not be packing us off to Hell in a Handbasket and looking to make sure that out trip there is swift and certain.

4. The Swallows at Capistrano.  I looking forward to a time when Americans get wise to the summer cycle of higher and higher gas prices being used as an excuse and Congressional leverage to gain access to some of our most precious and pristine natural resources.  We should be dupes to this no longer.

 That is all I have this AM but I suspect that others will chime in with their own takes.  Both those who oppose the drill and want us to get over our oil infatuation as soon as possible and those who want to cling to the old even in the face of dire consequences.  And  that is the beauty of Greenopolis--all voices can be heard.