Obama's Offshore Compromise: One Last Hit For an Addict

Let’s start with what the candidate is actually saying.

From the St. Petersburg Times:
“My attitude is that we can find some sort of compromise.” “If it is part of an overarching package, then I am not going to be rigid in preventing an energy package that goes forward that is really thoughtful and is going to really solve the problem.”

“We are not going to drill our way out of this problem. … We have three percent of the world’s oil reserves; we use 25 percent of the world’s oil.”

From The Palm Beach Post:
“My interest is in making sure we’ve got the kind of comprehensive energy policy that can bring down gas prices. If, in order to get that passed, we have to compromise in terms of a careful, well thought-out drilling strategy that was carefully circumscribed to avoid significant environmental damage – I don’t want to be so rigid that we can’t get something done.”

From a press conference this morning:
“At some point people are going to have make some decisions– are we going to keep on arguing, or are we going to get some things done?”

From The Washington Post:
“What I don’t want is for the best to be the enemy of the good here, and if we can come up with a genuine, bipartisan compromise in which I have to accept some things I don’t like, or the Democrats have to accept some things that they don’t like, in exchange for moving us in the direction of energy independence, than that’s something I’m open to. I wanted to send a strong signal that we can’t allow partisan bickering or the desire to score political points to get in the way of providing some genuine relief to people who are struggling.”

OK, deep breath. I’ll start out by saying that I’m disappointed Obama is signaling a willingness to compromise on offshore drilling. However, at the end of the day this is just the latest in a series of moves demonstrating his pragmatism and ability to reach across party lines. Frankly, we need a president who is willing to listen to all sides of an issue and find some common ground.

Also, keep in mind what Obama is not saying. He is not saying — as McCain does, repeatedly — that drilling should be a central strategy to alleviating our energy crisis. He’s not saying that he is actually in favor of offshore drilling.

In fact, the bipartisan “gang of ten” Senate proposal Obama supports has some good proposals, including investment in alternative energy sources; providing tax incentives for energy conservation; and removing tax breaks for oil companies and funneling that money toward investment in an “Apollo Project” to “transitioning 85 percent of America’s new motor vehicles to non- petroleum-based fuels within 20 years.” (Unfortunately, much of that 85 percent will likely come from ethanol and natural gas, both of which have pretty severe environmental consequences.)

But what bothers me about Obama’s willingness to compromise on offshore drilling (and the gang of ten proposal) is how short-sighted and, well, ordinary it is.

If, as President Bush so famously put it, America is “addicted to oil” then opening up offshore drilling is like giving one last bump to a heroin addict in the middle of withdrawal. It may ease his pain in the short term, but it’s going to be a significant setback to his recovery. Offshore drilling, in other words, is simply postponing the fundamental and yes, painful shift America will have to undergo at some point.

If Obama were truly the change candidate he purports to be, he’d call us out on our addiction — just like he did with the gas tax holiday — and instead bring some new ideas into the energy mix, like providing federal incentives for homeowners who supplement the grid by placing solar panels and windmills on their property; providing funding and regulatory relief for local communities to create micro-sustainable power plants that could fundamentally shift the way we get power from the grid by bringing smaller, cleaner power stations closer to homes and businesses; or pushing for decoupling in public utility regulation.

Bringing renewable power closer to the home, and changing utility regulation may not be as easy to explain as expanding offshore oil drilling, but they’re the types of proposals that are going to provide real, long-term solutions to America’s energy needs. Obama should be using his considerable political skills to explain these concepts in a way that resonates with the American people.

That, would truly be a new kind of politics.

Related posts:

1. Why I’m Voting for Barack Obama
2. Fighting Climate Change is a Business Model (Cool Green Science)
3. NBC/WSJ poll: Good news for Obama

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