Finding more "drug" to feed an addiction is not the answer
In a ridiculously symbolic "up yours" to advocates of renewable energy, the Shrub repealed his father's executive order prohibiting offshore drilling. Since there is also a law against it, the executive order is meaningless. Further, even if the law was overturned today, it would be many years before any further drilling would yield any of this "American Oil" that this action is supposed to find.
Yet another band aid approach to a huge issue...the same type of thing that put the economy where it is. But of course our catch phrase spouting buzzword bush bambino can't think far enough to do much else...
Bush lifts executive order banning offshore oil drilling:
[JURIST] US President George W. Bush issued a memorandum Monday to the Secretary of the Interior, lifting an executive ban on offshore oil drilling put in place in 1990 by then-President George H. W. Bush. Monday's action will have little practical effect because offshore drilling is still prohibited by a longstanding congressional moratorium. The limitation on the practice has been in place since 1981, and makes 85 percent of the coastal waters surrounding the US off-limits for oil drilling. On Monday, the League of Conservation Voters condemned Bush's move as a reckless temporary solution to the current oil crisis. Reuters has more. The Washington Post has additional coverage.
Last month, Bush called on Congress to relax restrictions on oil exploration, saying that it should also allow drilling to begin in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. Bush argued that resources currently off-limits to energy companies could offset rising fuel prices. Environmental organizations have criticized efforts to expand oil drilling in the Arctic, calling for increased research into energy conservation and renewable resources instead. Critics have also said that offshore development will require several years and a massive infrastructure that could impact local wildlife.