The President’s Speech: Section Five
Posted June 16, 2010 at 9:17 am 
Filed in: Last night, in an address from the Oval Office, President Barack Obama attempted to combat rising criticism of his administration’s response to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. In his speech, he covered four main sections: containment strategy, accountability of BP, regulatory changes, and the future of U.S. energy policy. Yet much of the reaction to the speech was, perhaps unsurprisingly, both divided and negative.
My reaction to the speech is more one of disappointment than disagreement or anger. Today is the 58th day after the spill—that is eight weeks. It is quite clear that there is no simple solution to stopping the flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, and the protection and clean-up efforts must be as vigorous as possible. The President knows this, the oil companies know this, and the American people know this. Whether these efforts were mobilized fast enough and at sufficient scale is of course being scrutinized—every step from this point forward will also be. It is obvious that BP must be held responsible for much of the damage that the spill has and will cause in the region, and I also agree with the President that we must utilize clean energy technologies to a greater extent.
My disappointment lies in how despite spending so much time talking about the importance of the transition to cleaner energy, the President did not explain how this would be achieved—in essence, a missing fifth section. He instead relied on phrases we have heard thousands of times from politicians, including, “each of us has a part to play,” “seize control of our own destiny,” and “we cannot consign our children to this future.” Instead of concrete plans, or even ideas, the President made only vague assurances, stating “Even if we don’t yet know precisely how to get there [the America we want for our children]. We know we’ll get there.”
The President and the Congress both need to show the “political courage and candor” that the President himself asked for. The President ought to have outlined a future transportation fleet powered by electricity, hydrogen and advanced biofuels. He ought to have renewed his commitment to expanded nuclear, wind, solar and geothermal power, and given a timetable for passing new legislation. And he ought to have recognized that oil and other fossil fuels will remain a very important part of the U.S. economy for the foreseeable future. He should have taken the opportunity to explain that this does not prevent us taking steps to reduce our dependence on oil, or increase our use of renewable and lower-carbon fuel sources.
The leadership being shown by American citizens installing solar panels on their homes or wind turbines in their communities, and by American businesses building advanced natural gas turbines and lithium-ion batteries is the kind of leadership we need echoed by our politicians if we are to truly create a cleaner, stronger and more prosperous America for our children.
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