If only we could get a little less partisanship and a little more cooperation:

There is only one way to drive down the rising cost of gasoline for the long term: significantly increase the domestic supply of oil. We are the only nation in the world with access to known oil deposits on our own land or off our shores that essentially refuses to tap those resources. The main stumbling block is a lack of political consensus, which is in especially short supply in an election year. Instead of coming up with real solutions to our growing energy crisis, the Democrats in Congress would rather rail against the oil companies. But oil company executives don’t set the price of oil — and taxing their companies more won’t do anything to lower the cost of gasoline at the pump.

President Bush has now stepped into the fray by asking Congress to lift a ban on offshore drilling, remove prohibitions on leasing federal lands for oil shale exploration, and permit oil exploration in a small portion of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). He also called for expediting the process to build new oil refineries. His plan is not a short-term fix but one that could put the United States back in the business of taking care of our own needs rather than relying on supplies from unstable countries and avaricious cartels.

What’s disturbing about the debate over domestic drilling is how many of the people who oppose drilling, most notably Barack Obama, do so by saying that there would be no short-term impact on fuel prices.  That’s probably true, but aren’t good leaders often defined by their tendency to make good decisions for the long term while ignoring the temptation to pander to short-term interests?