Obama Bashes Fossil Fuels

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright May 26, 2010
All Rights Reserved.                                

              Making political hay out of the Gulf’s oil spill—the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history—President Barack Obama urged the nation to consider alternative energy. “With increased risks, the increased costs—it gives you a sense of where we’re going,” said Barack at a solar panel plant in Freemont, Calif.  “We’re not going to be able to sustain this kind of fossil fuel use.  This planet can’t sustain it,” apparently blaming the Gulf’ calamity on the nation’s insatiable need for oil.  When Obama threw his support last March behind future plans for offshore oil drilling, he hadn’t considered the environmental risks.  If nothing else, the Gulf’s deepwater geyser demonstrates in the most glaring terms the inconsistency of Obama’s arguments:  The planet is literally awash in oil.  Arguments for alternatives fuels largely stem from spurious estimates about the end of the fossil fuel supply.

            Environmental risks to deepwater drilling are nothing new.  Whatever happened April 20 with British Petroleum’s ill-fated oil platform, the offshore oil industry must redouble efforts to create better failsafe mechanisms.  When Barack talks about the planet not sustaining fossil fuel use, he’s confusing energy supplies with environmental safety.  BP’s problems in the Gulf stem not from supply shortages but from too much expediency, not enough safeguards and too few contingency plans.  While there’s nothing wrong with promoting alternative energy, there’s something very wrong with blaming the fossil fuel industry.  No past predictions over the last 50 years—by the most reputable experts—about the end of the fossil fuel supply have proved accurate.  Based on past studies from the nation’s most prestigious research institutions, the world should have run out of oil.

            Humankind’s major advance took a giant leap when Canadian physician Abraham Gesner figured out the middle 19th century how to distill fuels from coal and petroleum for internal combustion engines.  Refined coal and petroleum fueled the industrial revolution.  Bashing fossil fuels does nothing to deal with today’s crisis in the Gulf.  While everyone’s frustrated with today’s disaster, Obama needs to retool his message to appropriately address the problem of unsafe deepwater oil drilling.  With over 4,000 oil rigs in the Gulf, British Petroleum got unlucky when a methane gas exploded in the pipes April 20, killing 11 workers and causing the platform to sink two days later.  Whatever failsafe mechanisms were in place, they weren’t enough to stop the high-pressure leak one mile below sea level.  Working a mile below the surface with remote-controlled submersibles has been a living nightmare.

               Oil has been spewing at a rate of at least five thousand barrels or over 40,000 gallons a day, blanketing the Gulf’s pristine marine habitat, home to a $2 billion seafood industry.  BP hopes to begin plugging the leak May 26 with its risky “top-kill” procedure where engineers hope to plug the leak with 50,000 gallons of mud and concrete.  “If it’s successful—and there’s no guarantees—it should greatly reduce or eliminate the flow of oil,” said Obama, pointing out “there are other approaches that may be viable.”  BP already tried and failed May 7 to cap the well with a three-story high concrete and steel dome.  Public patience is growing thin for the Gulf oil disaster, hurting the president’s already fragile approval ratings.  Since the oil disaster, Barack has been forced to rethink offshore oil drilling plans along the oil rich East Gulf, East Coast and off the northern Alaskan coast. 

            Recent reversals of fortune have been costly to Barack’s aggregate approval ratings, now hovering around 47%.  Given the high unemployment and sluggish economy, economic meltdown in Europe, new tensions on the Korean Peninsula and now the seemingly unending Gulf oil disaster, it’s not time for Barack to start bashing the oil industry.  Alternative fuels won’t drive the mighty engine of the U.S. economy in the foreseeable future.  Instead of pointing fingers, the Gulf oil disaster should give offshore oil companies reason to pause, reevaluating current safety precautions to avoid another mishap.   Collaborating with the best offshore drilling experts, BP will eventually find the right fix, plugging the underwater geyser.  For profit oil companies must keep in mind their first priority is Mother Earth.  There’s simply no excuse for not having good emergency systems and plans.

            Using the Gulf oil disaster to sell alternative energy is a cynical manipulation of a most unfortunate crisis.  Developing alternative fuels has nothing to do with the current crisis, requiring offshore drilling companies to take a hard look at current industry standards and safeguards.  Existing oil rigs must be carefully inspected and  retrofitted to avoid future mishaps.  Energy alternatives have their place but they can’t replace fossil fuels for efficiency and cost effectiveness.  Before the president commits himself to cap-and-trade or signing on to a new climate change pact, he must appreciate the true value of fossil fuels to U.S. industry.  No alternative fuel yet can drive the nation’s internal combustion engines better than fossil fuels.  Bashing fossil fuels, exploration companies or the oil industry does nothing to fix the current problem or make the industry safer in the future.

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.