Obama on Energy and the Environment

Obama looks uncomfortable--maybe he's tired. I've been watching the president-elect roll out his energy team. Concluding the presentation, Obama fielded a few questions, including one or two about the Blago scandal. Two observations:

(1) During the introduction to the Obama energy team and during each member's brief comments there existed this strange "we're going to save the world" feel. Completely understandable during the campaigning season, it seemed a bit strange--dare I say over the top?--here. Don't get me wrong, I think Obama's handled most things very well so far (I'm not sure McCain would have been so organized, for example). In the interest of practicality, though, I would expect the president-elect to start detailing smaller achievable goals, which he can then build on later. Instead I'm hearing Bush-like rhetoric applied to environmental goals. There is one expection.

(2) Obama is, not completely unsurprisingly, back-tracking from his initial insistence against off-shore drilling. At the press conference he notes that he, while campaigning, did allow for the possibility of off-shore drilling as long as it was part of a comprehensive strategy to rid ourselves of dependence upon foreign oil. Well, sort of. He arrived at this particular position only late in the game, after McCain (in my view) outmaneuvered the president-elect on this issue (even if it didn't make much difference in the long run). Initially he completely opposed lifting the ban on off-shore drilling. I am pleased he is showing himself to be practical with this issue, as he seems to be doing with foreign policy as well.