Obama's State Of the Oil Union Address

A look at Obama's State of the Union Address through green eyes
January 28, 2010, 12:56 PM
By: Jon Coen
Last night, President Obama gave his first State of the Union Address. Some folks are saying it was a little long, at 70 minutes. I would think that no matter your political leanings, the major crises this country is dealing with might require a wextra minutes. Sorry you had to change your American Idol viewing habbits.

Getty Images, Mandel Ngan
Nice speach, but what's up with the drill talk?
As surfers, what did he say that might affect life, liberty, and the pursuit of waves? Likely, the most pressing issues like jobs, health care, and security will affect most of us more immediately than what he had to say about the environment, but there were a few key quotes.He led into the issue talking about innovation in clean energy. This is the kind of talk that got so many progressives behind him. He made a great point, that even if you don't believe in global warming, it's still logical to build an economy based on clean energy.
But then there was this line:
"But to create more of these clean energy jobs, we need more production, more efficiency, more incentives. That means building a new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants in this country. It means making tough decisions about opening new offshore areas for oil and gas development. It means continued investment in advanced biofuels and clean coal technologies."
It was like hearing sweet music suddenly interrupted by the needle scratching across the record -- and then catching fire like an offshore oil platform. Earlier this month, I wrote about how Obama's hand-picked Maritime Administrator, David Matsuda, signed off on the building of Port Dolphin LLC, a liquefied natural gas import facility off the Gulf Coast of Florida. The move was counter to Obama's otherwise progressive agenda. But now the president is saying himself it might be time to start drilling off our coasts.

Joli
Claire Bevilacqua likes to boost, but she doesn't want to land on anything black and greasy.
This is a week after an oil spill was discovered into a Huntington Beach Flood Control Channel and just days since the 462,000 gallons was dumped off Texas. President Obama has been very forward thinking thus far, ensuring that much of the stimulus money went to tax breaks on renewable energy. But the talk of opening our seas to more threats is unnerving.
If you're any kind of environmentalist however, Obama's words were like having that nightmare of being naked in public, but Virginia Governor, Bob McDonnell GOP response was akin to being struck by lightning in your sleep:
"All Americans agree, this nation must become more energy independent and secure. We are blessed here in America with vast natural resources, and we must use them all. Advances in technology can unleash more natural gas, nuclear, wind, coal, and alternative energy to lower your utility bills.
Here in Virginia, we have the opportunity to be the first state on the East Coast to explore for and produce oil and natural gas offshore. But this Administration's policies are delaying offshore production, hindering nuclear energy expansion, and seeking to impose job-killing cap and trade energy taxes."

Getty Images, Bob Torres
"Drill Baby, Drill."
Wow! Virginia might be the first state on the East Coast to crack open the ocean floor for profit and potential toxic dissasters. They should print that on the Virginia flag. He's worried about Obama delaying drilling. Won't drilling delay our quest for renewable energy? It's not until we are forced to find alternatives that we will actually do it.
If you are a Virginia surfer or someone whose living is based on tourism (almost every surfer's living is made at least partially on tourism) you might want to take action to protect your coast. And if you live elsewhere, the drill might not be far behind.