Oil spill clouds future of energy, climate bill

WASHINGTON - The Gulf oil spill has dealt a big blow to expanded offshore drilling, leaving the nation's energy problems as murky and unsettled as ever.

The disaster may bolster arguments for greater energy conservation and renewable energy sources such as wind and solar, environmentalists say. But it's hard to see any other political beneficiaries, and under the best of scenarios, few experts think the nation's thirst for foreign oil will abate for years to come.

Apart from the deaths of 11 oil rig workers and the environmental damage to the Gulf and southeastern coastlines, the spill has hurt an array of political causes. At best it's an embarrassment to President Barack Obama. He recently had embraced expanded offshore drilling in hopes of winning Republican support for a broad-ranging energy bill that would include efforts to limit heat-trapping gases.

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