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The Economy: As if the latest measly numbers on our jobless recovery weren't bad enough, along comes the administration to pile disaster upon disaster by slapping a six-month ban on deep-water drilling.
When President Obama visited Louisiana on May 1, he talked about the possibility that the oil gushing from BP's Deepwater Horizon well could "jeopardize the livelihoods of thousands of Americans who call this place home." Now the administration's response could jeopardize the livelihoods of tens of thousands more.
In a letter sent to Obama on Wednesday, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal challenged the president's decision to suspend deepwater drilling for six months while a presidential commission to which the buck has been passed tries to sort things out.
It's another chapter in the administration's inept response to the Deepwater Horizon disaster, which has included seeking the advice of "Avatar" and "Titanic" director James Cameron, presumably because he knows how to operate cameras underwater. Perhaps Cameron, as one wag put it, told the White House how to rearrange the deck chairs.
"The last thing we need is to enact public policies that will certainly destroy thousands of existing jobs while preventing the creation of thousands more," Jindal wrote. The moratorium, he said, will shut down 33 deepwater rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, including 22 near Louisiana, costing as many as 6,000 jobs in the next three weeks and 20,000 by the end of next year.
We expect his plea to fall on deaf ears. Jindal was last seen begging the federal government to provide millions of feet in containment booms and to approve an emergency permit for a state plan to dredge and build new barrier islands to keep the oil from reaching the marshes and wetlands. Both could have been done in a single White House phone call.
The ban requires all Gulf wells in more than 500 feet of water to shut down, and also prevents permits from being issued for any new deepwater drilling. According to the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil & Gas Association (LMOGA), as many as 1,400 jobs are at risk for each of the 33 idled rigs. The jobs average $1,804 a week, meaning lost wages could be as high as $330 million each month.
Also at risk is a major portion of the nation's energy supply and the entire Gulf economy. LMOGA reports that fully 80% of the Gulf's oil production comes from operations in waters deeper than 1,000 feet. One-third of all U.S.-produced oil and gas comes from the Gulf.
National Security: A Mexican cartel plots to blow up a dam â?? in Texas! Another pack of Mexican terrorists takes cash from Hugo Chavez. And what is Washington wringing its hands about? Why, racism in Arizona. If still more proof is needed that the border needs to be secured, the latest ...
Immigration: The school board of the nation's second-largest city sends an inflammatory message to its Hispanic students â?? that Arizona's new law is in the tradition of slavery and Jim Crow. So much for education. Bring on the propaganda. And rile up the kids against racist Arizona. ...
Supreme Court: It's no mystery why the White House wants nominee Elena Kagan to remain a mystery. The more we know of her views, the more we know she'd be a justice of the left. The way the president wants to rush the Kagan nomination through, you'd think having her confirmed would plug the ...
Foreign policy "realists," back in the saddle since the Texan cowboy left town, are extremely fond of the concept of "stability": America needs a stable Middle East, so we should learn to live with Mubarak and the mullahs and the House of Saud, etc. You can see the appeal of "stability" to your ...
An intriguing aspect of the BP oil spill is that, before the accident, deep-water drilling seemed to be a technological triumph. About 80% of the Gulf of Mexico's recent oil production has come from deep-water operations, defined as water depths exceeding 1,000 feet. In 1996, that was 20%. Jack-up ...
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