From David Axelrod:
The US today banned all new offshore drilling as crude from the sunken Deepwater Horizon rig began lapping at the shores of sensitive marshland at the mouth of the Mississippi river.
Speaking on US television, David Axelrod, White House senior adviser, declared that no company would be allowed to proceed with exploration in new areas off the US coast until an investigation into the cause of the disaster had been completed.
He said: "No additional drilling has been authorised and none will until we find out what happened... and whether there was something unique and preventable here."
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Well, of course that makes complete sense. Offshore drilling is a disaster and this is why.
Now, how about moving on to safer, more reliable energy plan for the seas?
More to come.
Fleshing out the story now. Here is the video of Axelrod on CBS:
The quote:
Well lets understand what the President has said. All he has said is that he is not going to continue the moratorium on drilling. No additional drilling has been authorized and none will until we find out what happened here.
David Axelrod, Senior Advisor to the President
What we need is a ban on offshore drilling. Excepting the artic circle region, where I believe the bounty is worth the risk. It is clear that the risks to fishing, tourism, and the environment is not worth the few tablespoons of oil we get from drilling. When something goes wrong, it goes horribly, terribly wrong. Keep in mind, this isn't Exxon Valdez where you had a finite amount of oil on a boat. This is an open well. A spokeswoman for BP yesterday said on the news hour that it could take up to 90 days to cap the well. That is a CATASTROPHE. It certainly isn't worth it.
Kossack justmy2 wrote an early morning Breaking Diary about this which is all the way down there. Please rec that diary up to get this news out to the wider community. This news broke on my way to work and I'm sure many are just settling down at their desks.