The Richmond Times-Dispatch editorial board comes out with a raised eyebrow over the fig leaf used in Washington that offshore drilling is a hazard to our nation’s military. To wit:
[W]e were a bit perplexed last Wednesday when Rep. Anthony Brown, D-Md., urged fellow members of the House Natural Resources Committee to support his proposal banning offshore leases for oil and gas exploration in the Atlantic, telling them it was a “national security amendment.”
Brown’s amendment was submitted during committee consideration of the SECURE American Energy Act, which would promote expanded exploration, development, and production of oil, gas, and wind resources both onshore and offshore. The congressman says his proposal needed approval “because of what we ask our men and women in uniform to do and what they need in training, resources, leadership.”
The amendment was shot down, of course — but by a party line vote. One has to truly question the motives of such an argument when the Gulf of Mexico is speckled with energy rigs that seem to co-exist nicely with our nation’s military.
Rather, it might serve everyone better if the objections to offshore drilling were simply a bit more honest with their reasons and outcomes. America is locked in geopolitical contest to create cheap energy to fuel the economy that will create better, more reliable, and more sustainable energy alternatives: solar, nuclear, wind, and yes hydrocarbons that pack a punch.
The alternative? Sounds expensive… and certainly would not be in keeping with the Obama administration’s previous efforts to expand fracking or keep their commitment to pipeline projects such as Keystone XL (to replace the old, failing pipeline Democrats would prefer we keep around?)
Offshore drilling is good news for Virginia’s transportation and education needs. The millions of dollars (if not billions) waiting to be tapped off of Virginia’s coastline are all resources owned by the people of the Commonwealth. Apart from sentiment, is there any viable reason — and not an invented grievance — why the citizens of Virginia should not reap the rewards?
