The director of the Sierra Club, Michael Brune, said that “Drilling our coasts will doing nothing to lower gas prices or create energy independence, it will only jeopardize beaches, marine life, and coastal tourist economies, all so the oil industry can make a short-term profit.”
On the other hand, House Republican Leader John Boehner, criticized the plan for keeping too much of the oil in America off limits.
As a rebuttal to all of the criticism, President Obama said “Ultimately, we need to move beyond the tired debates of the left and the right, between business leaders and environmentalists, between those who would claim drilling is a cure all and those who would claim it has no place. Because this issue is just too important to allow our progress to languish while we fight the same old battles over and over again. There will be those who strongly disagree with this decision, including those who say we should not open any new areas to drilling, But what I want to emphasize is that this announcement is part of a broader strategy that will move us from an economy that runs on fossil fuels and foreign oil to one that relies more on homegrown fuels and clean energy. And the only way this transition will succeed is if it strengthens our economy in the short term and long term. To fail to recognize this reality would be a mistake.”
Although I agree with President Obama's remark regarding the notion that we need to strengthen our economy before we can start building a new system with homegrown fuels and clean energy, I don't necessarily agree that oil drilling has to be the source that strengthens our economy. It seems almost hypocritical to drill more oil and ruin more environments in order to save our environment later. Doesn't it?
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