But instead of immediately engaging with this crisis, our President chose to spend precious time on political pet causes like haranguing the state of Arizona for doing what he himself was supposed to do secure the nations border. He also spent much time fundraising and politicking for liberal candidates and causes while we waited for him to grasp the enormity of the Gulf spill.
Now that the American people are calling him out on his lack of engagement with this disaster, the buck-passing is in full swing and, unbelievably, his administration is still looking to blame his predecessor. Amazingly, even those of us who support energy independence for America are the brunt of some buck-passing.
He suggested today that a culture of corruption at the U.S. Minerals Management Service (MMS) was solely the previous administrations responsibility and that the failure of the inspection system was a failure of that administration. That is false. The MMS has been his responsibility since January 20, 2009.
The MMS director who resigned today, Elizabeth Birnbaum, was appointed by his administration. And the most recent inspection of the oil rig took place a mere 10 days before the explosion also very much on his watch, not President Bushs.
The President is also now attempting to somehow distance himself from his administrations recent decision to open a few areas of the continental shelf to oil and gas exploration. Thats unfortunate because America desperately needs our domestic oil and natural gas. We rely on it for our prosperity, security, and freedom. The Presidents decision to open a few areas to offshore exploration was the right decision then; and unlike his quickly evolving position on energy development now, I continue to believe its the right decision today because energy independence is in the long-term economic and security interests of the United States.
As I explained in an article in National Review last year, conventional sources like natural gas can act as a clean bridge fuel to a future when more renewable sources are available. I do not, as the President mistakenly believes, think we can drill, baby, drill our way out of all of our troubles. As I have consistently stated, we need an all of the above approach to energy independence that combines conventional drilling with energy conservation and renewable-energy development.
My record in Alaska clearly shows my commitment to this all of the above approach. Over 20 percent of Alaskas electricity currently comes from renewable sources. As governor, I put forward a long-term plan to increase that figure to 50 percent by 2025, which is the most ambitious renewable energy target in the nation. I take great pride in helping to make Alaska, in the words of the New York Times, a Frontier for Green Power, even as we continue to embrace the need to drill, baby, drill at the same time.
Alaska can be that frontier for renewable energy only because our conventional oil and gas reserves provide us with a bridge to a greener energy future. In fact, Alaska has enough reserves of both oil and gas to help the United States cross that bridge if only we are allowed to drill!
Please, Mr. President, hear me on this, if nothing else: if its your administrations decision to suspend the leases of new oil field developments off the coast of Alaska in response to the Gulfs deepwater spill, and you still remain committed to locking up ANWR and other oil-rich lands, please know you are making a mistake. Unless we continue to drill here and drill now, we risk digging ourselves deeper into the hole created by our continued dependence on foreign energy which often comes from regimes that care nothing for our prosperity or security, and even less for global environmental safety.
We need affordable, reliable, secure, environmentally-sound, and domestically-produced energy, but this administration continues to lock up federal land filled with huge energy reserves. If there is to be a moratorium on offshore development, then its time we stop ignoring our safest options for domestic development places like ANWR and NPR-A in my home state of Alaska.
And its time for the administration to stop passing the buck and get control of the disaster in the Gulf. Theres a reason why Harry Truman had that famous sign on his desk. The buck stops with the occupant of the Oval Office. When the American people elected President Obama they gave him responsibility to handle this disaster. He promised to heal the earth, and watch the waters recede... or something far-fetched like that. It was unbelievable then, its impossible now, but what I believe he meant was that he promised to be held accountable.
With all due respect, Mr. President, you have a huge job in front of you. We hope youre learning. Please learn that we must have domestic energy development, you must stop looking backward and blaming Bush, and we must all work together to plug the d#*! hole.
- Sarah Palin
Thanks because I lost on how to do embeded links.
And Never forget Chu is the mastermind of this jewel http://blogs.wsj.com/environmentalcapital/2009/05/27/steven-chu-white-roofs-to-fight-global-warming/