The Rush to Drill

You've got to give it to the Republicans. They know how to try to exploit an issue, and they're not above using half truths or untruths to make their point. Take, for example, the new push to lift the federal ban on offshore oil drilling, coupled with trying to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge or ANWR. The GOP knows there's nothing quite like the recent spike in the price of gas at the pump to push an agenda like this, and that's just what they're doing.

For President Bush, the offshore drilling represents a reversal of a previously held position. No problem. It also means he's asking for the overturning of a ban his father extended when he was president. No matter. Bush and his friends in Congress continue to push the notion that offshore and ANWR oil drilling will provide immediate help for Americans at the pump.

They all know better. All this drilling is speculative at best, and the risk for spills and other accidents remains high (see Katrina and Rita). And then there's the fairy tale about China. Somehow, the Republican talking point memo spewed the argument that China was already drilling off the coast of Florida, courtesy of an agreement with Cuba. No such drilling is taking place, but that hasn't stopped conservative "experts" from going on cable news shows and perpetuating the myth. Once a talking point, always a talking point.

The real solution to America's problems at the pump will come not from drilling, but from starting to end, once and for all, this country's dependence on fossil fuels. That involves, among other things, good old American ingenuity.

We haven't run out of that, have we?