[StBernard] Obama's Oil Spill Commission Criticizes Offshore Drilling Moratorium

[Westley Annis]

Obama's Oil Spill Commission Criticizes Offshore Drilling Moratorium

Posted By Rob Bluey On July 14, 2010 @ 8:00 am In Energy and Environment |
10 Comments


NEW ORLEANS - In an ironic twist of fate, the chairmen appointed by
President Obama to study the impact of the Gulf oil spill turned their
attention to Obama's own offshore drilling moratorium as a significant
factor causing economic harm [1].

Commission co-chairman Bob Graham, a former Democratic senator from Florida,
bluntly declared [2] Tuesday that there's a "disconnect between Washington
and the Gulf region about the sense of urgency needed." The Republican
co-chairman, former Environmental Protection Agency chief William Reilly,
said the moratorium should be shortened.

After a federal court struck down the Interior Department's first
moratorium, Secretary Ken Salazar issued a new ban Monday that lasts until
Nov. 30. It was greeted with strong disapproval in Louisiana, where
businesses throughout the region have suffered. Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA)
testified Tuesday before the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore
Drilling Commission [3] against the moratorium.

The commission's two-day public meeting in New Orleans marked the start of a
review initiated by Obama to gather information on the oil spill cleanup and
its associated impacts.

When the meeting started Monday, Graham and Reilly didn't expect to do much
about the moratorium [4]. But that changed by Tuesday afternoon, when Reilly
acknowledged he had a different perspective.

"I come to this experience with a much greater sense of the economic
dislocation being experienced here than I had three days ago," said Reilly,
according to the New Orleans Times-Picayune [2]. "It's not clear for me why
it should take so long to reassure oneself about [safety] considerations on
those rigs."

The commission heard testimony about the inspection of drilling rigs from
Michael Bromwich, director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management,
Regulation and Enforcement. He didn't rule out a shorter moratorium, but
also spoke about the need for a more thorough review [5]. Reilly made sure
he understood the economic consequences of the inactivity.

"If there's a single point of consensus as we've been down here, it's that
the moratorium is doing very significant economic damage to this area," said
Reilly, according to the Times-Picayune [5]. "As Sen. Landrieu said there
are only 33 rigs. How hard can it be to put inspectors on each one and draw
conclusions that will allow a resumption of activity?"

Lafourche Parish President Charlotte Randolph offered a local perspective on
the moratorium [6]. She made no secret of her disdain for commissioner
Frances Beinecke's critical comments of offshore drilling [7].

The meeting also gave local citizens an opportunity to speak out - both
inside the Hilton Riverside Hotel and outside. The Pelican Institute for
Public Policy [8] reported about a number of protesters, including the New
Orleans Regional Black Chamber of Commerce and Emergency Committee to Stop
the Gulf Oil Disaster.