Out of the Inkwell

If you don't understand it right now, please realize we are seeing a true environmental apocalypse in the Gulf, one that will affect the world for many years to come and create a refugee problem as people, unable to work, must leave and seek work and housing elsewhere.




Security should be in the hands of law enforcement or the National Guard, not rent-a-cops and goons.





This might be the moment in American history at which we have the kind of revolution that Thomas Jefferson wrote was necessary for the health of the Republic. If the Tea Party types were actually serious about fundamental change, if the Progressives were serious about change, this insane corporate/government clusterf*ck should be the trigger.

We can lay this at the feet of the federal government. Consider this : "In 1995, both houses of Congress passed and President Bill Clinton signed the Deep Water Royalty Relief Act (S.395), which granted a royalty "holiday" to oil and gas companies drilling in government-owned deep waters in the Gulf of Mexico for leases sold between 1996 and 2000. Specifically, under the program, companies would not have to pay the normal royalties except when market prices reached $34 a barrel for oil and $4 per thousand cubic feet for natural gas. At the time, oil and gas prices were fairly low, and supporters of the bill argued it would provide an incentive for petroleum companies to drill for oil and natural gas inside the U.S." Sourcewatch

Always remember that Bill Clinton was just Republican light.

That was followed with "In 2005, Congress passed and President Bush signed the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (H.R. 6). which included a variety of provisions to provide royalty relief to oil and gas companies. Environmental and taxpayer groups criticized the legislation. Sara Zdeb, Legislative Director of Friends of the Earth, criticized the legislation as it came out of conference, saying, 'the bill hands over billions in taxpayer dollars to America’s worst polluting industries while shortchanging renewable energy and energy efficiency—proven solutions that reduce our dependence on oil.'[7]"

Another shot from the Bushies: In 2006, Congress passed and the President signed the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act. Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and Senate Energy Committee Chairman Pete Domenici (R-N.M.), coauthored the plan to open 8.3 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico and share 37.5 percent of the new royalty revenues, dedicated to coastal protection, with Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi and Alabama. An additional 12.5 percent will be dedicated to the state side of the Land and Conservation Fund, which funds the acquisition of parks and green spaces across the country.[8] An industry-led coalition called the Consumer Alliance for Energy Security applauded passage of the bill and claimed that they “played a prominent role” in winning its passage.[9]

"Tyson Slocum, director of Public Citizen’s Energy Program criticized the legislation:
'America is already the third biggest oil producer in the world. The problem isn’t that we produce too little oil – it’s that we consume too much, using one of every four barrels of oil in the world each day. The smartest way to break our reliance on oil is to increase fuel economy standards and invest in energy efficiency measures and mass transit... Left to their own devices, oil companies will just keep drilling in environmentally sensitive federal land and offshore areas, and fueling their corporate wealth in the process.'"[10]

This is not a Republican or Democratic issue. This is corporate short-term greed. They don't care how they make their money, as long as it is made.