Obama's Coastal Drilling Plan

by Faiz Shakir, Amanda Terkel, Matt Corley, Benjamin Armbruster, Zaid Jilani, Igor Volsky, and Alex Seitz-Wald

President Obama has made comprehensive energy reform a key issue of his presidency, with massive investments in clean energy, initial efforts to confront climate change, and a commitment to "ending our addiction to foreign oil." Our nation's dependence on oil -- the United States consumes over 20 percent of world production -- causes 10,000 deaths a year from air pollution, acidifies the oceans, and disrupts our climate, while sending billions of dollars to unfriendly regimes. Yesterday, Obama announced a sweeping new offshore drilling policy, opening "vast expanses of water along the Atlantic coastline, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and the north coast of Alaska to oil and natural gas drilling" for the first time in 25 years. This plan would also restore the ban on drilling in Alaska's Bristol Bay, the West Coast, and the East Coast north of Delaware, which Congress lifted in 2008 after former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich's "Drill Here, Drill Now" campaign. In the beginning of August 2008, Obama dropped his "blanket opposition to expanded offshore drilling," saying that he would be willing "to compromise in terms of a careful, well thought-out drilling strategy that was carefully circumscribed to avoid significant environmental damage" in order to get Republican votes for comprehensive climate and energy reform. The New York Times writes that his announcement confronts the "essential political reality" that "the Senate will insist on offshore drilling as part of a broader bill, expected after Easter, addressing climate change and other energy-related problems." Many political analysts, however, wonder why the President chose to announce this drilling expansion now, as "any price is too high a price to pay in exchange for nothing at all."

WHAT'S THE PAYOFF?: An expansion in offshore drilling leases, the Energy Information Administration has found, will have no effect on gas prices or dependence on foreign oil for decades. As then-senator Obama noted in 2005, "We could open up every square inch of America to drilling and we still wouldn't even make a dent in our oil dependency." Neither will it increase jobs, as oil companies aren't really interested in new drilling -- they are already sitting on existing leases instead of drilling them, in order to inflate their bottom lines by claiming the value of leased oil reserves as an asset. "Before oil companies drill off thousands of miles of pristine coastline, they should first use the thousands of drilling leases they already own," said Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA), chair of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. Furthermore, a Center for American Progress study has found that money invested in offshore oil drilling would create three times as many jobs if the same amount of money were instead invested in renewables, but Big Oil refuses to make serious investments in clean energy. Obama's plan has dismayed environmentalists, youth activists, progressive commentators, and Democratic politicians who oppose expanded offshore drilling, especially without an established plan to halt global warming. "It would in my mind be more confidence building to have this as part of the final agreement rather than the opening discussion," said Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA).

PLAN SPLITS THE RIGHT: Most conservatives have thus far indicated that they are unwilling to compromise in exchange for the administration's lifting of offshore oil drilling bans. House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) immediately "dismissed the president's plan as not going far enough in opening up U.S. waters for exploration," going so far as to accuse Obama of defying "the will of the American people." Chairman of the House Republican Conference and the American Energy Solutions Group Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) derided the plan as a "smokescreen" and a "feeble attempt to gain votes" for comprehensive energy legislation. David Koch's Americans for Prosperity Vice President Phil Kerpen said "the idea that this is a big concession in exchange for which Congress should jumpstart climate legislation is ridiculous." Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin mocked the plan as "Stall, Baby, Stall," saying it's "an effort to shore up fading support for the Democrats' job-killing cap-and-trade (a.k.a. cap-and-tax) proposals." However, the "oil industry, business groups and some Republicans offered muted support for the proposal." Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) called it a "step in the right direction," Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) "welcome[s] the President's decision," and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) agreed that it was a "good first step," but all said there should be fewer restrictions and more subsidies for drilling than the president proposed.

CALLING THE 'ALL OF THE ABOVE' BLUFF: Obama's drilling announcement yesterday is coupled with the finalization today of a "historic agreement to raise fuel economy standards in cars and trucks" -- the first major increase in decades and the first to recognize global warming pollution. These standards will save 1.8 billion barrels of oil starting in 2012, long before any new offshore drilling could even start producing oil. Obama's moves reflect his "comprehensive view of our energy policy," and his drilling announcement pleased senators like Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), chairman of the Senate Energy Committee, and Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), who called it "good news and a positive step forward as we work to expand our nation's domestic energy production." Politicians on both sides of the aisle have long said they support an "all of the above" approach, language first promoted by Gingrich and House Republicans. Senators like Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), Richard Shelby (R-AL), Jim Inhofe (R-OK), Mark Udall (D-CO), Bob Bennett (R-UT), Byron Dorgan (D-ND), John Barrasso (R-WY), and Richard Lugar (R-IN) claim to support an "all of the above" energy policy. The Obama administration is now delivering on that policy, with an "all of the above" plan that includes support for renewables, efficiency, nuclear power, offshore drilling, and advanced coal technology -- coupled with a price on carbon pollution that limits greenhouse gases and provides revenue for clean investment. President Obama has called the bluff of the all-of-the-abovers now, as he pushes for energy reform that cuts global warming pollution -- the only true "all of the above" approach. There's little reason to believe many Republicans are interested in working with the President, however, conservative strategist Dan Bartlett said yesterday. "Now, do I think that this measure here will help grease the path for a climate change bill and bring Republicans on board? No. Republicans in the Congress have made a calculation that cooperating with this administration at this time is not necessary for them to pick up seats." When Sens. John Kerry (D-MA), Joe Lieberman (I-CT), and Graham unveil all-of-the-above climate legislation this month, we will find out who wants "all of the above," or who just wants all of the pollution.