Bashing Pelosi Misses the Point

Rupert Murdoch officially put his stamp on the Wall Street Journal with a silly editorial against Nancy Pelosi's verbal gaffe on Meet the Press. In discussing energy policy, Pelosi referred to natural gas as an alternative to fossile fuels.

The Journal pounced, first in a blog post, then again today in an editorial, lampooning Pelosi for ostensbily not knowing that natural gas is a fossil fuel.

I'm fairly certain that, if pressed, the Speaker would acknowldege that natural gas is created from organic, carbon-based material and is, in fact, a fossil fuel. Clearly her intention was to distinguish natural gas from other fossil fuels that burn far less cleanly.

Let's move on, because this partisan hack job obscures the real issue underlying Pelosi's poistion: even for natural gas, you've gotta drill. So whether you're T. Boone Pickens or Nancy Pelosi, you cannot oppose drilling and embrace natural gas.

It's time to recognize that technology now allows us to drill more responsibly and with far less environmental impact than we could a gneration ago. Up to this point, we have taken baby steps in embracing this truism, but later today, we will most likely take a quantam leap!

The Board of Supervisors in Santa Barbara is expected to vote today to approve offshore oil drillng. While it is a largely symbolic vote, for jurisdictional reasons, it represents a sea change in attitudes toward drilling. If Santa Barbara of all places is ok with it, then it's time to stop the bickering and have a serious discussion about when, where and how to drill.

A Carbon Education [Wall Street Journal]