\nhow<\/a> the 1968 Unocal oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara, Calif.,
\nspurred public outrage that prompted Congress and President Nixon to pass the National
\nEnvironmental Policy Act and the Clean Air Act-cornerstones of American
\nenvironmental law—and create the EPA.\n<\/p>\n
“BP’s Deepwater Horizon
\nspill makes the Santa Barbara spill look like a puddle,” says Kolbert, yet it
\nhas not thus far jolted the nation into doing much of anything about its
\ndependency on oil. She concludes with a call to action:\n<\/p>\n
The President needs to set higher standards-for his
\nAdministration, for Congress, and for the country. Earlier this month, an
\nenergy bill was finally unveiled in the Senate. It is deeply flawed: for a
\nstart, it would increase the incentives for offshore drilling, and preëmpt the
\nE.P.A.‘s ability to enforce parts of the Clean Air Act. Obama should return to
\nthe Gulf and, against the backdrop of the grotesque orange slick, explain to
\nthe public why he wants more ambitious legislation. Then he should spend the
\nsummer working to get an energy bill passed. He’s not going to get a better
\nopportunity-or so, at least, we have to hope.\n<\/p>\n
Is there any good reason I know the president is \n<\/p>\n Related Links:<\/strong><\/p>\n Show how much you—and BP—care with a commemorative oil spill T-shirt<\/a><\/p>\n Matthews tells Obama to kill BP’s disaster capitalism<\/a><\/p>\n U.N. study calls for economic changes to save biodiversity<\/a><\/p>\n
\nwhy President Obama, Congress, and the nation shouldn’t<\/em> spend the summer figuring out an energy-reform plan that
\nwould get us started in replacing oil and coal with clean, sustainable energy
\nsources? The Gulf leak could continue gushing all summer. Cleaning up Gulf marshlands, beaches,
\nfisheries, and underwater habitats will certainly continue long past the summer-and
\nmay
\nbe impossible to finish completely<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n
\nsupposedly worried about “owning” the oil leak-better if it remains BP’s
\nproblem. I know Congress is expected to spend the summer finishing finance
\nreform (let’s hope), arguing about Elena Kagan, and gearing up for the fall
\nmidterm elections. I know the American people are supposedly too fickle and
\ndistractible to focus for long on anything this difficult. But I don’t buy it.
\nThe energy crisis should trump all of this.\n<\/p>\n
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