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Oil Spill Response is “Stuck on Stupid”

Morning Bell: Oil Spill Response is “Stuck on Stupid”

(From the Heritage Foundation!)

...Ironically, royalties  from offshore drilling in Louisiana are
designated by the state  constitution to pay for critical
infrastructure protection and coastal  restoration. The longer
this drilling moratorium continues, the longer  Louisiana has to
wait to protect itself from future disasters. Eric  Smith, an
energy expert at Tulane University, pointed out that the
moratorium also increases the risk of a spill because that threat
increases every time you start and stop operations. Smith also pointed
out that putting two to three independent safety inspectors on each rig,
paid for by the oil companies, would be a low-cost alternative
to the  moratorium.

...Offshore  platforms are already leaving the Gulf, and many more
are marketing  their services elsewhere. Once they leave, it may be
years, if not  decades, before they return. And if they do return,
it will be at added  cost due to the potential for more broken contracts.

...The second  item we heard most often was that unnecessary  
federal permitting delays were making environmental and
economic  protection impossible. The marshes, waters and estuaries
make up a  complicated eco-system that protects south Louisiana
from flooding and  prevents oil from reaching inland. Yet, without
the ability to build  rock jetties, dykes and sand berms, the
environment is going  unprotected. Why? Because the left absurdly
believes the protective  measures might cause long-term damage,
despite assurances that all  measures are temporary, could be
removed, and BP would pay for it.  Ignoring this crisis in favor
of a mythical one 30 years away must end,  today.

...Local officials are positive that plans they have had in
place for years will work, and that shallow water vessels exist that
minimize potential long term impacts. In the last ten years, these
same  communities have helped build 700 acres of new protective marsh.
President Obama needs to listen to their input and stop the delays.

...We  also discovered that response crews are being prevented  
from working at night or for more than 20 minutes out of every hour.
And apparently, those 20 minutes an hour aren’t even in shifts, but
total stoppages. Louisiana fishermen are no strangers to working at
night, or long hours. BP could easily afford the GPS, maps and lights
needed to extend work hours. But so far, the daily response time to this
crisis is simply unbalanced to the disaster itself...

***end quote***

The President has apparently spoken three times on the spill since it started; His administration has gone out of it’s way to make sure that no one knows about the results of the spill (press and people are banned from entering areas to report on the oily birds and such); His administration has stopped efforts to build barriers to keep the oil from reaching the shore for fear something might hurt the environment; His administration declined help from outside the US to collect the oil and let the oil drift; His administration is trying very hard to end oil drilling, period.  Kind of hard on the people of the Gulf that need the jobs.  Also, the drive to make BP pay for everything  RIGHT NOW is killing the company…but if the company was kept healthy they could pay for cleanup until, ummmm, it was all cleaned up?

~Curtis in /\/\onTana! {=-{<

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