In a complete over-reaction to the Deep Horizon oil spill, the Obama administration through Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, unilaterally shut down deep water drilling for 6 months. The effect on jobs in an already hurting Gulf region was devastating. The measure was so poorly conceived and executed that even Democratic Senators, such as Mary Landrieu, couldn’t hide their contempt:
Apparently nothing has changed in the interim. On December 1st, and again unilaterally, the Obama administration made it clear that its war on “Big Oil” continued and it indeed made it clear the industry really has no future in this country – at least while this administration is in power.
That means regardless of what the states want to do or allow or the good paying jobs offshore drilling would bring in the middle of rough economic times, the federal government has decided it simply can’t allow that for rather weak reasons. It also reverses President Obama’s previous stance on allowing such drilling to help lessen our dependence on foreign oil.
The American Petroleum Institute makes two obvious points about safety and jobs:
“The oil and natural gas industry is committed to safe and environmentally responsible operations, and both the industry and regulators have added new safeguards to ensure such operations. This reversal on new lease sales off America’s coasts comes on top of a de facto moratorium, which has all but stopped new drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.”
The point, of course, is the industry has a vested interest in safe and environmentally friendly drilling. This ban is both a job killer and an admission that the administration really has no interest in reducing our dependence on foreign oil or adding good paying jobs for Americans. It is time the nation at large address this travesty and demand the ban be reversed.
