O-Man Goes With Offshore Drilling In Va., Fla.

"VICTORY is getting what you are willing to accept at a
price you are willing to pay." - Col. Dave McIntyre

President Barack Obama employed classic bait and switch
tactics, saying he will allow offshore drilling in Virginia
and Florida, but prohibit the same in certain prized Alaska
oilfields.

A complete reversal of his campaign rhetoric, the move is
obviously a stab at reconciliation with conservative
petroleum interests. He had insisted upon a complete
reduction of reliance on carbon fuels during the campaign,
then augmented his posture in the State of the Union
Address, calling for biofuel and renewable energy source
development above all else.

The mechanics of the deal are these.

The Administration is willing to allow offshore drilling 50
miles from the Virginia coastline and 125 miles from
Florida's Gulf of Mexico shores.

He and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced that
proposed leases in Alaska's Bristol Bay will be cancelled,
along with a reversal of earlier announced plans to open
leases in parts of the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas.

In these areas, scientists would conduct further studies to
see if they are suitable for future drilling.

The come to Jesus energy move is apparently not working
among conservative energy professionals in the central Texas
area.

Reached for comment, two knowledgeable College Station
sources responded in this way.

Bill Flores, former CEO of Phoenix Exploration, a man who
has raised as much as $350 million from investors groups for
Gulf Coast offshore driling operations, called the
President's decision a "baby step" in the right direction,
something that "mirrors" cap and trade.

He is a runoff candidate for the Republican nomination to
oppose Chet Edwards for House of Representatives District
17.

"If elected to Congress, I intend to draw on my decades of
energy industry experience to advocate for sensible energy
policies, to create jobs, and to grow our economy," said Mr.
Flores.

Calling for more details, he added, "This was a nice sound
bite from the President. But his Administration and this
Congress have shown an alarming prejudice against producing
more energy from America’s vast natural resources. We will
wait to see if this is one more promise from President Obama
that is not kept."

Flores spent the last 20 years in senior roles at energy
services and oil and gas companies, retiring in December
2009, as CEO of Phoenix Exploration.

"Today’s announcement, which does not open up the Arctic
National Wildlife of Alaska and which ensures that China
will remain the only country developing oil resources off
the coast between Florida and Cuba, will provide a limited
benefit for the country," said Mr. Flores.

A recent report issued by the National Association of
Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) found that efforts
to limit natural gas production onshore and wider oil
production from offshore drilling in places like ANWR will
decrease America’s Gross Domestic Product by $2.36 trillion
over the next 20 years. "The Obama administration’s proposal
keeps many of the current offshore limitations in place,"
said Mr. Flores.

"My fear is that, if you step back and look at the larger
initiative embedded in the President’s proposal, which
mirrors Cap and Trade, President Obama and Speaker Nancy
Pelosi both want our country to go down yet another path of
enacting legislation that will destroy our economy," said
Mr. Flores.

His plan for energy development:

1) Greatly expanding access to domestic supplies of energy
to create tens of thousands of American jobs by producing
American energy, lessening our dependence on foreign sources
of energy;

2) Greatly increasing the availability of baseload
electricity generation from nuclear power;

3) Encouraging Americans to find innovative ways to conserve
energy;

4) Over time, expanding the use of alternative fuels,
including solar, wind, biofuels, and other renewable sources

Colonel Dave McIntyre, a candidate for the same office who
was eliminated in the Republican Primary, coming in third to
Rob Curnock's second place, said, "Over the last year to 14
months, the Obama Administration has been coming to grips
with reality. In area after area, they have been starting
to change their perspective to reflect that reality. This
looks like one more area in which they're doing that. At
one time, during the campaign, they had made the statement
that they wanted to completely eliminate a reliance on all
carbon fuels, but that is obviously no longer a part of the
plan."

He is a Homeland Security Expert who taught at the National
War College and served in the Office of the Chief of Staff
at the Pentagon during a 30-year U.S. Army career that
started at West Point and in the Airborne. He quit his
position at Texas A&M University directing a doctoral
program in Homeland Security to seek the office of
Congressman and is now actively consulting on such issues as
border security and bioterror. His website is at
http://www.thinkingenemy.com