There has been a lot of complaining going on over the speech from the President last night from the Oval Office for what it did and did not contain.

The common complaints I've heard so far are that he didn't push hard enough for a green energy bill and that he was pushing too hard for a green energy bill.  This morning Republicans are attacking President Obama for alluding to cap and trade in his speech, even though he never mentioned it, saying that he is exploiting the crisis.  On the other side of the coin, Democratic talking heads and voters are angry that the President didn't come out with a clear direction for a climate bill before the November midterm elections.

Much of this is political posturing considering there isn't much the President can do other than what he has already done, but it's understandable that people are frightened and are looking for leadership.  Last night's speech was written for those who live in Gulf states and was an appeal to their sensibilities that he had heard them and emphasizes with them.  So far it seems that people down south are taking the President at his word that BP will pay out claims in a timely manner and for the cleanup, but livelihoods and jobs in general are topping the list of concerns.

That's really the big problem facing the President and the White House.  We're already in a depressed economy and recent polling in Louisiana shows that support for offshore drilling is still over 70% which makes sense when thousands of people along the coast work in the oil and gas industry.  On top of that, there are no other large industries ready and waiting in the background able to offset job losses not only from the oil spill, but from a permanent cessation to drilling offshore.  I think that is why the President's address last night went down the middle of the road so to speak.  If President Obama is anything, he's practical in how he looks at situations, as evidenced by how he tackled health-care reform. 

In this situation drilling isn't going to stop, but it is possible to continue to drill and make obscene profits all while moving forward with a greater focus on safety and investment in cleanup technologies.  This situation also calls for movement on investing in new green energy industries to replace the oil industry as it becomes more and more difficult to acquire.  I believe that while somewhat subtle, President Obama did a good job of connecting the dots between the Gulf oil spill and how oil and other natural resources have helped fuel our foreign wars, two of which are still ongoing. 

That's the question he was putting to America last night.  Are these wars and a disaster in the Gulf of Mexico enough to convince the voters to invest in new green energy industries?  Doing nothing won't stop the inevitable rise of oil and gas prices.