Via Google News:

US President George W. Bush on Wednesday drew on surging fuel prices and growing public support for offshore drilling to reiterate his call for Congress to allow the practice in order to curb an energy crisis.

“There is now a growing agreement across our country that the government should permit the exploration and development of these offshore oil resources,” Bush said after a meeting with his cabinet to discuss energy.

So many things about this story drive me crazy. First of all, this has nothing to do with the story itself, but the way Bush presents his opinions as fact is a constant source of frustration. “There is now a growing agreement across our country that the government should permit the exploration and development of these offshore oil resources.” What that says to you, the isolated individual, is “everyone thinks this is a good idea but you.” It’s a classic bullying tactic to make those who aren’t of the same opinion feel like they’re weirdos, or they don’t know what they’re talking about, or it’s useless to fight against because you can’t stop the tide of growing agreement.

Meanwhile, the only place where there is actually growing agreement is that high gas prices suck ass. We don’t give a damn where the oil comes from, as long as our cars can continue to be propelled forward in the manner to which we are accustomed. No one is thinking, “please drill offshore! But if there’s more gas found in Texas, we don’t want it!” We’re thinking, “holy mother of god I just spent 25% of my income to fill up the tank! Where is there more oil? Offshore? Sure! Great! Give it to me!”

And this would all be well and good if we really knew that drilling offshore was going to give us cheaper gas or decrease our dependence on foreign oil. Not that it would be an optimal situation, but at least I could understand that somewhere in the back of his mind, Bush might have the best interests of the country at heart. However:

But analysts say that renewed offshore drilling would have little impact on gas prices anytime soon.

It would take at least a decade for oil companies to obtain permits, procure equipment, and do the exploration necessary to get the oil out of the ground, most industry analysts say. And even then, they add, the amount of new oil produced would probably be too small to significantly affect world oil prices.

This is not a political issue. It’s not a situation where Democrats say it’s going to take the oil companies at least a decade to obtain permits and procure equipment, while Republicans say they would be able to drill instantly. It is a fact that it’s not physically possible to set up these oil rigs in less than a decade. Now, how many members of this vast new swath of Americans who support offshore drilling do you think understand that even if we started working on it today, our gas prices would continue to climb for 10 mother freaking years?

So, obviously, offshore drilling is a crock, and the American people should know this information. How is it presented in our original, unbiased news story?

Earlier this month House Speaker Nancy Pelosi derided Bush’s offshore drilling plan as “a hoax,” stressing it would neither reduce gas prices nor increase energy independence, and instead urged Bush to bring some of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve stockpile to market, a move Bush rejected.

You catch that? Nancy Pelosi is deriding it as “a hoax.” She has her opinion, Bush has his. Who could say what the reality is in this situation? Certainly not the press!

And don’t even get me started on “clean coal.” If you want to know the facts, check out this fascinating article from Rolling Stone.