If one is not part of the solution, one is part of the problem.
In an election year, Isakson won’t have “Drill, Baby Drill” as a popular slogan.
Georgia’s junior senator Johnny Isakson has been a consistent voice for offshore drilling, and many times going to great lengths to prove that it is vital to America’s future energy plan.
Isakson has put out public statements through his Senate office over the years that his version of a secure energy future includes taking …”offshore drilling out of the federal government’s hands and allows pro-drilling states Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia to opt out of the moratorium and allow drilling off their coasts. It also automatically opens up the Eastern Gulf of Mexico to drilling in a manner that is consistent with our national security needs. ..”
Isakson’s conservative sidekick, Sen. Saxby Chambliss has equally been as a strong proponent of offshore oil drilling and had sent directives to President Barack Obama including a letter in 2009 that says:
.”Experts have estimated that our Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) contains roughly 100 billion barrels of untapped oil. Combined, production occurring off of our Atlantic, Pacific, Gulf and Alaska coasts could displace OPEC imports for approximately 50 years. These areas also contain tremendous reserves of clean burning natural gas – enough supply to last for decades. Production of these resources will help keep energy prices low for consumers and businesses. Conversely, restricting access will burden individuals and our economy by keeping prices higher than they need to be…”
The environmentalists were right and the conservatives were wrong. Unfortunately, it took something like this potentially catastrophic event in the Gulf of Mexico to make more people who were fans of Sarah Palin’s and John McCain’s rhetoric of “Drill Baby, Drill” during the 2008 campaign season, to realize that protecting the environment is vitally important.
Sarah Palin has been silent. Saxby Chambliss has been silent. Johnny Isakson and the folks inside his press office have been silent. The Republicans overall have been silent.
According to a Washington Post article about BP president Tony Heyward, someone affiliated with BP had said that on several occasions, Hayward asked, “What did we do to deserve this?”
What Mr. Heyward and others may not understand is that sometimes you have to do what’s right instead of what is popular among corporate interests care more about money than the environment.
On March 31st, environmentalists went on record after President Obama gave in to Republican demands to Drill, Baby Drill:
“Offshore drilling, especially drilling as close as four miles from Florida’s Atlantic beaches, tastes bad no matter which president from whatever party is serving it,” said Progress Florida’s Mark Ferrulo. “The president’s support doesn’t change the facts. Expanded drilling won’t lower gas prices and it represents a dirty and dangerous activity that risks catastrophic damage to our beloved beaches.”
Mr. Ferrulo was right, and Johnny Isakson was wrong again on another important issue.
