Ever since the oil spill happened in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20th, it seems that the federal government has not yet learned from its mistakes in granting a federal waiver to BP in spite of reported problems with environmental and worker safety issues. A report by the Sun-Herald shows that since the ecological disaster happened, over 27 federal waivers have been granted by the Obama administration to oil and gas companies to continue offshore oil exploration studies:
The waivers were granted despite President Barack Obama's vow that his administration would launch a "relentless response effort" to stop the leak and prevent more damage to the gulf. One of them was dated Friday -- the day after Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said he was temporarily halting offshore drilling.
The exemptions, known as "categorical exclusions," were granted by the Interior Department's Minerals Management Service (MMS) and included waiving detailed environmental studies for a BP exploration plan to be conducted at a depth of more than 4,000 feet and an Anadarko Petroleum Corp. exploration plan at more 9,000 feet.
The MMS said that the exemptions were granted because they do not represent final drilling approval. So does President Obama's temporary moratorium on offshore drilling only relate to oil companies that have entered final drilling approval? It's not clear at this point, and has confused environmental advocates like these below:
"Is there a moratorium on off shore drilling or not?" asked Peter Galvin, conservation director with the Center for Biological Diversity, the environmental group that discovered the administration's continued approval of the exemptions. "Possibly the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history has occurred and nothing appears to have changed."
There has to be an actual moratorium on offshore drilling, and that should relate to any stage of oil exploration, whether they have been granted final drilling approval or not. Right now, oil is washing ashore the beaches of Louisiana, Mississippi, and is headed on its way to Florida, with projections given for a possible reach on the East Coast.
That's mind-boggling. A disaster of this reach affecting Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida, and along the East Coast. The fishing industry is facing unimaginable financial losses, and tourism this summer will take a major hit. People will be facing unemployment and possible hikes in grocery prices as a result of this disaster.
We need to do better than this. We need to end our addiction to oil, and call for a new change in our energy approach. Please take action by urging President Obama to fully reinstate the moratorium on offshore drilling, and ask him to fully consider energy alternatives instead of taking on even more of "clean coal" and "nuclear energy" as a solution to our energy problems.
Here's how you can take action:
1. Help support Sierra Club by signing their petition telling President Obama to stop new offshore drilling.
2. Sign the petition by Greenpeace telling the President to change his current approach on offshore drilling.
You can call your Representatives and Senators at (202) 224-3121, and ask them to support the reinstatement of the ban on offshore drilling. The climate bill must also be changed to strike any provisions relating to offshore drilling.
They often say a picture is worth a thousand words. In this case, I say a photo is worth a thousand reasons why NOT to continue offshore drilling.
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I don't see how anyone can look at this and think Obama didn't *let* this get worse. If so Sierra and Greenpeace will do nothing but pay lip service to protests. The elite who run them are interested in nothing but advancing a far left ideology at *any* cost. They use "environmentalism". Regardless of what they say they'll support Obama. The petitions are just to appease.
The corporations unforgivably failed. The feds should have had fire booms in place (ending this on day 3!). But once the damage was known the administration *let* it get worse. What other explanation for pointing at BP while using a minuscule percentage of the resources of the President? Obama shares guilt for every barrel after day 5. How is that forgivable for those who care about wildlife, wetlands, beaches, jobs? He has a lot more than waivers for which to answer.
I understand your frustration with the current oil spill, and the damage it has and will do to wildlife. It hurts to see birds and mammals endangered, and it frustrates me that the spill was not contained. Time seems to drag on forever as the oil spreads slowly toward shore.
Unfortunately, our society is going to take time to transition to energy sources other than oil. It seems that President Obama is taking a realistic approach by funding and encouraging work on renewable energy sources to make them more price competitive, while, in the meantime, making sure our domestic oil supplies will meet our needs until new sources become marketable.
I'm a geologist who has worked in oil and aquifers. I like to think I have a balanced viewpoint. The failure(s) that ocurred on the BP well that led to a blowout are still unclear. Safety systems for drilling wells have been improving over the decades, and spills like this are very rare. Perhaps the problems are only related to drilling in very deep water. Only after we have an explanation of the cause(s) of the failure will we be able to determine the risks of further drilling. Until then, a cessation of drilling, similar to cessation of space flights after a NASA accident, is in order. What isn't in order is an emotionally charged call to abandon potential offshore resources that our society will need to make a peaceful transition to green energy.
It's a good thing that Al Gore puts lie to the claim about offshore drilling being necessary, and that his arguments against offshore drilling are carried by people like Dean Baker:
First, there is simply not enough oil there to make any kind of difference in terms of the energy crisis: "The Energy Information Agency (EIA) projects that if we go the drilling route, we could hit peak production of 200,000 barrels a day by 2030." This is a trivial quantity, amounting to about 0.2% of the world's production at that time, and about 1% of the U.S. consumption right now. It would increase domestic production by less than 3%. So offshore drilling would do nothing at all to reduce the price of oil or to "reduce dependency on foreign oil," to invoke everyone's favorite slogan.
1. Al Gore, The Crisis Comes Ashore.
http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/the-crisis-comes-ashore
2. Dean Baker
http://www.truthout.org/article/john-mccain-wants-drill-your-toilet