According to the President, lifting the moratorium on deepwater oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico is “safe” because now we have rules about worst-case scenario planning and a requirement of third-party verification (McClatchy).
The rules are only two weeks old so (a) how the heck have the companies had time to develop worst case scenario plans and (b) how have third party companies had a chance to verify that “blowout preventers and other equipment work properly”?
It turns out that “lifting the moratorium” is so much hot air. All this means, according to news reports, is that the rigs queue up for inspections and such. Interior has assigned 20 employees to “oversee permitting.”
From Interior Secretary Ken Salazar:
“We have made, and continue to make, significant progress in reducing the risks associated with deep-water drilling.”
[…]
He said that lifting the temporary drilling ban before the Nov. 30 expiration date was possible because the petroleum industry now has more robust plans for responding to any future spill and because BP had finally capped its gushing Macondo well in mid-July.
The real reason the moratorium was lifted: there’s an election in three weeks and this is a “jobs” (and headlines and sound bites) message:
Political and business leaders in the gulf have pressed the administration to lift the moratorium, which they say has caused the temporary loss of 8,000 to 12,000 jobs in the region. Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) has blocked a Senate vote to confirm Jacob Lew, President Obama’s nominee to head the Office of Management and Budget, until the moratorium is lifted or significantly eased.
Known for gnawing at complex questions like a terrier with a bone. Digital evangelist, writer, teacher. Transplanted Southerner; teach newbies to ride motorcycles. @kegill (Twitter and Mastodon.social); wiredpen.com