I've been thinking about all the feedback here and I think I'm finally understanding what I was trying to say with the song.

Michael said it doesn't sound like a protest song. He's right. But maybe it wasn't meant to be one. The song isn't about protesting climate change anymore. It's about looking back at the chances we had to prevent it and realizing that we waited too long. If we've passed some of the points where the damage can no longer be fully reversed, then protesting won't undo what's already happening. All that's left is to deal with the consequences. That's why the music is melancholic and almost laid-back rather than angry. Bill actually nailed it when he described it as “resigned. Minor chord sad.” That's exactly what I was feeling when I wrote this.

The lyrics look at the rivers running dry, the oceans warming, the ice melting, the fires and increasingly violent storms. And the bridge says what the whole song is really about:

We had the time
We had the means
We had a choice
Between the fire and the green

We had choices. We knew what was happening. And we didn't act.

So “Drill Baby Drill” isn't really a battle cry. It's the bitter irony of continuing to repeat the same slogan after we've already seen where that road leads.

Thanks again for all the feedback. It made me think more deeply about what I wanted to say with this song.