Part 1
By Katie Kieffer
A sign at a London BP station is reflected in raindrops. Image credit: Luke MacGregor/Reuters
America, it’s time for you to get out the drill. Don’t worry. You won’t need a local anesthetic because this drill job will be relatively painless. This will feel new to you, so if you dislike change, take a deep breath. I believe in you.
America, I’m challenging you to take the blinders off that you’ve been wearing since at least the 1950‘s and open yourself to new ways of thinking about economic prosperity, conserving the environment, job growth, innovation, energy and development. I will guide you toward a better road than the circuitous path to recession that you’ve been plodding.
I propose that the lesson Americans take away from the Gulf of Mexico BP oil spill is that we should drill more, not less. If you think the government should be applauded for keeping “a boot on the throat” of BP during this crisis, I have a historic timeline that might cause you to question the administration’s sincerity in opposing offshore drilling:
Timeline of Inconsistency
- 2009: Newly elected President Obama lends $2 billion to Petrobras, Brazil’s national oil corporation, via the Export Import Bank of the U.S. (Bush appointees on Ex-Im’s board approved the preliminary commitment).
- March, 2010: President Obama proposes “compromise” to drill offshore for oil and natural gas “along the Atlantic coastline, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and the north coast of Alaska,” reports The New York Times.
- April, 20 2010: Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
- May, 4, 2010: The White House says it will keep the “boot on the throat” of BP.
After watching this video, you begin to question how the government can chastise BP and ignorantly dismiss offshore drilling while enabling Brazil’s offshore drilling:
I’m seeing a consistently inconsistent pattern in the current administration’s stance on offshore drilling. I’d love to think that the administration is led by well-meaning, but ill-informed, extreme environmentalists. Yet, the administration’s own words and actions reveal that it is led by politicians seeking political gain rather than preserving clean waters for Nemo and Willy.
In Part 2, I will share reasons for why we need to drill right now. Stay tuned.
