The decision last week from the current administration that opens most of the US coast to offshore drilling (Florida used a combination of bravado and boot-licking to get its exemption), is a huge step backward for the country and for the ocean. It’s a rare moment of solidarity between coastal state Governors of both parties – none of them want it to happen – but it is a sad indication of the very real threat that continued fossil fuel dependence holds for us as a nation. A cautionary moment.

Other countries are taking different routes to the future. None of them are planning for long-term expanding fossil fuel consumption. Well, almost none.

The only way we can go is forward. There is no reset button, no way to return to the past, no matter how badly some people may want it to be possible. The Secretary of the Interior said that this proposal is part of, “a new path for energy dominance in America,” but this is a well-traveled road that we are speeding down, built at considerable taxpayer expense, not some bold exploration to find the future. Saying something doesn’t make it so.