Leadership Quote by Virgil Goode

A politician’s favorite trick is to promise change without threatening anyone’s paycheck, and Virgil Goode’s line is a neat specimen. It’s built on a soothing “even as” pivot: yes to more petroleum, yes to alternatives. The sentence doesn’t choose a side so much as choreograph a truce between constituencies that don’t trust each other - fossil fuel interests and voters who want cleaner air without higher prices. The rhetoric is additive, not disruptive: “develop more sources” implies expansion and security; “continue our vigorous pursuit” implies we’re already responsibly on it. Nobody has to admit the current path is insufficient.

The subtext is energy politics as risk management. By pairing “petroleum” with “cleaner, more efficient,” Goode frames the transition as a technical upgrade rather than a moral reckoning or a regulatory fight. “Alternative fuels” are presented as a future-proofing accessory, not a replacement. The audience is invited to feel pragmatic: we can drill and innovate; we can hedge and hope. It’s a language of reassurance designed for an electorate trained to fear scarcity (foreign oil, price spikes) and resent sacrifice (higher bills, lifestyle changes).

Contextually, this sits squarely in the post-1970s American energy script that intensifies whenever gasoline prices rise or geopolitical instability flares. It’s also a way to endorse “clean” without naming climate change, emissions limits, or the political costs of decarbonization. The cleverness is in its vagueness: “vigorous pursuit” sounds like action, but it’s a commitment to motion, not a commitment to arrival.