“…what wouldn’t do a thing to lower gas prices is … to open up Florida’s coastline to Offshore drilling. it would have long-term consequences to our coastlines but no short term benefits since it would take at least 10 years to get any oil… it will take a generation to reach full production and even then the effect on gas prices will be minimal at best” Candidate Obama – June 20, 2008 – Jacksonville, FL.
Young people from Florida changed the course of history when they delivered their state to President Obama in the 2008 elections. They worked hard, knocked on doors, called reluctant family members, all in an effort to elect the candidate that spoke those words. Well, after a year and a half spent doing some really great (but woefully insufficient) things to move us towards a clean energy economy, seems like the President is turning his back on the wise words he spoke on his campaign.
“Today we are announcing the the expansion of offshore oil and gas exploration, but in ways that balance the need to harness domestic energy resources and the need to protect America’s Natural resources… the only way this transition [to domestic fuels] will succeed is if it strengthens our economy in the short run and in the long run”
Many progressive bloggers already challenged the President’s assumption that opening up the Outer Continental Shelf to oil drilling would be politically (or economically) smart, but few provided alternative strategies to drastically, quickly, and efficiently achieving the stated goals of the President’s new initiative.
Making efficient cars more accessible to the general public is something the administration is already doing great work on. In addition to today’s announcement about doubling the efficiency of the Federal Government’s auto fleet (spoken as a sidenote to the oil drilling expansion), the Obama administration also enacted stricter greenhouse gas limits to newly built car emissions.
Another place where the Obama administration has been doing good work is in creating incentives for our local governments to reduce our communities’ dependence on cars. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood has been an outspoken supporter of increasing funding for public transit and multi-use infrastructure that accommodates both pedestrians and bikes and will certainly be a strong force to shift some of the highway funding towards low-carbon alternatives. Check out this table compiled by Sam Haffner, the Transportation Policy Analyst at 1000 Friends (data based on Oregon’s bus, rail and biking infrastructure):
| CO2/mile | Infrastructure: $60 Million gets |
Annual user cost | Calories burned/hr | |
| Driving | 1 lbs | 1 mi – urban freeway | ~ $6,320 | 170 |
| Bus Rapid Transit | 0.17- 0.71 lbs | 10 mi -bus rapid transit | ~ $300-825 | 350 walking to stop 84 sitting |
| Light Rail | 0.44 lbs | 2 mi -light rail | ~ $825 | 350 walking to the stop 84 sitting |
| Biking | (Peanuts) | 300 mi – bicycle network | ~ $500 (Bike + maintenance) | 700 |
| Walking | (Peanuts) | 250 mi – pedestrian streets | Walking shoes | 350 |
So, given these extremely inspiring, economically and environmentally sound policies silently enacted by the administration, why does President Obama feel the need to endorse a ridiculous plan that will maybe reduce our gas prices in 2030 by a whooping $.03?
After leading a successful campaign that treated the American people like adults, all of a sudden it seems like the Obama administration has forgotten its commitment to reason and is pursuing a political strategy based on awkward compromises and weak negotiations.
President Obama has a unique opportunity to educate the American people about the real solutions to our dependence on foreign oil, but unfrotunately he prefers to pander to the powerful oil lobby that saw their stocks tilt up the second the Obama administration made his announcement. As the Onion points out, no-one likes oil states, it’s about time for the President to return to the courageously honest rhetoric of his campaign, the same rhetoric that inspired millions of young people to show up at the polls.
