In the oil spill, an opportunity

In the weeks following the BP oil well rupture, the response by President Barack Obama and Gov. Bob McDonnell was marked by a fretful hesitation to fully confront the ramifications of the catastrophe. Last week finally brought signs that both men are now taking a more pragmatic approach to the crisis.

Obama accepted responsibility for quelling the undersea hemorrhage and cleaning up the mess. McDonnell acknowledged the wisdom in delaying plans for new drilling off Virginia's coast, though he expressed regret that the president went further than that and canceled new exploration.

The question facing each man this week is whether he will grasp the opportunity for leadership presented by the crisis or become mired in its oily trap.

Obama's task is twofold. First, he must clean up the incestuous culture that exists between federal regulators and the oil industry. More importantly, he must lead the country to face the fact that it has no comprehensive energy plan, and the continued failure to devise one will bring painful and disruptive consequences.

Americans must decide whether our love affair with dirty fossil fuels is so ingrained that we are willing to endanger our economy and our most precious natural resources. If not, what steps are we prepared to take over the next five, 10 and 20 years to re-invent and recharge our energy policies? That's an important conversation, but one that won't happen until the president takes the lead.

The challenge facing McDonnell is more parochial, but it is one that has flummoxed Republican and Democratic governors for a quarter century. The transportation plan McDonnell unveiled last year included revenues he hoped to secure from royalties paid by oil companies with rigs in the Atlantic. By including those uncertain dollars in his plan, he acknowledged that Virginia needs more money in order to pursue new road and rail projects.

That hasn't changed.

What changed last week is that McDonnell knows with certainty that Virginia will not see a dollar of oil royalties during his term, if ever. While that's a disappointment, it is nevertheless a gift to have the issue settled four months into his term. Rather than waste years waiting for imaginary riches, he now has time to revise and implement a more realistic blueprint for relieving traffic congestion and investing in vital infrastructure.

The plan he released last summer was already unraveling before the oil spill. Resistance from federal authorities forced him to back away from his proposal to use tolls from Interstate 85 to fund a new U.S. 460. The General Assembly remains unenthusiastic about his plan to privatize state liquor stores and use the revenues for roads.

McDonnell made a mistake in rejecting a gas tax increase as a gubernatorial candidate. His many years of experience should have taught him that he would need to remain flexible in order to achieve his goals. But it would be uncharacteristic of McDonnell to throw up his hands in defeat at these setbacks. Instead, he must revise what was always a first draft into a mature and workable plan for making good on his most important campaign promise.