While the oil pouring into the
Gulf of Mexico from the Deepwater Horizon blowout is very serious and
potentially catastrophic, it is almost comical how drilling advocates
are trying to spin the accident and downplay justifiable public concern.
We
start with Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA), whose state may very well face
the brunt of the massive spill. She took umbrage at Senator Robert
Menendez's (D-NJ) critical stance on offshore drilling. Taking her cue
from Vladimir Putin's menacing energy blackmailing of Russia's
neighbors and seemingly asserting that oil from federal waters is
Louisiana's to do with as it pleases, Landrieu told New Jersey to watch
out:
"We can't afford to stop
drilling offshore, and if Bob Menendez thinks we can, he should be the
first state to volunteer to give up his oil. And we'll be glad to cut
it off. And I mean that. I've just about had it. If they don't think we
need it, then please, let the governor of New Jersey stand up and be
the first governor to say you can cut my oil off. We'll be happy to do
it, because there are a lot of other people who want it."
Then
there is Rush Limbaugh, man about town, paragon of "excellence in
broadcasting" and, apparently, an amateur oceanographer. Rush says that
the petroleum now gushing into the sea is nothing to worry about
because it is perfectly natural.
"The
ocean will take care of this on its own if it was left alone and left
out there. It's natural. It's as natural as the ocean water is."
Indeed,
as are arsenic, mercury, and sewage. Perhaps Rush would not mind having
a lot of natural oil wash up on his beachfront property in Palm Beach.
We
conclude with Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ), who said the Gulf of Mexico spill
validates his position favoring oil drilling in the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge.
"You are not
in 5,000 feet of water. You have got a pipeline nearby. You have
experience drilling in that area just a few miles away."
Beyond
failing to comprehend the scale of Alaska's North Slope, what makes
Senator Kyl believe it is less risky to drill in a very remote and
pristine Arctic wildlife refuge than it is in the Gulf?
Perhaps
he is unaware of the chronic pipeline corrosion problem that has
plagued North Slope drilling since 2006, or the fact that many of the
bird species that populate Gulf Coast wildlife refuges in the winter
make their home in the Arctic Refuge during the summer.
Then,
there are the harsh and frigid weather conditions that can make
cleaning up an oil spill in the Arctic every bit as challenging as an
offshore spill in the temperate Gulf, if not more so.
Oil
production in remote, difficult locations, such as deepwater and the
Arctic, carries uncertainties and risks that neither oil companies nor
politicians have been up-front about.
The prudent approach to
the Deepwater Horizon disaster is to learn from it by developing and
communicating a full understanding of all the uncertainties and risks.
Unfortunately, drilling advocates are stuck in a spin cycle that has
them sounding uninformed and just plain silly.
Responding
appropriately to this disaster will require our elected officials to
avoid knee-jerk behavior, thoughtfully adopt safeguards to make sure it
doesn't happen again, and take off the table special lands like the
Arctic Refuge where the environmental risks of an oil spill far
outweigh the gains.
