Dying to Drill

The Times Picayune reported today -- to editorial fanfare and uproarious political approval on both sides of the aisle -- that a federal New Orleanian judge blocked the Obama administration's moratorium on deepwater drilling, symbolically prohibiting the government from enforcing the six-month drilling ban. I say "symbolically" here, of course, because the White House will appeal within the next few days, overturning Judge Martin L. C. Feldman's motion to overturn.

And Louisiana is, for the most part, united in its support of Mr. Feldman's ruling. The Picayune published an assortment of excerpts of reactions from various elected officials and representatives, which read a little like a page of raving reviews for Toy Story 3. Governor Bobby Jindal was perhaps the most outspoken in his enthusiasm:

"We absolutely agree with the judge's conclusion that the administration's six-month, or longer, shut down of deepwater drilling was 'arbitrary and capricious.' Not only does the moratorium threaten thousands of direct jobs in our state, it also jeopardizes many other industries that supply our oil and gas industry and the entire communities that depend on them."

Supportive cheers were heard throughout Louisiana. Democrat Mary Landrieu urged the President not to appeal the ruling. David Vitter said that Obama's moratorium was "wreaking havoc" on jobs in Louisiana. The Picayune itself has repeatedly declared the moratorium reckless, and published an unsigned editorial applauding Judge Feldman for cutting "straight to the heart of the administration's flawed reasoning." And Representative Steve Scalise went as far as to say that "(T)oday's ruling confirms that the ban was a knee-jerk reaction that ignored facts and science."

I am confused. What facts and science were being ignored in the ban of offshore drilling? The fact that 60,000 barrels of oil are flowing every day into the Gulf of Mexico, threatening to obliterate some of the most beautiful and delicate ecosystems in the United States? Or that the CEOs of other oil companies across the globe use the same practices as BP did, and will continue to use them until more regulations are put in place to ensure safety?

Or are the people of Louisiana the ones ignoring the most glaring, impossible-to-ignore fact out there? The fact is, the people want change.

The latest New York Times/ CBS News poll found staggering statistics on Americans' curbing appetite for oil:

Overwhelmingly, Americans think the nation needs a fundamental overhaul of its energy policies, and most expect alternative forms to replace oil as a major source within 25 years.

While Gulf Coast residents -- who benefit from oil industry jobs -- largely favor increased offshore drilling, the majority of Americans think the risk of offshore drilling is just too great, and the country should pursue other energy options. And more overwhelmingly, 65 percent of all respondents to the poll said that they felt the temporary shut-down of offshore drilling was a good idea.

Now, understandably, when it's not your job or family or home or livelihood at stake, it is much easier to bow in favor of a full overhaul of the way we fundamentally live our lives. Which is why Gulf Coast residents should not be bemoaning the six-month ban on unsafe offshore drilling -- they should be shouting out that the President has not gone far enough.

The same poll found that 54 percent of respondents do not think that President Obama has a clear vision of job creation in America. Stopping something is not enough. It is time for us to start something, too.

Bob Herbert's editorial yesterday brutally but aptly reminded Americans that "We've blown so many enormous opportunities over the past several years." He reminded us of failures in Iraq, of failures during Hurricane Katrina, and of the multiple failures that resulted in the Great Recession that continues to plague our economy. And on the oil spill in the Gulf, Herbert has this to say:

The oil catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico, as horrible as it has been, was yet another opportunity. In his address to the nation from the Oval Office last week, President Barack Obama could have laid out a dramatic new energy policy for the U.S., calling on every American to do his or her part to help us escape the insidious, nonstop destruction that is the result of our obsessive reliance on fossil fuels.

He chose not to.

As a nation, we are becoming more and more accustomed to a sense of helplessness. We no longer rise to the great challenges before us. It's not just that we can't plug the oil leak, which is the perfect metaphor for what we've become. We can't seem to do much of anything.

True. Dire, and true. Really, yesterday's poll suggests that Americans are just tired. They are tired of baby steps. They are tired of centrist politics. They are tired of the sluggish trudging towards a distant idea called "change."

In a letter published in the Picayune today, a frustrated woman from Hartford, Connecticut named Pam Bergren wrote, "I am going on record right now: If another tragedy occurs, I do not want to see one single person in the Gulf of Mexico area crying and moaning on TV about how they have lost their water for the next 30 years, their wildlife, and their livelihood. Gulf Coast leaders are begging for more trouble, so don't cry to us for donations or volunteers." Her frustration is not unfounded. A problem this vast exists as a catalyst for radical change.

Reversing the moratorium would be a back step toward the kind of change that Americans -- and even Gulf Coast Residents -- are aching for. No, we cannot afford to leave tens of thousands of oil workers jobless. So job creation must come in the form of new energy jobs and initiatives that will finally, finally move this country forward.