From POLITICO:

Obama talked about America’s dependence on fossil fuels and how we could not “transition out of a fossil-fuel-based economy overnight. We can’t do it in five years. We can’t even do it in 10. So we’re going to continue to need to develop domestic oil consumption. We’re going to still need oil exports. And if it’s safe, then offshore drilling can be a part of that.”

He said, however, we have to invest in research and continue development of new resources building on the work that’s already been done on “solar and wind and biodiesel and energy efficiency in cars and buildings.”

“And if we don’t, then accidents are going to happen again,” he said. “They may not be of this size and this scope, but we’re going to continue to see big problems.”

If the government doesn’t invest in green energy, accidents are going to happen? Huh? Accidents are going to happen, period. Accidents have been happening since the dawn of time, and many evolutionists would even have you believe that our very existence is an accident. Even if, at some distant point in the future, we don’t use oil for our energy, whatever the new means are will be accident-prone. It’s just the way life is. Before people died in car crashes, they died in horse-drawn buggies. No amount of government regulation is going to fix that.

Obama also talked about what he considers a key issue: the role of the federal government. “I will say that there is a debate that we’ve been having for a long time and we’re going to keep on having in this country about the proper role of government,” he said. “And I think that this crisis has been a good case study in how some people feel pretty contradictory about that role.

“Some of the same folks who have been hollering and saying ‘do something’ are the same folks who, just two or three months ago, were suggesting that government needs to stop doing so much. Some of the same people who are saying the president needs to show leadership and solve this problem are some of the same folks who, just a few months ago, were saying, this guy is trying to engineer a takeover of our society through the federal government that is going to restrict our freedoms.”

There was some real irritation in his voice when he said: “And so — and this translates into very concrete terms — I think it’s fair to say, if six months ago, before this spill had happened, I had gone up to Congress and I had said we need to crack down a lot harder on oil companies, and we need to spend more money on technology to respond in case of a catastrophic spill, there are folks up there, who will not be named, who would have said this is classic, Big Government over-regulation and wasteful spending.” (Emphasis mine)

If people can’t understand the difference between the government taking over private business and the government responding to a natural disaster in a timely manner, then there’s nothing I can do. No one is asking the government to crack down harder on oil companies.

I would like to ask that the safety procedures already in place be followed. BP may have been negligent, but the government turned a blind eye and rubber-stamped its approval.

I would also like to ask that the government not stand in the way of people offering to help. Just three days after the explosion, the Dutch government offered to send ships outfitted with oil-skimming booms. The White House declined the offer.

Maybe, just maybe, the federal government can step back and let state and local governments do what they need to do to protect their constituents. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal requested boom barriers right away, and was apparently brushed off by the federal government.

What the heck good is a government that bankrupts us, but doesn’t help us in our hour of need? What is the point?

I swear I’m getting more and more libertarian everyday.

*grumble*