Advertising

The Seattle Times Company

NWjobs | NWautos | NWhomes | NWsource | Free Classifieds | seattletimes.com

The Seattle Times

Editorials / Opinion


Our network sites seattletimes.com | Advanced

Originally published Monday, June 23, 2008 at 12:00 AM

E-mail article     Print view

Editorial

Bush's last gasp on oil

President George Bush apparently found it easier to go after lawmakers when he asked Congress to end its 26-year-old ban on offshore oil drilling.

President George Bush apparently found it easier to go after lawmakers when he asked Congress to end its 26-year-old ban on offshore oil drilling.

He could have started by lifting an executive order against coastal exploration, the one signed by his father in 1990.

America's energy independence will not be found in offshore oil drilling. Two federal bans exist to make that point. Relief from high oil and gasoline prices is a byproduct of conservation, a broader menu of energy options and increased efficiencies.

Any imagined relief from an infusion of new oil supplies would be years away. News accounts make it clear the industry lacks the tools and capacities to find, recover and process more oil.

Sen. Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, makes the point the oil companies are already sitting on 68 million acres of federal land they have leased and not lifted a finger to exploit.

Domestic drilling has been the easy, default answer for the Bush administration, instead of leadership on constructive energy policies. Creative thinking and purposeful action have come from the states, counties and cities.

Longing for a higher-mileage vehicle in the face of gasoline at $4.30 a gallon? The president's response has been ANWR, not CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) — drilling in a wildlife refuge, not fuel efficiency.

Bush can explain himself to the first President Bush — and for that matter, his brother Jeb, who opposed offshore drilling as governor of Florida.

Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company

UPDATE - 02:37 PM
Charles Krauthammer / Syndicated columnist: Iran's leaderless revolution: searching for a Yeltsin

NEW - 02:26 PM
Leonard Pitts Jr. / Syndicated columnist: The triumph and tragedy of Michael Jackson

NEW - 02:48 PM
Leonard Pitts Jr. / Syndicated columnist: What does a homosexual demon look like?

Leonard Pitts Jr. / Syndicated columnist: Social networking in Iran: standing witness, one for another

Advertising

Video

AP Video

Entertainment | Top Video | World | Offbeat Video | Sci-Tech

Marketplace

 
Most read
Most commented
Most e-mailed
 
 
Advertising