Biden flip-flops on drilling
posted at 9:40 am on September 4, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
Share on Facebook | regular view
It didn’t take Joe Biden long to fall into line with the Barack Obama no-drill policy. After saying Monday that he didn’t oppose drilling in the OCS, he told an audience yesterday he opposed it. Is this change American can believe in?
Barack Obama didn’t take running mate Joe Biden to the woodshed for his remarks Monday on offshore drilling, which broke from Obama’s strong reservations to it. But Biden on Wednesday nonetheless offered a different opinion: “I’m against it.”
Biden flatly told voters this afternoon that he opposes offshore drilling for oil and gas and lambasted companies for failing to tap many coastal sites they have already leased from the federal government. …
Biden stayed perfectly on message — Obama’s message.
It seems as though the Democrats are heading in the wrong direction. Instead of following the overwhelming will of the electorate to increase domestic production, Biden changed his position to more directly contradict it. With energy being one of the top issues in this campaign, Biden’s sudden surrender to the environmentalists won’t go unnoticed.
Biden went even further down the fringie road, too. He told his audience that oil companies have leases on which they don’t drill now, asking “Why do you think [that is]?” Maybe because they can’t find oil on those particular leases, which is why they want to look for more promising locations. If they don’t drill long enough, under current law the leases will return to the federal government anyway. They don’t make money by sitting on expensive leases, no matter how many conspiracy theories Biden can spin in his imagination.
Even more tiresome was Biden’s sudden insistence on draining the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. He used Clinton’s election-year release as a model, saying that it dropped prices by 18%. The very obvious response was that it clearly did not solve the problem — because oil prices have gone up sharply again. Also, that’s a momentary increase of supply to effect a price decrease. If that’s such a great strategy, why not permanently increase supply to effect a long-term price decrease?
Not only did Biden lose his testicular fortitude, he lost his economic sense as well.
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Blowback
Note from Hot Air management: This section is for comments from Hot Air's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that Hot Air management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment just because we let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with our terms of use may lose their posting privilege.
Trackbacks/Pings
Trackback URL
Comments
Comment pages: « Previous 1 2
I noticed this last week. I fear McCain is pushing the business conservatives away. He might win this election, but it could hurt in the long run. Hopefully, conservatives can do to him on global warming, etc. what they did to him on his amnesty bill.
Vashta.Nerada on September 4, 2008 at 11:05 AM
he is a late comer to the AGW dance and I don’t think he is gonna do quite the same jig the sierra clubbers think….
“think token boogie”….
I am.
sven10077 on September 4, 2008 at 11:06 AM
Great. The previous wisdom of the career political professional having the gravitas to provide the campaign with decades of experience, changes his considered judgment after the former community organizer and part-time state senator explains thing to him.
Dusty on September 4, 2008 at 11:07 AM
Joe is a lot like a Lab/Chow mutt I picked up at Fort Bliss…
too idiotic to catch the frisbee I throw so he lets it hit his eyes…but man did he love chasing skunks.
sven10077 on September 4, 2008 at 11:12 AM
Angers me too. I hope she can talk some sense into McCain, though she may be on the same page as him. We’ll have to cross our fingers…
Think_b4_speaking on September 4, 2008 at 11:13 AM
Now that is funny!
TooTall on September 4, 2008 at 11:26 AM
This is music to my ears: Dems go deaf on most decisive issue of Campaign 2008! How sweet it is!
petefrt on September 4, 2008 at 11:29 AM
I can imagine that Team Zero has a lot of empathy for Eddie Griffin right now…that feeling that comes with totalling a $1.5million Ferrari Enzo…must be like that feeling that comes with watching a +$150million sure thing campaign get derailed.
Now…what are they gonna do?
coldwarrior on September 4, 2008 at 11:32 AM
When Gore and Pelosi start flying around in a solar powered Lear-jet, I’ll buy a hybrid.
Until then, Drill everywhere!
txdoc on September 4, 2008 at 11:42 AM
Lost what economic sense, exactly? He’s on the ticket of the economically-illiterate party.
One more nail in Team Zero’s coffin.
Martin on September 4, 2008 at 11:43 AM
Not only does he flip-flop, he’s changed to the position OPPOSED by a vast majority of Americans. Y’know, he should oppose drilling – any more holes in his head that is.
They just can’t want to lose fast enough. In the immortal words of En Vogue “…never gonna get, never gonna get it….”
J.J. Sefton on September 4, 2008 at 11:52 AM
Oh yeah! Well… well…
Palin was for the Bridge to Nowhere before she was Governor, then the got elected and told the US Congress where it could shove it’s wasteful spending…
ummmm… wait a minute… errrrr…
Uhhhh…. George Bush’s people wrote Sarah Palin’s speech and she can only read off a teleprompter…. whaaaa? You mean it broke and she STILL brought down the house!?!
Errr… well Sarah Palin, the 2nd female VP in history. If she wins… it’s… uhhhh… more of the same! Yeah… ummm.. wait…
Ahhh… George Bush is evil and we are going to take criminal action against him once he is ….errrr.. out of the Whitehouse… errrrr… nevermind.
…. Vote for Nader?
Damiano on September 4, 2008 at 11:56 AM
Obama picks Biden then neuters his experience advantage? Sure that makes absolutely no sense. Will Biden bow out of the VP slot? You know the Eagleton Scenario.
Dr Evil on September 4, 2008 at 12:51 PM
Sarah Palin also talked about taking on “big oil”. From what I’ve read (I wish I could find the link on this!) BP was trying to put unfair pressure on previous AK Governor Frank Murkowski to get the contract for an Alaska/Canada natural-gas pipeline, and when Palin took over, she re-opened the contract for bids, and gave it to the lowest bidder, after negotiating with the Canadian government.
Lots of independent voters have misguided ideas about “big oil” due to the ancient history left over from the 19th century Rockefeller days. Big Oil is still capable of abuse, but oil companies perform a vital service in today’s energy-based economy.
Sarah Palin has the RIGHT message on “big oil”, and she knows what she’s talking about. Like it or not, America needs oil and we need oil companies to extract it and refine it. If McCain is smart, he will follow Palin’s advice and say that a McCain/Palin Administration will not be bribed or play favorites, but ensure that the energy market is both free and fair, and let the oil companies do what they SHOULD be doing–supplying America with abundant energy from American sources. He should also stress that America is blessed to have PRIVATE oil companies competing with each other to bring energy to the market at the lowest possible price, while most oil-producing countries have state-owned oil companies, where GOVERNMENT sets the price, and we need to develop OUR oil at market prices, so that we don’t have to pay prices set by foreign princes and dictators. Sarah Palin also mentioned this in her speech, that we need American oil, so we don’t have to depend on Venezuela and Hugo Chavez!
Energy prices and production will be a HUGE issue in this election, and Governor Sarah Palin has it nailed. McCain should let her take this ball and run with it.
Steve Z on September 4, 2008 at 12:58 PM
So, does Biden think the oil companies are deliberately not drilling? The Democrats are either stupid or they think we are. It is a big world out there, lots of people buy and sell oil. It is not all about Chevron and Exxon. The Russians, the Saudis, the Venezualans, the Nigerians and the Sudanese pump a whole lot more oil than Americans do. That is the problem.
Terrye on September 4, 2008 at 1:01 PM
Slight correction – only the Russians and Saudis produce more oil than the US – we are the 3rd largest supplier of oil in the world. We just use a lot more than we pull out of our own ground.
Think_b4_speaking on September 4, 2008 at 1:07 PM
Have gotten into this with a few local libs…if Cuba can sell leases to China to drill within hailing distance of Key West, why cannot American oil compaines be permitted to drill in the same areas?
The answer is usually some mismash about protecting the environment…
But, have you seen China’s standards on environmental protection lately?
So it is perfectly fine to allow China to spill all sorts of oil in the Gulf of Mexico…but we can’t drill there? Has anyone produced any real data on the huge number of oils spills in the Gulf caused by Katrina? No? Of course not. There weren’t any.
Thougtful, environmentally safe, and American, off-shore drilling in American waters is something Palin can hammer home readily.
coldwarrior on September 4, 2008 at 1:22 PM
They’re making this election so freeking easy.
- The Cat
MirCat on September 4, 2008 at 1:40 PM
Why doesn’t Barry just give Joe an ear-implant. That way Joe just has to open his mouth and we’ll hear the story straight from the horses mouth. Less confusion that way.
GarandFan on September 4, 2008 at 2:45 PM
SO many people under that The Obama bus the wheels are falling off.
jukin on September 4, 2008 at 3:08 PM
+1
Al in St. Lou on September 4, 2008 at 5:47 PM
Comment pages: « Previous 1 2