The Bush Oil "Solution"

The hallmark of the Bush administration has been responding to a crisis by advancing the Bush agenda, rather than addressing the real problem. Predictably, the outcome is that the problem doesn't get solved and the response ultimately leads to other problems.

The most obvious example is our response to the attack on the World Trade Center. This created an opportunity to fabricate the "justification" for the war in Iraq, and advance a pre-existing agenda. Unfortunately, this has done little to address the real problem (terrorism) or punish those responsible. Meanwhile, presidential contenders McCain and Obama continue to play the popular game "what should we do if we ever actually capture Osama bin Laden?"

The response of the Bush administration to the oil crisis is equally predictable: expand off-shore drilling. Never mind that this energy source will not actually produce oil for at least 20 years. It's an opportunity to advance an agenda that includes eliminating regulations that were enacted many years ago.

In a 2007 study (“Impacts of Increased Access to Oil and Natural Gas Resources in the Lower 48 Federal Outer Continental Shelf "), the Energy Information Administration (EIA), a statistical agency of the U.S. Department of Energy, reported:

"The projections in the OCS access case indicate that access to the Pacific, Atlantic, and eastern Gulf regions would not have a significant impact on domestic crude oil and natural gas production or prices before 2030."

The Bush administration also won't mention the 33 million acres off-shore leases that aren't being drilled, even though it's permissible without any change in the law, or that the additional oil produced would be a small fraction of our consumption.

A legitimate argument can be made that this problem is here to stay, and we need to get started now on a solution. But the Bush administration's approach is based on promoting an agenda (eliminating environmental regulation) and just perpetuates our dependency on oil. A "solution" that takes 20 years to materialize is no solution at all.

Up until last week, McCain's answer is that we should all take a gas tax holiday, and ignore the problem. But last week he had to once again fall in line with the Bush doctrine, and reverse his position on off-shore drilling.

Yet another flip-flop for McCain, forcing me to again ask "Will the Real John McCain Please Stand Up?"