Mary Landrieu: End Offshore Drilling Moratorium Now (VIDEO)

NEW ORLEANS -- Despite the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu is reiterating her call to end the Obama administration's moratorium on deepwater drilling, saying it will cause economic hardship in the region.

Speaking Thursday on ABC's "Good Morning America," Landrieu said the moratorium was issued without much economic analysis and said the deepwater rigs in the Gulf "employ, directly, hundreds of people and indirectly thousands."

Landrieu said the rigs' safety must be ensured but they should then be allowed to get back to work.

Her comments come as efforts continue to cap a blown out well that began spewing oil into the Gulf after an April explosion on a rig that killed 11 workers.

WATCH Landrieu On Good Morning America:

Quick Poll

Should offshore drilling resume soon?

What? That's crazy!

It's a tough situation, but we need to get the rigs back to work.

Maybe, only if we can be sure it's much safer.

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Comments

[ZeraLee]

01:57 AM on 06/20/2010

Since BP has agreed to pay the salaries of rig workers idled by the moratorium, it should not have the economic impact she is worried about.

[Orcas Island]

03:51 PM on 06/18/2010

Actually, a better idea would be to end Sen. Mary Landrieu's term as soon as possible.

[blue53]

12:51 PM on 06/17/2010

Mary voted against the jobs bill yesterday, all with all of her gulf coast buddies. How about we call a moratorium on the Coast Guard and every other Federal agency's participation in the gulf. Call your friends in private industry and the church--you pay them to clean up, and call them when the next hurricane hits too.

Why are jobs in the Gulf any more important than anywhere else in this country?

[InfernoTIE]

02:05 PM on 06/19/2010

They might get things cleaned up sooner if they call off the coast guard. After all, they stopped the barges from sucking up the oil because they did not have enough life jackets.

http://dailycaller.com/2010/06/18/coast-guard-defends-grounding-oil-sucking-barges-in-gulf/

[Charles Yeganian]

07:02 PM on 06/14/2010

While it seems odd to talk about politics when real life continues to wash ashore on the coast of the Gulf, it's kind of a relief to be able to put things in these terms.

So, in doing so, a couple of things are obvious: First, the public has turned definitively against offshore drilling. They're more and more likely to think that the spill in the Gulf is part and parcel of having oil rigs off our coastline.

Second, there are a number of politicians, particularly Marco Rubio, that have NOT changed their mind about offshore drilling. What will the ramifications be for them as we move towards the November midterms? Landrieu may have the luxury of time, but many Republicans will have to stick to their guns over this summer, or adapt to the new reality.

http://bit.ly/9M2jFX

[busterbrownthefirst]

01:31 PM on 06/14/2010

This woman is beyond stupid. Why doesn't she instead call on Obama for a huge green jobs program, sort of like the public works programs in the Great Depression? With manufacturing hubs in the places that would be hardest hit by our conversion to clean energy sources. Like say Detroit. West Virginia. ALL of the Gulf states with a significant portion of the workforce employed by oil corporations. We already dump more money into Louisiana than they pay in. My state, Colorado, subsidizes a portion of hers. I'd like to see some bang for my federal buck.

Landreau should be tarred and feathered and run out of town. You would think this gargantuan spill would have gotten the message across but...NOT! She makes that Greene character from South Carolina look like a rocket scientist.

[Free2BeMe]

12:40 AM on 06/14/2010

Before ANY offshore drilling rig is given permission to drill or continue to drill, a law must be passed to REQUIRE an acoustic switch system, a backup drilling pipe, and a representative of the enforcement section of U.S. Minerals Management Service present when the well is capped off.

Until at least these three things are mandated I cannot support offshore drilling.

[busterbrownthefirst]

01:36 PM on 06/14/2010

Well, why not just stop supporting it period. We need to get off oil and if there was ever an appropriate year, this would be the one. Time to move beyond 1900.

[Free2BeMe]

11:09 AM on 06/17/2010

Completely stopping offshore oil drilling would be my first choice also. Unfortunately we are saddled with elected officials who vote to preserve corporate domination of our economy. Corporate media is so pervasive that only corporate messages are fed to the willingly blinded. Unless people are curious about what is actually happening to their public land, liberties, economy, ....they are content to listen only to spin.

If offshore drilling is to be continued in spite of this demonstration of the effects of greed and negligence, we need to enact stringent laws.

[trinity]

12:31 AM on 06/14/2010

She reminds a lot of the FACES of Coal folks (Friends of American Coal, Energy, Security) I saw on Facebook. They will defend Massey Energy to the grave because they "provide jobs" for WV and KY folks. They think the aftermath of mountaintop blasting is beautiful (I am not kidding, some gal from WV posted that) and agree with the Republican lawmakers that the water in their steams is as clean as bottled water. They don't care about the reality that coal has on the environment because they provide jobs...just as these folks don't care what BP has done to the environment, because they provide jobs.

[busterbrownthefirst]

01:37 PM on 06/14/2010

That was a really good post, but very upsetting. I cannot cease lamenting how we got to the point where at least 20% of Americans are complete idiots. Hey. Maybe it IS the water.

[ScapeGoat]

10:58 PM on 06/13/2010

Hey Mary, are you happy with the oil spill that is destroying the gulf? Sure seems like it, with the "drill, baby, drill" mentality.

You know, Mary, green energy will create jobs here in American and we won't have to worry about dependency on foreign oil and destruction of the environment. What do you say Mary? Let's learn something from this disaster or just go blithely on and pretend this didn't happen?

Your choice.

[InfernoTIE]

02:11 PM on 06/19/2010

ok, so where are all those 'green energy" jobs. WHAT are these jobs? I would be interested t learn exactly what you think a "green energy job" is -- or are you just regurgitating the lib talking points?

[ScapeGoat]

11:05 PM on 06/19/2010

#1 If the government invests in research to create a better more efficient solar panel, that creates research jobs. Same for wind mills.

If the government gives incentives to install solar panels and wind mills, It creates other jobs :

#2 manufacturing jobs. As the demand goes up for solar panels and wind mills, there must be factories to manufacture the products. This creates jobs at the manufacturing end.

#3. Some one has to install the solar panels and windmills. This creates installation jobs.

#4 Many times new infrastructure has to be built to get the electricity form the windmills or saolr panels to the areas that it is need. This also creates jobs.

#5, The wind mill and solar panels will require maintenance. Creating maintenance jobs.

Do you get it now? Invest in alternative energy production will create jobs.

Stop listening to conservative pabulum.

[Billy Jack]

10:58 PM on 06/13/2010

What about all the jobs lost because of the spill?

[Manx]

03:17 PM on 06/13/2010

Mary Landrieu acts as if Louisiana owns the Gulf of Mexico the way the oil companies own Mary Landrieu. She is a disgrace.

[holyghostie]

07:12 PM on 06/13/2010

I'd have to agree with you 100%.

[Oonagh]

09:57 PM on 06/13/2010

You just said what I was thinking... I wonder where her brains are..

[ScapeGoat]

10:54 PM on 06/13/2010

Brain , what brain?

[Rexis]

02:02 AM on 06/13/2010

After oil is extracted from an American offshore well by an international player like BP or Exxon Mobil, what country gets that oil? Who says we (U.S.) do?

Mary Landrieu says its to lessen our dependence on foreign oil. I think only the extractor knows where and who it will be sold to. No guarantees here...you know it is sold several times while still at sea in the tanker.

[holyghostie]

07:14 PM on 06/13/2010

Mexico was smart enough to kick Texaco out and nationalize its oil in the 1900's! The USA would rather private companies extract our natural resources, and get paid by the gov't through tax credits and by the consumer to buy back their natural resources. Of course...this creates a big market and allows a select few to make money off of the capitalism.

Loses will of course be socialized. Only profits in America are privatized.

[busterbrownthefirst]

01:40 PM on 06/14/2010

Got that right. Socialism is only for the rich.

Hey, I was totally clueless about Mexico! Let's take a tip from them and really become socialists! I'd like to give right wingers something real to scream about for a change.

[Billy Jack]

10:55 PM on 06/13/2010

I've heard that it is sold on the market

[spud62]

09:30 PM on 06/12/2010

Get a straw and come on down. At least your lungs could be doing something useful

[mrJJ]

01:31 PM on 06/12/2010

Saturday, June 12, 2010
BP Official Admits to Damage BENEATH THE SEA FLOOR

http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2010/06/evidence-points-to-destruction-beneath.html

[Billy Jack]

10:57 PM on 06/13/2010

Sounds pretty bad

[LiberalBuzz]

12:15 PM on 06/12/2010

Tell what number one HO for oil. If you introduce a law and it gets passed that ALL offshore rigs must IMMEDIATELY drill secondary holes and prove their cut off valves work, then I'll support that.

[vonric]

12:08 PM on 06/12/2010

landrieu is a political hack of the most pathetic sort, and the family political biz sold themselves out some time ago. Lacking in her plea is a balanced requirement for a radical shift in assumption of fiscal responsibility for "errors' and "adverse events". Lacking also in her plea is a balanced requirement for a radically restructured regulatory environment that does NOT depend upon the oil industry's fees to support the agency.

Will the coast be impacted in multiple ways by shutting down drilling indefinitely? Absolutely. Will ceasing drilling oil suddenly result in the brilliant invention of radically improved energy storage devices, wind farms being build over night and solar energy panels being built over the state of Nevada? I personally doubt it.

The real problem we face is one we created, a culture that is dependent on oil. We have sought to neither curb our use or replace it with other choices, not even to the degree that Europeans have.

I don't believe that Oil can remain a primary source for energy at all. In my profession, I focus on planning buildings that adhere to LEED criteria (look it up, folks) in an effort to reduce energy consumption. That said, ceasing the use of oil overnight is a naieve and thoughtless over reaction to the problem. In the meantime, reluctantly, we need to bring our safety standards to at least the level of other countries and radically alter fiscal liability.