Bush Lifts Drilling Ban

Posted on Jul 14, 2008

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In keeping with his image, the president made a lot of noise on Monday while accomplishing absolutely nothing. In keeping with theirs, the Democrats condemned the president while making plans to roll over. George W. Bush lifted an executive oil drilling ban, but a national moratorium remains in place. The hot air, meanwhile, is getting to the Democrats, some of whom chastised the president while others worked up one of their famous compromises.

New York Times:

“We want oil and gas companies to drill for oil on the leases they have been given,” said Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader.

But Mr. Reid is facing an increasing uneasiness among his own senators who have talked more receptively about increased drilling in recent weeks as a result of public anger over rising gas prices. A bipartisan group of senators is trying to develop a compromise energy plan and the leaders of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee have scheduled a workshop for Thursday for lawmakers and other experts to appear and offer their ideas about how to respond to the climb in oil prices.Representative Rahm Emanuel of Illinois, the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus who was a prominent figure in the White House of President Bill Clinton, called Mr. Bush’s action “a political stunt.”

“If the president wants to lower gas prices, he should stop hosting press conferences and start taking action,” Mr. Emanuel said. “Releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and forcing oil companies to drill on the 68 million acres they already control would be a good place to start.”

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