Sunday, June 13, 2010

Texas Republicans and the oil industry

A story in today's Fort Worth Star-Telegram was about Texas Republicans calling for an end to the deep-water drilling moratorium. It said the moratorium is hurting the oil industry.

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DALLAS -- Rep. Joe Barton and other Texans in Congress asked President Barack Obama on Saturday to call off a six-month moratorium on deep water oil drilling to avoid hurting the drilling industry more than it has already been damaged.
Republican House members led by Rep. Pete Olson, R-Sugar Land, say they'll file a bill Tuesday calling for an end to the moratorium, which they say is creating financial hardships for businesses and workers in the deep water drilling business.

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As a Texan I'd just like to say -- read any story about whole fishing industries in multiple states along the Gulf Coast in danger of dying; read about birds, dolphins and other forms of sea life that are already dead and dying; read about whole recreational industries in danger of dying because of the reckless drive for profit by ONE part of the oil industry on ONE deep water well -- and then tell me why ANYONE would be feeling sorry for the oil industry or support Texas Republicans in this insanity?

5 comments:

judyalter said...

Amen, Katie.

Frank Remkiewicz aka “Tree” said...

Apparrently everyone forgot the spill in Santa Barbara, CA 35-40 years ago. Oh well, memories of convenience.

BooCat said...

Katie, The Governors in all of these Gulf states are so schizophrenic about this that, even as they are foaming at the mouth about BP and the destruction they have caused, they are also calling for a resumption of drilling at the same time. Having seen one sector of their economy tank, they're frantically trying to keep the sector that caused the huge mess afloat so that the whole lot won't go down the drain. Even the fishermen are ambivalent, because you can bet your boat, and they do, many of their family members feed their families from that same oil industry. It is all too sad

Unknown said...

It's always the working folks and small businesses that take the hit when the greed of management causes major damage to the environment and/or the economy. Big business should be REQUIRED to keep their employees on the payroll when they are penalized for their misdeeds. Time for the "big dogs" to bleed a bit. NO MORE OFF-SHORE DRILLING. PERIOD! Is there NO end to our greed and stupidity?

judyalter said...

Add Joe Barton's "shakedown" apology to the mix to see how far from reality this thing has gotten. Hurray for Obama for standing up for what the BP guy called "the small people." I hope people respect what Obama negotiated and vote Barton out of office--finally!