A Different Response
blogs.ajc.com
1:05 am April 30, 2010, by Jamie Dupree
Let's just imagine that this oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico had happened five years ago. We would have had Democratic lawmakers screaming from the rafters in the Capitol. But in 2010, it's not happening, because they are boxed in by their own President's agenda.
When Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter were in office, Democrats weren't out of step with the White House on energy policy when it came to offshore oil and gas drilling. But now, calling for a moratorium on new drilling isn't what the White House wants.
One of the few to go that route was Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL), who has long vowed to filibuster any bill that expands drilling in the waters near the Sunshine State.
In a letter to President Obama, Nelson asked for an "immediate halt" to the drilling of test wells and "all other exploratory operations in coastal waters."
Nelson went a step further, filing a bill to block the feds from acting on Mr. Obama's plans to allow for offshore seismic testing and other exploratory measures to check for oil and gas deposits.
While Nelson shied away from criticizing the White House on the Senate floor, Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) did that for him.
"I hope the President will understand that this disaster is a wake-up call," said Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ), who warned of an economic disaster if an oil spill occurred along the Atlantic Seaboard.
Other than that, drilling opponents were mainly silent.
Over on the House floor, there was not one speech about the oil spill during opening 'One Minute' speeches by lawmakers on Thursday. In fact, there was just one speech all week, and it came from a drilling supporter.
"We need to clean up the spill, not use it as a political football," said Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-PA).
Back on the Senate floor, the most interesting speech on the oil spill came from Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA), whose home state is bracing for oil on its shores.
While she called it an "unmitigated disaster" - Landrieu said the wrong move would be to curtail exploration in the future.
"We must continue to drill," Landrieu said, who then turned her attention to opponents of offshore drilling.
"Should we have all of our oil, 100 percent, coming from Saudi Arabia or Venezuela or Honduras?" asked Landrieu.
Five years ago or ten years ago, Landrieu would have been drowned out by lawmakers demanding action, as they did in the wake of the Exxon Valdez spill.
But now that their party's President is in the lead on expanding drilling, the response is muted.
If it were a Republican in the White House right now, I could only imagine the decibel level. |
