The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal Editorial, 9/17/8
The U.S. House of Representatives passed an energy bill late Tuesday that would allow offshore drilling and provides for intensified development of alternative energy sources, a generally positive step, but it’s not the complete answer.
We hope it becomes part of the basis for a House-Senate-conference committee that can hammer out a final compromise.
Rep. Travis Childers, D-Booneville correctly voted for the measure.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., under acute pressure from within her own party, abandoned her unqualified opposition to offshore drilling for oil on the continental shelf, but the bill she allowed to move forward has significant flaws that could be corrected using a proposed, bipartisan Senate compromise.
The bipartisan compromise crafted by the so-called Gang of 20 (10 Republicans and 10 Democrats) gives ground from the set-in-concrete positions of hard-core partisans in both parties, and it offers a vehicle for progress on the major energy fronts.
Magnolia Tribune
