Certainly it is a problem for Bush that this story is breaking now.

The odds of letting states opt out of coastal moratorium in return for a share of offshore royalties are much higher. There is sufficient momentum behind this idea that it is going to take more than objections from Florida to stop it.

I fear that as usual Congress is lagging and they will address a problem long after it is pressing.

Last year was the last best chance for quite a while. If the Republicans lose any Senate seats this fall, as they well might, they will need to wait until they have a Senate majority willing to move this again.

These are issues that transcend previous party distinctions, where you have a very strong coalition between republicans who are willing to deregulate and do whatever it takes to get government out of business's way, and new democrats, who are very tech-friendly,

The real problem from a consumer perspective is a shortage of refined product, and it is unclear to me how they are going to get crude from storage facilities on the Gulf Coast to refineries on the Gulf Coast,