[StBernard] Sen. Landrieu Pushes Alternatives To Drilling Moratorium

[Westley Annis]

Sen. Landrieu Pushes Alternatives To Drilling Moratorium
Tulane Energy Institute Director Gives Opinion On Senator's Ideas
WDSU.com
GRAND ISLE, La. - WDSU .com

Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu is pushing alternatives to the drilling
moratorium.

In a letter to President Barack Obama on Friday, Landrieu said the six-month
halt in deepwater drilling could result in the loss of 38,000 jobs. She said
it's similar to closing 12 large motor vehicle assembly plants in one state
all at once.

Eric Smith, of the Tulane University Energy Institute, said he thinks the
moratorium was a really bad idea. Smith said he believes that regulation on
the wells needs to be stepped up instead of shutting the rigs down.

"It's a nice lawyerly response. It's not how the oil and gas industry
works," he said. "Deepwater area has been the growth engine for the Gulf of
Mexico for the last 10 years."

In Landrieu's letter to the president, she laid out eight alternatives to
the moratorium.

The ideas included more risk analysis and monitoring before tapping into the
oil reservoir. Smith said that's not a bad idea.

The senator also included solutions like having more federal inspectors for
the rigs, but that means more money.

"Those are good ideas. There are standards, but this is an agency that has
had budget cuts, and some of the places they reduce are the inspectors,"
Smith said.

The senator is pushing to put more deepwater policy on the books in hopes of
keeping thousands of Louisiana workers in their jobs.

Landrieu also called for a timeframe on the moratorium.

She said she wants the president to commit to a certain date when the
deepwater drilling can resume and to establish a clear set of benchmarks
that the administration hopes to achieve while no drilling is taking place.