"Drill, baby, drill!" was a 2008

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

campaign slogan first used at the

2008 Republican National Convention The 2008 Republican National Convention took place at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota, from September 1, through September 4, 2008. The first day of the Republican Party's convention fell on Labor Day, the last day of the popul ...

by former Maryland Lieutenant Governor

Michael Steele Michael Stephen Steele (born October 19, 1958) is an American political commentator, attorney, and Republican Party politician. Steele served as the seventh lieutenant governor of Maryland from 2003 to 2007; he was the first African-American ...

, who was later elected Chairman of the

Republican National Committee The Republican National Committee (RNC) is a U.S. Political action committee, political committee that assists the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republi ...

. The slogan expressed support for increased drilling for

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...

and

gas Gas is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being solid, liquid, and plasma). A pure gas may be made up of individual atoms (e.g. a noble gas like neon), elemental molecules made from one type of atom (e.g. oxygen), or ...

as sources of additional energy and gained further prominence after it was used by Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin during the vice-presidential debate.

Vice Presidential debate

On October 2, 2008, at the vice-presidential debate between Sarah Palin and Joe Biden, "drill, baby, drill" reached a new prominence. Joe Biden, referring to the energy crisis and McCain's 20 votes against funding solar and wind energy, stated that McCain thinks "the only answer is drill, drill, drill. Drill we must, but it will take 10 years for one drop of oil to come out of any of the wells that are going to be drilled." Palin responded by saying, "The chant is 'drill, baby, drill.' And that's what we hear all across this country in our rallies because people are so hungry for those domestic sources of energy to be tapped into."

Aftermath of the BP oil spill

Republicans continued to use the slogan after the 2008 election. In 2010, however, the slogan received renewed attention because of the ''Deepwater Horizon'' oil spill, a major oil spill at a BP offshore

drilling rig A drilling rig is an integrated system that drills wells, such as oil or water wells, or holes for piling and other construction purposes, into the earth's subsurface. Drilling rigs can be massive structures housing equipment used to drill wa ...

in the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...

. The spill caused extensive environmental damages and economic losses estimated in the billions of dollars. As a result, some proponents of "Drill, baby, drill" became embarrassed about their previous support. The slogan was parodied as "Spill, baby, spill", and "Kill, baby, Kill". Two senior Republican Senators, Jon Kyl and

Pat Roberts Charles Patrick Roberts (born April 20, 1936) is a retired American politician and journalist who served as a United States senator from Kansas from 1997 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, Roberts served 8 terms in the U.S. House of Rep ...

, made comments attempting to distance themselves and the Republican Party from the slogan.

Parody

One of several adult film parodies that featured Sarah Palin-like characters was titled ''Drill Baby Drill'' by

Penthouse Penthouse most often refers to: *Penthouse apartment, a special apartment on the top floor of a building *Penthouse (magazine), ''Penthouse'' (magazine), a British-founded men's magazine *Mechanical penthouse, a floor, typically located directly u ...

Features.

Legacy

Fred Krupp use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = , nationality = , citizenship = , education = Yale University, University of ...

of the

Environmental Defense Fund Environmental Defense Fund or EDF (formerly known as Environmental Defense) is a United States-based nonprofit environmental advocacy group. The group is known for its work on issues including global warming, ecosystem restoration, oceans, and hu ...

in 2014 harkened back to the "drill baby" phrase as he launched a renewed effort to limit the

environmental impact of hydraulic fracturing The environmental impact of fracking is related to land use and water consumption, air emissions, including methane emissions, brine and fracturing fluid leakage, water contamination, noise pollution, and health. Water and air pollution are the bi ...

(fracking).Krupp, Fred
"Don't Just Drill, Baby -- Drill Carefully: How to Make Fracking Safer for the Environment"
''Foreign Affairs'' magazine, May/June 2014. Article discusse
in Krupp t'v. interview
, '' Charlie Rose'', aired 05/15/2014; minutes 36-53. Retrieved 2014-07-30.

References

{{Sarah Palin American political catchphrases Michael Steele Petroleum in the United States 2008 United States presidential election Climate change denial

Vice Presidential debate

Aftermath of the BP oil spill

Parody

Legacy

See also

References