Drill here, drill now?

For all the right wing rants about President Barack Obama being so far to the left, it is pretty clear (to all but them) that he occupies turf well in the mainstream. Healthcare reform, if you ignore the tainted tea baggers' distortions, brings only modest change that is still market-based (i.e. insurance companies still calling most of the shots). Despite the irrational fears hawked by the NRA and others, President Obama has done nothing that remotely diminishes gun rights.

And now, to the obvious delight of the "drill here, drill now" advocates including Governor Bob McDonnell, the president will open vast areas off the east coast to oil exploration and drilling. His announcement will come today at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland and could mean lease sales beginning in 2012. As shown in the New York Times map, the first lease could be in a triangular tract about 50 miles off the Virginia coast. Don't go counting Virginia's royalties and looking for lower gas prices just yet - any oil and gas reserves are largely unknown because the seismic data are three decades old. Some estimates say two to three years of oil and gas (at current consumption rates) may be recoverable.

That's generally the same area where wind resources could provide sustainable, clean energy for decades, not just a few years. Maybe some smart engineers and politicians (?) can figure a good way for the oil/gas infrastructure to have a second green life finding answers to our energy needs blowing in the wind.