Thanks, Mr. Prez

Deciding that a war of words alone with Congressional Democrats wasn’t getting anything done, the President announced today that he was lifting the executive order that solidified the ban on domestic offshore drilling – an executive ban originally put in place by his father:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President George W. Bush on Monday lifted a White House ban on offshore drilling to try to drive down soaring energy prices, a largely symbolic bid unlikely to have any short-term impact on high gasoline costs.

With prices at the pump over $4 a gallon, Bush pushed the Democratic-controlled Congress to expand offshore oil and natural gas drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf and give oil companies access to the Arctic Wildlife National Refuge.

High gasoline prices and soaring food prices have irked American consumers in a presidential election year, when Bush’s Republicans are trying to keep the White House and wrest control of Congress back from Democrats.

“Today, I’ve taken every step within my power to allow offshore exploration,” Bush told reporters. “This means the only thing standing between the American people and these vast oil resources is action from the U.S. Congress.”

Congress too has a ban on offshore drilling and while it expires on September 30, it could be renewed. Plus, federal officials say it would take years for any oil to be produced in those areas, together making Bush’s move largely symbolic.

Here’s video of the President announcing his decision:

Power Line has an informative graph showing just how much offshore drilling is currently allowed here in the US. The answer? Exactly 3%.

Rest assured that the Congressional ban on offshore drilling will stay in place, primarily courtesy of the Democrats in Congress, who are just biding their time in hopes that Barack Obama will be elected president so they’ll have carte blanche to enact a left-wing energy policy that will take years before the impact on the consumer can be gauged, perhaps even more years than it would to crank up domestic offshore oil drilling.

Of course, it’s never a good idea to govern by polls, but since Democrats are obsessed with following the polls, I guess it’s safe to say that the only time they cite poll numbers approvingly as an excuse to enact or ban something is when the number agrees with their position on an issue. On the other hand …