Oil

Since my discussion with LongShot seems to have ended, I think that I will step aside from political debates and comment, instead, on the current media frenzy associated with the oil catastrophe in the Gulf.

First the media spectacle. As usual, the media is all over this --- this side, that side, and the under-side. Poor dears, they love situations like this because they can just go at it 24/7 and it's really easy pickings.

Second the resentful environmentalists. Now, I don't mean to come down too hard on environmentalists (because I am one) but I can't stand environmental activists who just want to throw torches without really knowing what they are doing. So BP has another deep-water well (Atlantis) and I heard one hysterical environmental activist suggesting that BP should be forced to shut down that well. Of course, this person knows nothing about the possibilities inherent in shutting the well down. For instance, would BP be able to do that without causing the exit-pressure of gas and oil from blowing the top of the well? Just because we're peeved, doesn't mean we are well advised to call for action.

Third is the host of people who want Obama to personally take charge and let the army take over the operation. If the President and the army had been drilling for oil for the last decade and had successfully capped off numerous wells, that might be a reasonable suggestion; BUT that is not the case. While BP may be at fault in the present situation, there is little doubt that they have more expertise, more resources, and more motivation to get this under control. What our government needs to do is make sure that BP is totally responsible for the cleanup of this mess.

And finally the regulatory issue. Can you imagine what the Gulf would be like if oil companies were drilling all over the place without any form of national regulatory authority? Would local groups do much good in controlling things like this? The problem is not the principle of regulation but rather the fact that eight years of oil-owning presidency and vice-presidency created a situation in which there was no effective regulatory authority. Republican administrations do not typically remove regulations; they just make the regulatory agencies impotent either by taking away their funding or by staffing them with the same people they are trying to regulate.