http://motherjones.com/blue-marble/2010/06/gop-melancon-call-end-temporary-drilling-moratoriumGulf Senators Call for...More Drilling?Even as oil continues to pour into the Gulf from BP's well a mile below the sea, some members of Congress are calling on the Obama administration to end the temporary moratorium on new drilling in the region.
The group, which 17 Republicans and one Democrat from Gulf coast states, argues that the BP disaster and offshore drilling should be treated as separate issues entirely.At a press conference on Tuesday, Ted Poe (R-Texas) said that "jobs will be lost, businesses will move someplace else" if the moratorium continues, and introduced a bill that would lift the administration's temporary pause on new drilling and exploration. Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) has introduced companion legislation in the Senate.
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If I were a cynic, I might suspect the fact that all these representatives have taken quite a bit of money from the industry had something to do with it as well. Melancon, who broke down in tears at a hearing last month about the disaster,
has taken $312,100 from the oil and gas industry in his career, and $65,500 this year alone, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
Poe has raised $44,250 from the oil and gas industry this year and $208,450 over his lifetime. But surely that has nothing to do with it.
(snip)
Many of the Republicans used the press conference as an occasion to bash Obama. "This moratorium the president has in place is a job killer," said Rep. Gregg Harper (R-Miss.). "It will make a horrible disaster even worse."
"This is a knee-jerk reaction by the administration to address a problem that doesn't exist," said Pete Olson (R-Texas). Another Texas Republican, John Culberson, argued that the BP oil disaster "is an anomaly–like an airplane falling from the clear blue sky." Others used it as an opportunity to gripe about all the other places we can't drill, with Ralph Hall (R-Texas) noting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
and the Florida and California coasts as places he'd also like to see drilling. Others complained that Obama might use the oil spill to encourage Congress to pass cap and trade legislation.
Ridiculous arguments aside, I've got to admit,
it takes some giant brass balls to stand up and call for more drilling even as your states drown in oil. The members said they are meeting with Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar tomorrow to make their case about why they believe the ban should be lifted.
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