Any chance current US reserves are a way-station on the road to renewable energy? As opposed to oil, we seem to have a very high proven reserve:

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2179rank.html

http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/international/reserves.html

As far as I can tell from actually reading the speech, Obama neither supports nor endorses additional offshore drilling.

In particular, see this paragraph:

Like all compromises, this one has its drawbacks. It includes a limited amount of new offshore drilling, and while I still don’t believe that’s a particularly meaningful short-term or long-term solution, I am willing to consider it if it’s necessary to actually pass a comprehensive plan. I am not interested in making the perfect the enemy of the good – particularly since there is so much good in this compromise that would actually reduce our dependence on foreign oil.

When someone calls something a "drawback" and notes correctly that it's not a "meaningful solution", that doesn't sound like a supportive endorsement to me.

But I'm not a pundit, nor am I someone who gets my information from skimming headlines, so maybe I'm just handicapped by being over-informed.

I have no problem with compromises, although at this point in the game we're running about a 10,000 item deficit of compromises and examples of bi-partisanship from the Republicans.

I do have a problem with drilling not only because of the environmental issues but also because this is just another giveaway to the oil companies.

If making record profits isn't enough to get them off the taxpayer's teet, then what is?

there would be off-shore oil drilling where there wasn't before under his watch. That is a flip-flop. Daily it becomes more difficult to take his campaign seriously.

What can they say now? He has in principle agreed to more drilling in exchange for rolling-back tax breaks for oil cos. The Repubs would eat each other on that point and he gets to say 'hey, I agreed to drill.'

Regardless, it makes perfect sense to expand our oil capbilities here. Even if we won't see any affect for 10 years, we'll be glad we did in 10 years. Every barrel of oil we can get from ourselves is a barrel of oil that we don't depend on Saudi Arabia/Venezuela for.

Hopefully, in 10 years, we'll have expanded forms of other energy sources, and we can use our own oil for the multitude of other uses we need it for, besides burning it.

He picked Michigan because Michigan is the Auto State, and he believes he is being sly or something regarding more oil. But Michigan also is the Great Lakes State. Michigan is a big huntin' and fishin' place, and a sailing, windsurfing place where people care about the water and the air and the trees and the animals.

The only existing good cooperative connection between the American political left and the American political right is between lefty tree-huggers and righty hunters and fishermen. If Barack were as smart as he thinks he is, he would have given a nuanced speech about pristine nature versus oil spills in Lake Michigan.

Somebody needs to lead, rather than compromise. This issue looks a lot like the FISA issue. Barack believes he will get credit for compromising, but he should lead instead.

Sorry....

Who cares about offshore drilling- it's a mcguffin in movie terms - the oil companies already own leases for millions of undeveloped acres on the OCS and refuse or are not able to exploit them - I'll be trlu surprised if any new offshore drillng takes place before oil in general is a forgotten throwback. All this is is a way for the oil companies to sit on more land and drive the price up over time.

Get over it, it's not a flip flop, it's a smart compromise to get some other needed policy changes underway.

A nuanced and comprehensive speech? Yeah, that won't work.

A few lines Obama could have used, mid-speech:

“Republicans like to mock ideas, especially if the ideas don’t come from their friends in the big oil companies. They mock conservation, and efficient vehicles. They joke about the idea that unions make America stronger. But, the situation we face now is not funny. The American people know that it is not a joking matter.

“If you are a factory worker in Michigan, you know that efficient vehicles just make good sense. With gas near record high prices, you want your own vehicle to go further on a tank. You know fuel efficiency is a good idea even if John McCain tries to convince you to build a less efficient vehicle. No amount of Republican sarcasm is going to turn a good idea into a bad one. The American people know better.

“You know it is not funny when promises that were made to you, promises about health care and job security, are broken. It’s not a joke when you work hard your whole life just to see a CEO who made bad decisions get 100 million dollar paycheck.

“And we all know it’s no joke when we face an energy crisis. It is not time for cynical mockery. It is not time for the Republican politics of dismissal and distraction. It is time for American ingenuity and common sense.

“It’s common sense to do things that work. We know, we know, that having more efficient vehicles will help ease the energy burden. We know that hard-working people deserve better. It’s common sense to recognize that corporations should keep their promises. We learn the value of honesty in our churches and synagogues, and we teach honesty to our children.

“But my Republican opponents are not being honest with the American people. John McCain knows in his heart, just like you know, that we cannot simply drill our way out of this. He knows that the trouble in Michigan and in other parts of the country hard-hit by Bush’s economic policies is not the union of hard-working men and women trying to food on the table. Senator McCain knows that the politics and economics of the Bush administration have made things worse rather than better, and he endorses the Bush approach anyway.

“He knows this, but chooses to turn his back on the very people who make America great. He chooses, at this most serious of times, to campaign on badly written jokes and silly videos, rather than on ideas and hard work. My opponents would rather give tax breaks to oil companies than help lower the cost of college tuition for your children.

“America deserves better. In November you will be asked to elect a president, not a class clown.”

See, no nuance ;)