Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Rally for Economic Survival



A Rally for Economic Survival was held at the Cajundome in Lafayette, LA on July 21, 2010. More than 11,000 people joined local and state politicians to express their demand that the offshore deep water oil drilling moratorium be lifted and allow the oil industry to survive in the Gulf of Mexico.

The federal moratorium on deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico threatens to destroy tens of thousands of jobs in Louisiana and devastate the economy in less than a year. Concerned citizens will pack the Lafayette Cajundome on July 21st to send a message to the Obama administration to lift the moratorium immediately. The Rally for Economic Survival will feature local, state and national speakers who share the same concern that the moratorium will create a seismic economic ripple effect that will negatively impact every citizen of the United States.

Billy Nungesser expressed it like this: "This moratorium will turn Louisiana into a state of bankrupt businesses," said Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser, who has become a familiar face on national news outlets as his parish battled the aftermath of the oil spill.

"It will cripple the economy of a state that has come back after Katrina, Rita, Gustav and Ike. And we can't afford to be crippled again."

It is brutally obvious at this junction that the Obama administration intends to push an anti-drilling agenda. The Deepwater Horizon explosion was the tragic incidence that is to be used to "not let a crisis go" as the paraphrase from Rahm Emanuel is frequently quoted, to push the green agenda at the expense of our Gulf coast way of life. Green is useful in a comprehensive energy plan but it is decades away from making a real difference. To push aside deep water offshore oil drilling is to send more money to countries who do not necessarily have our nation's best interests at heart. Our dependence on foreign oil is at 62%. Do we really want to continue increasing that dependence?

Interior Secretary Salazar claims the commission set up by President Obama to study the disaster and make recommendations will be able to shed light on the way forward. Nonsense. The commission is stacked with vocal, activist career people from the world of environmental extremists with no intention of supporting oil drilling. They will insist the risk is not worth the potential for damage. This is not the history of the oil industry - up until April 20, 2010 - but that will not matter to them. This is their shot at putting into place their agenda.

From American Thinker: If the president's intention was to prevent future leaks, why would he appoint a commission with no knowledge of drilling? The answer, it would seem, is that this commission was never meant to perform the task it was officially charged with. It was never really intended to be a commission on drilling safety, but rather a group of environmental activists intent on regulating and taxing the oil and gas companies out of business. Its report is unlikely to focus on improved safely measures with the intent of increasing oil and gas exploration and production. It will more likely issue a blueprint on how to restrict drilling while extorting profits from oil companies by way of new fees and regulation.

The residents of the Gulf coast deserve better. America deserves better.

2 comments:

Jess said...

I'm curious. If they allowed offshore drilling would it be safer than deepwater? Are they doing deepwater because the oil is there and not offshore or are they doing it because it's illegal offshore? Not sure of the laws there so I'm curious. I kept wondering...if they did it offshore and there were an incident it would be easier to contain, no?

Karen Townsend said...

Shallower water is more restricted due to environmental regulations and permits are slow. Deep water has much to offer in the way of oil reserves. The depth of the well drilling is a new challenge as this tragedy points out. Deep water drilling is still relatively new territory.