It seems the Dems are going to allow full scale offshore drilling. At this point they have decided to not renew the ban at all. They have officially sold us out.
According to the AP:
"Democrats have decided to allow a quarter-century ban on drilling for oil off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts to expire next week, conceding defeat in a months-long battle with the White House and Republicans set off by $4 a gallon gasoline prices this summer."
Yea! The Dems are once again letting the repugs have it how they want it. Great news, Great news!
Furthermore:
"The congressional battle over offshore drilling is far from over. Democrats are expected to press for broader energy legislation, probably next year, that would put limits on any drilling off most of the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Republicans, meanwhile, are likely to fight any resumption of the drilling bans that have been in place since 1981."
You see the Dems just punted. The problem is that the repugs will now come back at us from a huge position of strength. By the time we try to fight this fight again it could be a year or more. THe repugs by that time will have the remaining 30% or so of Americans that are currently against drilling on their side simply by showing them nothing bad happened over the course of the year when oil companies were free to drill.
Here is the article I am discussing. It is a sad fact because the only way we can force change on the American people is to keep high gas prices.
Now that we have spent all possible new debt on the bailout and have now allowed our coast lines to be open to oil exploration we have a problem. We have no money for our new programs meaning we will have a much harder time forcing Americans to pay for new alternative energy programs. Furthermore, simply the potential for new exploration can and has reduced oil prices. Hell, they decreased when Bush took away the presidental ban on drilling. The same could happen this time.