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Marshall: Sportsmen and Obama on Oil Drilling Reform
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May 28, 2010
Marshall: Sportsmen and Obama on Oil Drilling Reform
By Bob Marshall
After watching President Obama announce his plans for reforming the permitting process and regulations on oil and gas drilling Thursday, a thought occurred to me: We sportsmen couldn’t have said it any better ourselves.
Of course, that’s because we’ve been demanding just such reforms for the better part of eight years.
As BP’s blown well continued the environmental mugging of the Gulf of Mexico, a steady stream of news reports revealed what sportsmen have been complaining about since the era of "regulatory reform" was ushered in about 10 years ago. Some of the highlights:
• The agency charged with enforcing offshore drilling regulations, the Minerals Management Service, also earned its income from the oil companies it regulated. That has now been labeled "an obvious conflict of interest." You think?
• Under the Bush-Cheney regime, regulators were told to be helpers, not enforcers, to the oil business.
They took it to heart.
The MMS Inspector General released a report showing MMS regulators allowed oil companies to fill out government inspection reports required by law. And the inspectors also took gifts, tickets to bowl games, hunting trips - even sex and drugs - from the oil companies.
They probably saw nothing wrong with this because, as one of them explained, they were all "oil business".
Larry Williamson, head of the MMS Lake Charles, La. office, told IG investigators that many inspectors had come from the industries, where they still had good friends. "Obviously, we’re all oil industry. Almost all of our inspectors have worked for oil companies out on these same platforms. They grew up in the same towns. Some of these people, they’ve been friends with all their life. They’ve been with these people since they were kids. They’ve hunted together. They fish together. They skeet shoot together. ... They do this all the time." (www.nytimes.com/2010/05/25/us/25mms.html?scp=3&sq=mary%20kendall&st=cse).
No one doubted whom they were working for. It wasn’t you and me. It was the earl bidness.
* Those "regulatory reforms" reduced the time environmental agencies have to comment on drilling permits to 30 days--an impossible hurdle. Permitting agencies also have one year to either refuse or grant a permit application--hardly time for those other agencies to do their due diligence, especially since their staff and budgets have been trimmed.
President Obama claims his administration began "reforming" the reformers last year, but with the Gulf blowing up in his face, he finally realized that isn’t good enough. He pledged to put a moratorium on offshore drilling until current permits are reviewed, and he plans to work with Congress to roll back some of the regulatory roll backs of the previous administration.
If that sounds familiar, it should. Sportsmen’s groups have been demanding that action for many years.
Now that the president is talking our talk, let’s see if he’ll walk it.
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Comments (9)
Leftist translator:
Reform = more regulation and higher taxes
Bush = source of all evil (Obama's had 18 months to change policey but leak is STILL Bush's fault)
sportsmen's groups = Sierra Club, Greenpeace, WWF, NAMBLA
walk our walk = we will all be walking because it will cost $5,000 to fill up your truck if they get their way...
There's no change that could subject a proposed deep-water rig to LESS regulation than they now have, so pretty much anything that increases oversight, such as requiring an actual EIS rather than waiving it, would be a good thing.
"Permitting agencies also have one year to either refuse or grant a permit application--hardly time for those other agencies to do their due diligence, especially since their staff and budgets have been trimmed."
That is indeed why BUsh/Cheney trimmed those staffs - to accomplish by fiat that which could not be accomplished in law. Some of the "smaller gov't" crowd are merely looking for a license to crap in everyone else's well without being held federally accountable.
Increased oversight doesn't equal higher costs at the pump. Oil price is determined by international prices. Other than the tiny import tax imposed on all imports (5%?) oil costs the same no matter where it comes from.
The benefit of domestic oil is that less of the profit goes to the middle east. It also makes us less vulnerable to foreign supply disruptions.
End of the day we need to burn less.
Here is a thought that occurred to me...when Obama speaks we get screwed whether you are a sportsman, or just a citizen. The guy appeals to his leftist base on one hand, and then throws a bone for those common sense voters on the other hand..."WE need Oil" he tells them. And we do need oil. The bottomline is..if Obama caves to the environmental left, and curtails drilling, gas prices will go to $5 a gal. I doubt that your average income sportsman will be straying to far from home if that occurs. Right now we have 1 out of 5 that need a job that do not have a full time job...(18% !) and it doesn't look like it will get much better for sometime to come.
Where did we find this guy?
Marshall, does it not make sence to you that inspectors come from that industry? When I was a helicopter mechanic in the marines we got inspected by, you guessed it, helicopter mechanics. Perhaps YOU should inspect oil wells because you apparently know what is going on and what everything does. Reading your words causes me to lose more and more respect for Field and Stream. I can't believe you are naive enough to actually believe that Obama or any of his chronies actually care about our world. The same way Al Gore cares about global warming. MONEY and POWER, that is all these people care about. It is too bad naive people such as yourself have an outlet to speak such non sense.
Inspectors have to inspect, and have to have the autonomy and desire to criticize that which is obviously flawed. The history of industries that "regulate themselves" and of those who fund the inspectors is a history of ubridled corruption, failure, destruction of other people's assets, and often, disaster. The rating agencies on Wall Street were paid to rate Asset Backed Securities by the very firms bundling the securities. The result was toxic debt sold as AAA rated securities. Show me a disaster and I will show you an industry executive who cuts the corners on safety hoping to score a little extra cash.
Only a complete fool, or someone looking for more leverage to crap in their neighbor's well, would claim that industries that can generate serious pollution or engaged in hazardous activities can regulate themselves if such regulation means reduced profits.
Has anyone questioned where the EPA was in all this?
If someone looked the other way or ignore safety regulations and standards, thereby allowing lives to be lost and oil to spill, then they must answer up.
However, we must be vary careful to not allow this tragedy to stop oil exploration. America must continue to do so in order to lesson our dependency on middle east oil.
Oil exploration and it can be safely and responsibly with enforcement of reasonable regulations.
I would like to ask, who is "we sportsman?" Instead, you may want to say "some" sportsman.
It would be a mistake to arbitrarily lock up all federal lands from exploration or energy development. It can and has been done with the environment coming first.
The Alaskan pipeline is a shining example of oil and environment in harmony. You may recall the environmentalists extremists, policitians with agendas, dooms-dayers and nay-sayers were all predicting the terrible mess the pipeline would bring with spills, destroying the environment and disrupting the caribou herds. Didn't happen!
In case you have not noticed, the moratorium will only effect the United States.
Mexico, Venezuela, and many central and south American countries as well as other foreign countries are drilling away in the Gulf of Mexico. They are not going to stop!
This incident should not be politicized, but you can rest assured it will be.
It will be used by Obama to further gain control and destroy private business and industry, in his quest to also socialize the energy industry.
Do not take my word for, just watch and see.
Post a Comment
"Permitting agencies also have one year to either refuse or grant a permit application--hardly time for those other agencies to do their due diligence, especially since their staff and budgets have been trimmed."
That is indeed why BUsh/Cheney trimmed those staffs - to accomplish by fiat that which could not be accomplished in law. Some of the "smaller gov't" crowd are merely looking for a license to crap in everyone else's well without being held federally accountable.
There's no change that could subject a proposed deep-water rig to LESS regulation than they now have, so pretty much anything that increases oversight, such as requiring an actual EIS rather than waiving it, would be a good thing.
Inspectors have to inspect, and have to have the autonomy and desire to criticize that which is obviously flawed. The history of industries that "regulate themselves" and of those who fund the inspectors is a history of ubridled corruption, failure, destruction of other people's assets, and often, disaster. The rating agencies on Wall Street were paid to rate Asset Backed Securities by the very firms bundling the securities. The result was toxic debt sold as AAA rated securities. Show me a disaster and I will show you an industry executive who cuts the corners on safety hoping to score a little extra cash.
Only a complete fool, or someone looking for more leverage to crap in their neighbor's well, would claim that industries that can generate serious pollution or engaged in hazardous activities can regulate themselves if such regulation means reduced profits.
Increased oversight doesn't equal higher costs at the pump. Oil price is determined by international prices. Other than the tiny import tax imposed on all imports (5%?) oil costs the same no matter where it comes from.
The benefit of domestic oil is that less of the profit goes to the middle east. It also makes us less vulnerable to foreign supply disruptions.
End of the day we need to burn less.
Has anyone questioned where the EPA was in all this?
If someone looked the other way or ignore safety regulations and standards, thereby allowing lives to be lost and oil to spill, then they must answer up.
However, we must be vary careful to not allow this tragedy to stop oil exploration. America must continue to do so in order to lesson our dependency on middle east oil.
Oil exploration and it can be safely and responsibly with enforcement of reasonable regulations.
I would like to ask, who is "we sportsman?" Instead, you may want to say "some" sportsman.
It would be a mistake to arbitrarily lock up all federal lands from exploration or energy development. It can and has been done with the environment coming first.
The Alaskan pipeline is a shining example of oil and environment in harmony. You may recall the environmentalists extremists, policitians with agendas, dooms-dayers and nay-sayers were all predicting the terrible mess the pipeline would bring with spills, destroying the environment and disrupting the caribou herds. Didn't happen!
In case you have not noticed, the moratorium will only effect the United States.
Mexico, Venezuela, and many central and south American countries as well as other foreign countries are drilling away in the Gulf of Mexico. They are not going to stop!
This incident should not be politicized, but you can rest assured it will be.
It will be used by Obama to further gain control and destroy private business and industry, in his quest to also socialize the energy industry.
Do not take my word for, just watch and see.
Here is a thought that occurred to me...when Obama speaks we get screwed whether you are a sportsman, or just a citizen. The guy appeals to his leftist base on one hand, and then throws a bone for those common sense voters on the other hand..."WE need Oil" he tells them. And we do need oil. The bottomline is..if Obama caves to the environmental left, and curtails drilling, gas prices will go to $5 a gal. I doubt that your average income sportsman will be straying to far from home if that occurs. Right now we have 1 out of 5 that need a job that do not have a full time job...(18% !) and it doesn't look like it will get much better for sometime to come.
Where did we find this guy?
Marshall, does it not make sence to you that inspectors come from that industry? When I was a helicopter mechanic in the marines we got inspected by, you guessed it, helicopter mechanics. Perhaps YOU should inspect oil wells because you apparently know what is going on and what everything does. Reading your words causes me to lose more and more respect for Field and Stream. I can't believe you are naive enough to actually believe that Obama or any of his chronies actually care about our world. The same way Al Gore cares about global warming. MONEY and POWER, that is all these people care about. It is too bad naive people such as yourself have an outlet to speak such non sense.
Leftist translator:
Reform = more regulation and higher taxes
Bush = source of all evil (Obama's had 18 months to change policey but leak is STILL Bush's fault)
sportsmen's groups = Sierra Club, Greenpeace, WWF, NAMBLA
walk our walk = we will all be walking because it will cost $5,000 to fill up your truck if they get their way...
Post a Comment