Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less

For a White House that is supposed to be focused on job creation as its number one priority, this latest news will no doubt call the sincerity of that focus into question.

Previously undisclosed documents, as reported by the Wall Street Journal, show that the Obama administration foresaw its moratorium on deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico killing 23,000 jobs, but proceeded with the ban anyway:

[The documents] show the new top regulator or offshore oil exploration, Michael Bromwich, told Interior Secretary Ken Salazar that a six-month deepwater-drilling halt would result in "lost direct employment" affecting approximately 9,450 workers and "lost jobs from indirect and induced effects" affecting about 13,797 more. The July 10 memo cited an analysis by Mr. Bromwich's agency that assumed direct employment on affected rigs would "resume normally once the rigs resume operations..."

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In a crafty move motivated apparently by politics rather than scientific evidence, the White House yesterday re-issued a moratorium on offshore drilling despite wide ranging opposition and even a court-issued injunction against the policy. The administration has also ordered an appointed commission, which was never tasked with addressing a moratorium on drilling, to seek information on the viability of the administration-imposed ban. more »

The moratorium on deep water drilling imposed by the Obama administration in late May, against which Louisiana district court judge Martin Feldman issued an injunction several weeks ago, is putting a considerable dent in Gulf coast employment.

Diamond Offshore announced today that it had entered into a year-long contract that will move one of its Gulf rigs to Egypt, taking jobs and millions of dollars in revenue with it.

The full statement from Larry Dickerson, President and CEO of Diamond Offshore, is illuminating:

"With new contracting severely restricted in the GOM as a result of the uncertainties surrounding the offshore drilling moratorium, we are actively seeking international opportunities to keep our rigs fully employed. This new contract for the Endeavor will help us preserve backlog, and will allow the previous operator of the rig to satisfy its contractual obligations which extended until June 30, 2011. We greatly regret the loss of U.S. jobs that will result from this rig relocation." (emphasis added)

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Minerals Management Service Director Liz Birnbaum has resigned. Upon hearing of the resignation, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Birnbaum "has been a strong leader, and we have done tremendous work."  Salazar also said that Birnbaum helped to address a "culture of corruption" in MMS.

In reality, Liz Birnbaum contributed to the culture of corruption, enabled and abetted by a number of other political appointees at MMS and Interior, including Secretary Salazar, who never acted to correct the record after Birnbaum lied under oath to Congress in March about an offshore drilling comment period.

The story that remains to be pursued in the context of the April 20, 2010 oil rig explosion and spill is whether the blatant dishonesty American Solutions experienced in our own dealings with and observations of MMS and Interior extended into more important life and death matters like drilling safety and oversight.

Our own window into the dishonesty at MMS began last September, when 90,000 members of American Solutions submitted comments to MMS in support of the 2010-2015 offshore drilling plan as part of the MMS supervised comment period.

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The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is a tragic reminder that human progress is not without risk.
Offshore drilling is no exception. As I wrote in "Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less in 2008:

"the truth is that we can produce more American energy and do it responsibly. Of course, we will not - and cannot - eliminate all risk of harm to the environment as we produce more energy. All energy sources have risks, but the key is to take measures to minimize them."

Americans who support expanding American energy should always demand the strictest measures to minimize the risks to human life and the environment. And now, with the tragic deaths of 11 oil rig workers from the explosion on April 20, and the significant environmental damage that is unfolding in the Gulf region, it is time for the Obama administration to call for an independent commission to investigate the following: what caused this accident, the effectiveness of the industry, governmental disaster preparedness and response and how future drilling operations will be improved. Even though the rig was owned and operated by a private contractor and the cause of the explosion and equipment failure is not yet known, British Petroleum has rightly taken responsibility and pledged to pay for the Gulf spill's cleanup.

The American model of responding to disasters is to investigate the cause, fix the problem, and move forward with a safer system than before. The answer to this crisis is not to move backward by halting new American offshore energy production.
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What Leaders are Saying...

President Barack Obama, April 30, 2010: "I continue to believe that domestic oil production is an important part of our overall strategy for security, but I've always said that it must be done responsibly for the safety of our workers and our environment."

Robert Gibbs (White House Press Secretary), April 23, 2010: "We need the increased [oil and gas] production. The president still continues to believe the great majority of that can be done safely, securely and without any harm to the environment."

David Hayes (Deputy Secretary of the Interior), April 29, 2010: "This is a highly regulated area. We think the fundamental practice [of offshore drilling] is safe."

Bob McDonnell (Virginia Governor), April 29, 2010: The Virginia governor expects an "exhaustive" investigation of the spill, but will urge the Obama administration to proceed with drilling plans. "Every time there's an airplane crash, we don't say, 'Well, we don't fly airplanes anymore.' We find ways to improve public safety, make it better and contain any environmental impact," McDonnell said. more »

Over a thousand of the world's best containment experts are working to curb the leaking of oil from the oil rig that exploded and sank in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20th.

Containment teams have placed kinks in underwater pipes to reduce leakage and are in the process of drilling relief wells to reduce pressure. They are also using dispersants and other chemicals to dilute surface oil.  The Coast Guard announced yesterday that it would ignite contained areas of surface oil to prevent it from reaching the coastline (the first burn took place yesterday afternoon, and the Coast Guard determined it was successful.) A similar technique was used off the coast of Newfoundland in 1993 and eliminated up to 99% of the captured oil.
   
The April 20 explosion killed 11 workers and injured dozens more. Estimates of the oil leak range from 1,000 to 5,000 barrels per day. The slick is twenty miles from the coastline and may not reach land until tomorrow, if at all... more »

Two weeks after making large portions of America's coasts off-limits to energy exploration, the Obama administration is now poised to increase costs for American energy producers.

The Interior Department, headed by Ken Salazar, announced this week that it will study how other countries impose royalties on oil and gas drilling to determine the best way to increase what it charges American companies.

Interior refers to this decision as a way to guarantee "fair return" to taxpayers. But it is unclear just how much increasing royalty fees will cost American consumers in the form of higher prices for gasoline, heating oil, and natural gas in millions of homes across the country... more »

Vince Haley, our Vice President for Policy, was on Fox Business yesterday breaking down the President's false promise to drill offshore.

While the media widely reported that President Obama is bravely "opening up" new areas offshore to energy development, what the President actually said was "my administration will consider potential areas of development."
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More than a year into his presidency and after imposing numerous delays on American energy production, President Obama announced today that he would open up portions of the Outer Continental Shelf to offshore drilling.

But the plan is defined more by what it restricts than what it opens up. The Obama administration chose to take off the table large portions of the OCS in an announcement that was supposed to be about expanding American energy.

The new plan includes:

• No drilling in the Pacific Ocean.
• No drilling in a large portion of the Atlantic Ocean.
• No drilling in some of the most promising areas of the Gulf of Mexico.
• No drilling in much of Alaska...
  

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