Political correctness is that we should not drill for oil, for more oil will not solve the problem of high and rising fuel prices. Which political correctness the mainstream media firmly endorse.
There are multiple bans on oil drilling. Bush ended one of them, which had no immediate effect on oil drilling, for other bans in place. But it had immediate psychological effect. Oil prices immediate dropped about eighteen dollars, a huge drop, which the press is frantically trying to explain away with any explanation other than the glaringly obvious one.
If the politicians suspended enough bans that drilling actually became legal again, we would therefore see an immediate and considerably bigger drop in the price of oil, even before any actual drilling takes place, for sellers of oil, expecting competition to cut their prices in future, would sell oil right now, to take advantage of present high prices.
The price of oil is absurdly high, because sellers of oil observe that the high price is not leading anyone to go out and get more oil, from which they conclude that oil can only go higher still, so they might as well sit on it.