Obama and offshore drilling

Listen, I’m no Obama ass-kisser. When he does something stupid, I call him on it. Just recently I found myself a little perplexed at his changing opinion on the Florida and Michigan delegates. But I’m tired of hearing about his “offshore drilling flip-flop”. It ain’t one, and not only that but he brings up a good point.

“My interest is in making sure we’ve got the kind of comprehensive energy policy that can bring down gas prices,” Obama told The Palm Beach Post in Florida on Friday.

“If, in order to get that passed, we have to compromise in terms of a careful, well thought-out drilling strategy that was carefully circumscribed to avoid significant environmental damage — I don’t want to be so rigid that we can’t get something done.”

Listen. There are two reasons offshore drilling is bad, both of which I’ve gone into myself. One is that it’s bad for the environment, the other is that it’s like giving extra booze to an alcoholic when he gets a hangover.

Sometimes it’s the messenger that gives meaning to the message. If a priest says “give me your money”, you’ll likely react differently than if a bum does.

That’s my point here. One thing we know about Barack Obama is that he does not think we can just keep going with oil as long as we want to. He’s not beholden to Big Oil, and this is not the kind of stance he would take because it’ll satisfy our oil greed and give us some instant gratification.

One thing that offshore drilling could certainly do, if environmentally safe, would be to remove our reliance on foreign oil. If we can lower our reliance on oil in general and open up drilling in the United States, it can eliminate foreign oil and make our transition a little smoother by getting our balls out of OPEC’s hand.

Before I’m accused of hypocrisy myself, consider the perceived difference between handing a scalpel to a doctor and handing one to a pissed off child. The instrument hasn’t changed, but don’t you trust one more with it?