What is the connection between the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster and the stated need for anti-emissions regulations and higher energy prices? This question goes unexplored in the front page coverage the New York Times devoted to President Obama’s address to the nation last week.
Obama has called for a renewed commitment to “clean energy” policies that would de-emphasize fossil fuels and reduce oil dependence. He has also imposed a six-month moratorium on deep water offshore drilling.
“Today, as we look to the gulf, we see an entire way of life being threatened by a menacing cloud of black crude,” Obama said in his speech. “We cannot consign our children to this future. The tragedy on our coast is the most painful and powerful reminder yet that the time to embrace clean energy future is now.”
In its coverage, The Times does an effective job of hitting on some of the highlights. The report, for example, discusses the President’s “adversarial tone” toward BP officials at some length and touches on regulatory failures evident within the Interior Department’s Minerals Management Service.
However, the relevance of a “cap and trade” bill to the environmental challenges that now beset the Gulf of Mexico is debatable. Moreover, as TimesCheck has previously reported, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who has supported earlier versions of the legislation, now concedes that regulatory schemes have no connection with climate change.
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