The Bush administration did not properly consider the environmental impact of expanding oil and gas drilling off the Alaska coast, according to a federal court ruling issued Friday.
The lawsuit was brought by three environmental groups an the Native Village of Point Hope, Alaska. The groups want to protect wildlife in the region, including whales, seals, polar bears and sea birds.
The decision marks the second time that the Department of the Interior’s (DOI) environmental impact research for the area, prepared under the Bush administration, has been deemed insufficient.
Shortly after taking office, new Interior Secretary Ken Salazar placed the program on hold for five years, to conduct a more extensive assessment.
The ruling adds the weight of law to that decision, ordering the DOI to halt the search for new fossil fuel reserves in the Beaufort, Bering, and Chukchi seas until proper study is complete.
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Folks let’s keep in mind the following
• Oil companies PAY the federal and state governments for the privilege of drilling offshore. That’s money going into the tax base that YOU don’t have to pay. The government uses those funds to build schools, roads and hospitals.
• Offshore drilling creates a huge number of high paying blue collar and white collar jobs. So YOU don’t have to pay for their unemployment benefits and they pay income taxes that eventually benefit you. Those same folks will be spending lots of money and buying lots of homes shore side.
• Economics 101 indicates that more supply = lower prices for the oil and natural gas that offshore drilling produces.
• More supply sourced domestically helps to insure that we have a more stable source of supply. This lowers the risk of being “cut off” by others. For the oil and gas market, this then psychologically serves to reduce the price of oil and gas and such will be reflected in how the commodity is priced.
• Offshore drilling is proven safe and clean. Probably much safer than the oil tankers that cruise in and out of the nations harbors daily.
So it’s no skin off your nose if the oil companies want to drill for oil. In fact, it benefits you directly and indirectly. It’s time that we get behind this for the good of the nation and the economy.