Obama flip flop on oil drilling? Not so fast.

[Political Tiger]

President Barack Obama announced today that he will open up new coastal areas to oil production. So we put him on the Flip-O-Meter.

We reviewed all the evidence of the 2008 campaign and concluded that he hadn't changed position, so we rated him No Flip. Surprised? Read the evidence in our full report.

[Clio the Leo]

1. You have GOT to be flippin' kidding me!

No flip!? :sarcasm:

[global1]

4. Come On People - Yeah - Oil Drilling The Repug Way Was Counterproductive - But......

if one has a comprehensive energy package that includes development on all the alternative fuels - like solar, wind, nuclear, etc - then the oil drilling off our coasts begins to make sense.

I keep hearing that with the areas that the President wants to open - that the oil taken from them wouldn't make that big a difference to wean us off foreign oil. That may be right if we're thinking about today's usage of oil.

But if in the interim - before those fields kick in and begin to pump oil - we're able to make switches to alternative sources to power our houses and businesses and if we're able to have more fuel efficient cars and better technology to conserve energy - then by the time those new fields begin to kick in - the amount of oil that they produce might just be the right amount to cut our dependency on foreign oil significantly.

What does everybody expect - miracles. Things like this don't happen overnight. It takes a good and well executed plan that spans decades to make the changes that are necessary for us to become an energy independent nation.

The Repugs just wanted to - drill, baby, drill. There was no comprehensive plan. It was all short term to them. All money & profits. Save our cushy D.C. job stuff to them.

Now we finally got a strategic thinker and planner in the WH - and we expect him to transform this mess we have overnight. It took centuries to get us where we are today - and you just don't fix that in 14 months. You need to come at the problem from all perspectives. You need to do some infrastructure building and re-building.

Please - if you want to criticize this President - go to Freeper land and do that.

Here at DU we need to give this President all the support we can. If we turn on him - we are in trouble. There's no one out there in the wonderful world of Dems/Repugs/Tea Partiers - that even has the slightest smarts to do any better and I think you know in that in deepest recesses of your heart and brain.

For gosh sakes - it's beginning to look like we had more patience with BushCo for 8 years than we have with Obama in 14 months.

Come on people - give the guy a break.

[roguevalley]

5. we should give him a break on the same issue we called the others

out on. no. thank you, no.

[jenmito]

2. K&R. We need to email this link to those in the media! n/t

[Bobbie Jo]

3. I'm feeling psychic, how about a prediction...

Response to evidence cited:

[ZombieHorde]

6. I can not see your pic. nt

[QC]

9. You predict that somebody will post a broken graphic tag? n/t

[Bobbie Jo]

11. LOL

Nevermind....it's not funny anymore, anyway. :blush:

[jeanpalmer]

7. LOL they only gave him a half flip in 2008

when he went from keeping in place "the moratorium here in Florida and around the country that prevents oil companies from drilling off Florida's coasts" on June 20, to "we have to compromise in terms of a careful, well thought-out drilling strategy" on August 1. But as Politifact notes, gas prices were skyrocketing at the time and his no-drill position was hurting him.

Same thing today. Gas prices are rising again and it's going to be a political issue. The amount of oil derived from any drilling will be inconsequential, but rising gas prices as a poltical issue will not be. This is just an effort to head off the coming political attack.

[vaberella]

8. Yes, back in 2008. Last I heard we were in 2010 right now.

And since that time he's stuck to this plan. So if people had issues with his position, they could have easily not voted for him during the General election. I had issues with it, but he was and still is the best candidate for me. So...he hasn't flipped, and wasting the time to argue otherwise as though it's something to be angry about is silly. The problem is the policy and not his stance at this point since it hasn't changed for 18 or so months.

[freddie mertz]

10. He flip flopped back in August 2008.

Which was certainly a sign of things to come.

"Back in August 2008, he did clearly change his stance on the issue. This time, according to all the environmental advocates and experts we spoke with, his latest announcement isn't much of a departure from his rhetoric during the last part of the campaign and during his first year in the White House. As a result, we say there's been No Flip in Obama's latest stance on offshore drilling."

Case closed.

[TheKentuckian]

12. I recollect he started to flip after the primaries when the "drill, baby, drill" chant was firing up

Poll watching. I find it really difficult to believe he buys any of this drilling nonsense and is rolling over in full pander.