Barack Obama decides to allow drilling

Barack Obama has decided to lift restrictions on drilling on the Alaskan coast and the Atlantic coast. This is an excellent decision, but I’m hoping it is only a first step, rather than the whole plan. I’d also like to see this linked to a broader national security strategy.

Ideally, the President would have allowed drilling along the entire Atlantic and Pacific coasts, Alaska, and the Gulf of Mexico. Some would agree, since it would possibly reduce prices, since the supply would increase, while environmentalists would be strongly opposed. Of course, neither of these considerations is as important as national security. After all, what good is a strong economy or clean environment if your life is threatened by foreign enemies?

The United States needs to increase domestic oil production, then reduce foreign imports by an equal amount. The less oil that is imported into the United States, the less dependent we are on foreign countries. It’s hard to be secure when you depend on potential enemies for a resource that is a large part of your economy. It seems like a common sense idea to me, so why aren’t more people pushing for this change?