The congressional oil drill

last updated 8 January 2015

When it comes to U.S. energy policy, we know Republicans want to “drill, baby, drill,” said Derrick Jackson in The Boston Globe, but even Democratic opponents of offshore drilling are softening their opposition, as long as it is attached to “a sneaky big word: comprehensive.” The next three weeks in Congress will tell us just how far the Democrats will “wilt” in the face of public support for drilling.

Congress has to do something, with “America’s energy security” at risk, said Virginia’s The Roanoke Times in an editorial. But despite the “baying from friends of the oil industry,” lawmakers should not “rush to pass poor legislation” that only deals with offshore drilling. We need to invest in wind, solar, and nuclear power—”oil is the fuel of the past.”

With the election two months away, “don’t expect much to get done” in Congress, said the Corpus Christi Caller-Times in an editorial. Both parties are “hyper-partisan and angry as rattlesnakes trapped in a jar,” and while the GOP will try to “press their advantage on offshore drilling,” Democrats will focus on the “troubled economy.” Posturing? Yes. Energy compromise? Fat chance.