Government quietly lets shallow water drilling ban expire and new drilling has been approved

APNewsBreak: Feds approve new Gulf oil well off Louisiana coast as shallow-water ban lifts

Federal regulators approved Wednesday the first new Gulf of Mexico oil well since President Barack Obama lifted a brief ban on drilling in shallow water, even while deepwater projects remain frozen after the massive BP spill.

The Minerals Management Service granted a new drilling permit sought by Bandon Oil and Gas for a site about 50 miles off the coast of Louisiana and 115 feet below the ocean's surface. It's south of Rockefeller State Wildlife Refuge and Game Preserve, far to the west of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig that triggered the BP spill.

Obama last week extended a moratorium on wells in deep water like the BP one that blew out a mile below the surface in April and is gushing millions of gallons of oil. But at the same time, the president quietly allowed a three-week-old ban on drilling in shallow water to expire.

"I'm outraged," said Kieran Suckling, executive director for the Tucson, Ariz.-based Center for Biological Diversity. "How is it that shallow water drilling suddenly became safe again?"

Bandon Oil and Gas first sought the permit in April shortly after the Deepwater Horizon exploded and sank. The permit was approved Wednesday morning, according to MMS records.

Suckling said the administration was misleading the public by quietly resuming work in shallow waters while acting as if it was taking a tough look at deepwater work.

abcnews.go.com...

They are saying they are comfortable with shallow water drilling as long as they make sure all safety measures are adhered to. Wasn't that the main problem with the deepwater wells? The safety measures weren't followed.

I understand the need to find more oil, since the world in general and the US in specific are addicted to it, but isn't it a little too soon?
Also; it sounds like they tried to sneak this in on us without anyone finding out.

[edit on 2-6-2010 by webpirate]

reply to post by webpirate


It is my understanding that we are only addicted to oil because the government, influenced by the oil companies, keeps it that way. I'm almost certain that we have the technology to go beyond oil, the only problem is that there isn't a way to meter or charge for it.

This is truly pathetic but not surprising in the least. It just goes to show how far the government has moved away from representing the interests of the people and instead, representing the interests of corporations.

--airspoon

I think DEEP water drilling would be a lot safer if safety measures were adhered to. In the case of the Gulf, they weren't. It was my understanding that Obama stopped ALL drilling permits until the situation could be studied and then he would decide whether or not to allow shallow water drilling to continue. It sounds like that's just what happened.

Yes, he's going to announce it tomorrow. I don't think he's being sneaky, but I do disagree with him.

Reuters

U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to announce on Thursday that he will continue to hold off issuing deep water drilling permits off the Gulf of Mexico, but allow permits to be issued for shallow water drilling, a government source told Reuters.

Originally posted by airspoon
It just goes to show how far the government has moved away from representing the interests of the people and instead, representing the interests of corporations.

He is taking care of the corporations, for sure, but there are plenty of people who continue to support drilling off shore. Take Sarah Palin, for example. Who thought they would be on the same side of this issue??? Not me!

reply to post by Benevolent Heretic


I've always been one to say that the Democratic Party and the Republican Party are just two different sides of the same coin, at least as far as the leadership in concerned. They both differ on relatively cosmetic issues while secretly agreeing on the bigger issues, such as corporatism and foreign policy.

What makes me angry about Obama, is that he lied on the stump, not only about the drilling but also just about everything else. Don't get me wrong, I don't like Sarah Palin either but at least she was telling us exactly how she would screw us, only lying about the consequences of such screwing. Obama lied about both the methods and consequences of screwing us.

Did Obama not take the opposite stand on the off-shore drilling, while Palin and McCain were yelling "drill baby, drill!"? Again, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that McCain and Palin wouldn't have screwed us either but I think it is crazy that Obama has done a 180 on just about every important issue, relatively speaking, and yet the Democrats aren't hooting and hollering over it. Can't they not see that he is only a continuation of Bush with a different skin tone?

--airspoon