Oil Spill in the Gulf Coast Cont.

If we take away anything positive from what is now considered an environmental catasprohe is needs to be that, yes offshore drilling is ill advised. If this incredible amount of damage can happen from the meltdown of just one rig, the plug needs to be pulled on the whole operation. The gulf is stained of oil, wildlife is battered and displaced, and now the beautiful white sand beaches are threatened. Humans who never even pretended to care about the wildlife are now being hit very close to home when their gorgeous beach front property smells of oil, the water isn't safe to swim in, and dead fish riddle the beach.
Obama recently proposed a plan to expand offshore drilling plans. Whether Obama really believes this a good idea or if even cares about this issue is likely not why this move was made. This proposed expansion was a cheap and easy way to score some political points with the conservatives. Why Obama would want side with the right on an issue of which right wing brain trust Sarah Palin once brilliantly said "drill baby drill" is beyond me. This blew up in his face and certainly won't help his plummeting approval ratings.
The disaster itself is getting worse and worse. The gulf coast will be hit and it is now a possibility that oil can get flow into the Mississippi River. Honestly, no one is really sure how to contain the oil, let alone clean it up and stop it. It is currently flowing from Louisiana to Florida and is on pace to become the worst oil spill in American History. In fact, so much oil is loose that it is impossible to actually know just how much is spilled. The spill is well documented visually by yahoo http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Oil-rig-explodes-off-Louisiana-coast/ss/events/us/042110oilrigexplode

Oil Rig Explosion Causes Tragedy

An explosion 50 miles off the coast of Louisiana in an oil rig exploded Tuesday night. It was unclear as to what caused the explosion but it happened extremely quickly. One of the officers said that they were unclear as to how much oil spilled into the ocean. On Thursday morning the rig collapsed into the Gulf of Mexico. It was estimated on Wednesday that about 13,000 gallons of crude oil was pouring out per hour. Although most of the damage to the environment was considered minimal, most of it was burned. The oil rig was called the Deepwater Horizon, used to open wells in the ocean floor. The rig consists of about 126 plus workers, 11 are missing and the coast guard has been searching but it is believed that didn’t survive the explosion. The Explosion caused 17 workers to be injured and 3 of them were critical. Nobody could do anything to help the environment because of the fire. It has been announced that the Obama Administration wants to open a vast amount of oil rigs off the coast along the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico and Alaska. The proposal will please oil production companies but anger some residents and many environmental organizations. The plan by Obama will cover about 167 million acres of ocean. The reason Obama wants to drill in the ocean is to reduce amounts of imported oil. With Obama increasing all of this offshore drilling, many more accidents will occur. Our oceans will continue to receive damage if oil accidents keep occurring. The accident that happened a couple of days ago is a perfect example as to why we should not be drilling. This explosion is a warning to the government that if we keep drilling it will not only hurt our environment, but our country’s people.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/31/science/earth/31energy.html

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/31/AR2010033100024.html

Where is Offshore Drilling at Today?

Offshore drilling is currently a hot topic of today’s politics. It heated up in 2008 when President Bush lifted the ban on offshore drilling. There was a two decade long ban on offshore drilling before the ban was lifted. Currently, Obama is increasing the amount of offshore drilling. He plans to push offshore oil drilling along the East Coast from Delaware to Florida, in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska. This seems to be one of the only ways to get republicans and conservative democrats on board in an effort to find natural fuel. These conservatives feel that the United States cannot yet decrease the amount of oil production in the U.S. Increasing offshore drilling is a major step backwards in an attempt to decrease our country’s dependence on oil. After his decision Obama stated, “The bottom line is this: given our energy needs, in order to sustain economic growth and produce jobs and keep our businesses competitive, we are going to need to harness traditional sources of fuel, even as we ramp up production of new sources of renewable, homegrown energy.” Obama increasing offshore drilling is just contradicting his fight to find renewable energy. There is enough oil in the United States and countries we trade with. As far as creating jobs go, there should be more of an importance on finding renewable energy. Increasing the work force on this topic will in itself create more jobs. Bottom line Obama needs to decrease traditional sources of fuel, not create an increase. Hopefully the future of our country’s fuel will not continue to come from the Middle East or from offshore drilling. There needs to be a new source of energy. More money and more research need to be put into finding an alternative fuel. Offshore drilling is just a quick fix.