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aamusedinatxShameless Award I
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Wednesday, September 7, 2005
IT'S NO secret that Hurricane Katrina has upended Washington politics, rightfully making relief efforts the top priority. So re-labeling old ideas as a part of disaster recovery is the new political game.
The first, though not last, Shameless Award in putting the hurricane to other uses goes to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn. He's tapping the oil refineries shut down by Katrina and higher pump prices to advocate for drilling in Alaska's Arctic edge.
Never mind that these supplies are seven to 10 years away. Never mind that the reserves may amount to only 4 percent of this nation's energy needs. Never mind that conservation and higher highway fuel economy are better answers to oil dependence than invading a wildlife refuge.
Katrina's wind and waves did shut down refineries and drilling platforms, though this gas supply line is slowly coming back. The answer to this country's fragile energy infrastructure isn't opening up the pristine backcountry to derricks and pipes.
Frist's argument, daft as it is, is designed to repackage and sell a bad idea. Unfortunately, the Arctic drilling plan has advanced further than it should. It's jammed in a federal spending bill that, under parliamentary ground rules, can't be taken out or filibustered as can other Senate bills.
Washington's new atmosphere should lead Congress to rethink spending priorities in the wake of Katrina. If that happens, drilling in the Arctic should be tossed out.
