Bush III Says, “Drill Baby Drill!”
March 31, 2010 By: Kvatch Category: Energy, Environment, Politics, Texas
In a move that will be remembered for its stunning level of cynical political calculation, the Obama administration has stated that it will restart oil exploration and drilling in the eastern Gulf, in the mid-Atlantic, and off of Alaska. For those of you who may have forgotten, Bu$hCo did exactly the same thing on the cusp of the 2004 election except back then it was California and the Pacific Northwest that were going to be “re-opened” to oil exploration, ending almost 30 years of California having the final say over drilling off its coasts.
Now, setting aside issues of whether or not the US needs more oil, and focusing solely on the politics of this policy move, consider the states most affected by Bush III’s decision: Alaska, Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida. All are states that Obama can probably afford to lose in the next election. In fact, with the exception of Florida, there’s little chance he’d carry any of them. So why not tell the citizens of these states to “go f*ck themselves”. It’s not like you’ll lose any electors over it, right?
Way to go “Third”! Yes we can…screw the Red States, further f*ck up the environment, retard America’s movement toward a more energy-efficient, more sustainable society, and scratch the Big Oil’s back…all at the same time!
March 31st, 2010 at 6:05 pm
What the hell happened to all the “green energy” jobs we were supposed to be getting? Why is the answer always more freaking oil?
March 31st, 2010 at 9:24 pm
In Florida, Texas and Louisiana, it might win him a few votes.
April 1st, 2010 at 7:13 am
Why is the answer always more freaking oil?
Prof. Chaos… Millions of dollars of campaign contributions and lobbying money?
Holte… Certainly Rick Perry will cheer this move.
April 1st, 2010 at 8:39 am
You’re not being very pragmatic! 72-dimensional chess, just you wait and see, for once the proceeds from these rich pools of oil are used to create green jobs, extraterrestrials who have been monitoring us for years will finally land to give us are reward of magically renewable and toxin-free energy.
April 1st, 2010 at 12:09 pm
The oil that might come from this will not even dent the need, and I can’t imagine Obama doing this as a gesture of good will to win GOP votes for an energy bill. He’s bright enough to have learned the futility of that by now. This must be a response to a deal. He needs to come clean about what he is receiving, or has received in trade for this.
April 1st, 2010 at 1:58 pm
Randal… Or perhaps the extraterrestrials are just waiting till we choke ourselves to death so they can come in and take over unopposed?
TomCat… A year ago I would have said that this is out of character, but no more. The more we get of Obama, the more I think that he’s just another tool.
April 1st, 2010 at 6:13 pm
[…] A centerpiece of BOIL’M is the so-called ‘play-or-pay’ requirement mandating that all Americans buy a minimum amount of gasoline per month or pay a set of government fines that will increase yearly through 2020. Americans who don’t own cars will not be exempt from ‘play-or-pay’ on the assumption that it will encourage them to “do the right thing”. The administration has stated that these mandates are necessary to ensure that, “…we use all the new oil we’re going to get from drilling the crap out of the Gulf and Atlantic“. […]
April 1st, 2010 at 11:47 pm
That’s an intriguing take on something that seems hard to explain. I’m not sure I agree that this is what’s going on, but it’s worth keeping an eye out for.
One possibility that occurred to me after I posted on it is that Obama might be trying to get out ahead of what I foresee as an inevitable jump in imported oil (and thus gasoline) prices once the economy recovers. Oil producers and/or speculators have tried a couple of times to jack up prices, only to have to back off because consumers are far more price sensitive than usual. For one thing, so many of them don’t have jobs to commute to, thanks to the recession, so they can stay home and save on gas costs, or use public transportation more, where available.
When the economic situation improves a lot and fuel prices rise, Obama can say, “We’re doing our best to reduce costly imports by increasing domestic supply. So, while prices are going up, they’re not as bad as they could be.”
April 4th, 2010 at 12:08 pm
S.W. Anderson: Thanks for the laugh. Barack Bush is just bought and paid for by Big Oil.