API Sounds Off on the Drilling Moratorium… The Second One!
July 15, 2010
There’s a lot happening today in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon accident — BP is testing the integrity of the Macondo well in hopes of capping it; the House and Senate are marking up energy legislation; and the deepwater drilling moratorium continues to threaten livelihoods in the Gulf.
I’d like to call your attention to a blog post we posted yesterday about the moratorium. Despite the administration’s stated reason for imposed the second moratorium, it will do nothing to improve the engineering and geological knowledge required to solve the Deepwater Horizon problem. It won’t help the industry contain blowouts. It won’t improve spill-response technology. And it won’t encourage safer operations. But it will put tens of thousands of Americans out of work, reduce domestic oil and natural gas production and make the United States increasingly reliant on other countries for energy. API’s CEO Jack Gerard also condemned the decision in a statement released on Monday.
I also wanted to give you a heads up that you are likely to see advertisements and other communications efforts from environmental groups who are seizing upon the oil leak to advocate for punitive measures against the oil and natural gas industry – new taxes in particular. API has developed a briefing paper on this issue that might be helpful to you in sorting out the facts.
And finally, API just issued a short statement on the markup of Rahall’s energy bill (CLEAR). It is attributed to Jack Gerard and says:
“The bill passed by the House Natural Resources Committee today moves well beyond a response to the tragic accident in the Gulf of Mexico, to the point where – if adopted by the Congress – provisions of the legislation will kill jobs, stifle economic recovery and punish an already-reeling Gulf Coast community.
“The numerous provisions that discourage U.S. oil and natural gas development have the potential to drive investment out of the United States, killing U.S. jobs and harming our economy.
“We support efforts to ensure safe and environmentally responsible operations, and we are committed to being part of the solution. But we cannot forget that oil and natural gas demand is growing and that it is critical to every sector of our economy. Any policy changes must bear that in mind. We can protect the environment without jeopardizing our economic security.”
Jane Van Ryan
API
Editor’s Note: With this same type of reasoning we would stop all air travel the next time a plane crashed. Obama and his goons think this is a justification for shutting down an industry they want to eventually put out of business! Pro business? HA! And remember that when government punishes big oil, those taxes are sent along to us in the form of higher energy prices. Environmentalists are also anti business and need to be stopped.
Comments
Got something to say?
