So Does Obama Still Drill, Baby, Drill?
EmailLate tonight, the first oil from the massive Gulf of Mexico spill washed ashore in Louisiana in what may be the worst oil disaster since the Exxon Valdez. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal has declared a state of emergency and requested funding for National Guard troops. British Petroleum has not been able to plug three leaks in the sunken Deepwater Horizon rig, now gushing 5,000 barrels of oil a day. Some four hundred animal species and more than 300 miles of coastline are threatened. The White House, which just one month ago announced an energy plan that would end the 20-year moratorium on drilling off the Atlantic coast, has ramped up its rhetoric, response and oversight of BP. So tonight, we ask you: Is this oil disaster enough to make President Obama reconsider that decision? Tell us what you think. ——————– UPDATE: This morning, White House senior advisor David Axelrod told "GMA" anchor George Stephanopoulos that the administration has put new drilling on hold until more is known about the current Gulf disaster.
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Yes learn from this and continue on, America must learn to find their own oil sources.
Posted by: Jackie Stinson | April 30, 2010, 12:15 am 12:15 am
It’s unfathomable why Obama announced this policy in the first place, so in contrast to the platform he ran on and the environment ideals he had professed. This disaster is a tragic but timely reminder to the President that oil drilling inherently carries risks of catastrophe.
Posted by: Robert K S | April 30, 2010, 12:16 am 12:16 am
Sure doesn’t look like-Drill Baby Drill is a mantra Obama could endorse without allot of criticism. It is hard to fathom that since the Exxon Valdez incident- the government hasn’t asserted any laws and controls over the Oil Industry to contain this type of accident-or maybe they just ignore the law-some folks from BP should go to Prison for this one-for a long long time.
Posted by: RMS | April 30, 2010, 12:24 am 12:24 am
Drop this energy plan immediately and YES. Devise a new plan that will protect the environment. It seems that we forget the food chain and the circle of life. We are all inter-connected. What effects one being effects the other- eventually.
If we are completely selfish and have no care for the earth and wildlife- at least have a care for all- not just the oil companies. This disaster effects multiple fishing businesses.
Posted by: Faith | April 30, 2010, 12:30 am 12:30 am
I voted for Obama fully aware of his inexperience, but endorsing his plan of hope for the future. He is an intelligent, thoughtful and careful person. How he approaches problems is his strength. He inherited many more and much more severe problems than most presidents ever have to confront. Further,the colossal economic melt down was without any proven ways to effectevly counteract. No one of either party knew a ‘right’ approach. However, I feel he has made a great error in proposing more offshore drilling. The current ecological disaster is further proof of our inability to chase oil reserves wherever they may be and still protect our environment. I liken controlling and cleaning oil spills and disasterous leaks to the similar problem of handling the spent fuel from nuclear energy. Until these serious problems are solved and businesses held accountable for having effective rapid response programs in place, we should be using more ecologically friendly methods to generate energy.
Posted by: Barry Konigsford | April 30, 2010, 12:31 am 12:31 am
NO offshore drilling …guess the tax payer is paying for this too …
Exxon has never paid for the Valdez!
So much for campaign promises.
Posted by: Susan K | April 30, 2010, 12:31 am 12:31 am
Amen to “Robert KS”! I saw red when Obama reversed the platform he ran on concerning oil drilling and especially drilling off the NC, SC, GA and FL coast. (I live in SC.)Does our President have any idea how precious and sensitive these coastlines are? It is following a fool’s pathway to even consider drilling in these areas. What happened to saving the environment through alternative sources of energy?
Posted by: Jim K | April 30, 2010, 12:46 am 12:46 am
It’s time to take a stand. The oil companies will lie and say anything to pacify the concerned public. They claim drilling is safer now than in the past, and lead people to believe that they have learned their lesson from the Exxon Valdez. NO ADDITIONAL DRILLING OFF THE COAST! President Obama is smart and should reconsider. He would be criticized for changing his mind, but if any president had the courage to do this it is definitely him.
Posted by: Greg N | April 30, 2010, 12:57 am 12:57 am
I heard some people this week say the accident was no accident but a way to stop the drilling. I sure hope for the sake of the 11 men missing and the animals it is going to affect, that this is not the case.
Keep drilling is my opinion
Posted by: Ilene | April 30, 2010, 12:58 am 12:58 am
It is unfathomable that we are spending ours and our children’s national wealth in the Middle East to protect the security of our Nation’s lifeblood (oil) while prohibiting drilling and producing the huge reserves in and around our country as demonstrated by this new discovery. The rig fire is an anomaly and should not be held out as something to expect in the future. If we do not use our resources now we will become a third world country, depending on others.
Until the Green technologies are competitive we must continue as a fossil fuel society while perhaps offering incentives for developing the new energy sources.
Posted by: Jim Crisman | April 30, 2010, 1:10 am 1:10 am
In the last month, we have witnessed two fossil fuels disasters. Between the Massey coal mining tragedy and the Gulf Oil tragedy, when are we going to say enough is enough? Have you ever heard of a wind or solar energy spill? It’s time that we admit our current energy mix is killing our workers and destroying our planet. Do we have the will to speak truth to the powerful oil and coal industries?
Posted by: Jeff | April 30, 2010, 1:11 am 1:11 am
Obama’s Administration has abandoned almost every campaign promise and has reversed just about every position he took to win over the left. As someone who once CAMPAIGNED for this haircut-of-a-person, the timing of this oil disaster could not have been more perfect. Of course, it is tragic. But, also OF COURSE, it was NOT surprising.
Posted by: Chan Holiday | April 30, 2010, 1:14 am 1:14 am
The lesson we learned from this disaster is that oil is just as damaging today as it was 20 years ago when the Exxon Valdez spilled it’s guts into the Alaskan waters.
It’s easy for us to be lulled into thinking that somehow oil exploration is safer today than it was back then. At least that’s what oil execs and proponents would have us believe.
That is ..until last week.
Truth is, when you are sucking oil out of the ground up through a mile long straw running up through the ocean….accidents are waiting to happen.
Posted by: Norris Hall | April 30, 2010, 2:07 am 2:07 am
The risks of continuing a drill baby drill policy far outweigh the benefits. The risks are an environmental catastrophe which include people and animals getting killed along with several other industries such as fishing being destroyed. The benefits are only a small amount of oil that would go on the open market which would have almost no effect on price. If job creation is why drill baby drill was even considered in the first place … then jobs can be created through renewable energy instead.
Posted by: Petra Meyer | April 30, 2010, 2:49 am 2:49 am
Let us a take a moment to witness some facts.
1. The politicians are powerless to fix this.
2. The politicians have don’t have an energy plan.
3. The politicians don’t tell the truth.
4. Physics doesn’t care about a politicians stories, or rhetoric.
Posted by: Daniel Swanson | April 30, 2010, 5:06 am 5:06 am
When Pres. Obama announced he would allow new drilling in areas of the ocean that were set aside to be protected and conserved, now curiosly seems to have conjured an environmental catastrophe. I hope he will see this as a sign. If he does allow the decision to stay in effect he is not the wise and enlightened man we hoped he was, and it would prove that he is really just another champion for corporate America.
Posted by: Katherine | April 30, 2010, 6:04 am 6:04 am
Thanks Mr. President for pushing green energy. I’m sorry, in your attempt to be bipartisan, you bowed to Republican pressure to expand off-shore drilling. Obviously that’s a mistake. Now if only the Republicans and the rest of the fools who think we can pollute our planet as much as we want were forced to go swimming in LA waters
Posted by: Bryan Miller | April 30, 2010, 9:25 am 9:25 am
Let’s not be stupid this time. Of course, Obama should still drill as fast as it can be done. I lived through the first oil rig blowout in Santa Barbara in 1969. There has always been natural seepage off Coal Oil Point in the Santa Barbara Channel. This always blackened the beaches. Since drilling was resumed and increased in the Channel, the pressure that causes the natural seepage has been gradually diminishing and eventually there will be no natural seepage, because the oil will be gone. So, the drilling has been a good thing.
So, the point is this. In the Gulf of Mexico, an earthquake or other natural force could open up a fissure on the Gulf floor at any time the dumps so much oil in the gulf that it kills everything. So aggressive drilling is a good thing, to get the oil out before a major natural calamity occurs. It also buys us some time on meeting our energy needs, so that we will have time to get a large fleet of new nuclear plants built–another program that Kingpin Obama and his gang should be pursuing aggressively.
Posted by: Proud Native American and Angry Independent Voter | April 30, 2010, 12:00 pm 12:00 pm
It was dumb for Obama to reverse policy on off-shore drilling but he shouldn’t be blamed for the policy. It was an attempt to be conciliatory in a highly partisan environment. By placating republicans pushing for more drilling he hoped to win their support for other progressive measures. His mistake was trying to work with them. Hopefully he’s learned that’s always a bad idea.
Posted by: Outside Observer | April 30, 2010, 3:06 pm 3:06 pm
Total madness. It takes nature forever to create these pristine environments and in one day, the oil rig destroys them, because …ooops, I thought the drill was safe … “we drill, we spill, then kill” … great motto for the USA. Obama pay heed to the Gulf of Mexico, you are too educated to miss this opportunity to change that directive to open up morte drilling. What happened to getting off our addiction to oil?
Posted by: DR D A HANSON | May 1, 2010, 4:30 am 4:30 am
While this oil leak was the fault of BP, it is a rarity. Obama’s response was typical: blame the private sector for producing energy, and shut down new drilling in the Gulf. Well, I hope Obama has a substitute energy source on hand to replace oil and gas. Otherwise, we could have $5 a gallon gasoline by year’s end, just in time for the midterm elections. Your actions do have consequences, Mr. President.
Posted by: Devlin | May 1, 2010, 9:39 am 9:39 am