PrintJanuary 26, 2011
Ongoing Disaster in the Gulf
While the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill and the Obama administration's subsequent six-month moratorium on deep-water drilling in the Gulf of Mexico are common knowledge, the fact that the federal government has turned the tragic accident into an ongoing economic calamity seems to be drawing scant attention. Though the drilling moratorium was officially lifted three months ago, it has been replaced with an ongoing de facto ban. But the full scope and damaging consequences of the federal government's reactions to the gulf spill go well beyond deep-water drilling. While the moratorium was limited to deep-water rigs, the work stoppage in the Gulf was not. Due to new regulations and ever-evolving permit processes, many shallow-water oil and gas drilling operations have been effectively shut down as well. Mind you, there is no evidence that the rigs being prevented from operating are anything but safe.During the six-month hiatus, though most companies decided to ride out...(Read Full Article)
