April 1, 2010
Shaking up years of energy policy and his own environmental backers, President Barack Obama threw open a huge swath of East Coast waters and other protected areas in Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico to drilling Wednesday, widening the politically explosive hunt for more homegrown oil and gas.
20 Days Later
Deep Horizon Oil Well Gushing 42,000 Gallons Into Gulf Of Mexico Per Day
Does the comedy of what has been done here need to be any clearer? As if to completely dismiss the entire conversation of wildlife refuges, sea corals and the overall ecosystem, the oil companies managed to get President Barack Obama's ear and convince them that the best way to move forward with the landmark Green Energy initiative to NOT Drill Here Drill Now that he campaigned on was to Drill Here, Drill Now.
Yes...he campaigned on it:
So now, Tuesday April 27, 2010 ... just 27 days after Obama's Great April Fools Joke, we learn that:
Big Oil Fought Off New Safety Rules Before Rig Explosion
"It does appear to be have been an orchestrated effort among most of major oil companies and drilling operators," says Defenders of Wildlife senior policy adviser Richard Charter.
"This event has called attention to fact that there is a long-standing safety problem in offshore industry," he says, noting that he gets phone calls from whistleblowers working on rigs who complain about the work conditions and the environmental damage caused by such operations."
If tipping over an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico resulting in another 42,000 gallons of crude oil seeping into the food chain of millions of sea creatures every 24 hours, and drifting off to the coast of Pensacola Florida isn't enough to demonstrate to us what a cruel joke this leg of Obama's energy policy is going to be, I don't know how else to speak to a compassionate, progressive human being.
What will be the response a few weeks from now when the slick reaches land and we're on our hands and knees scrubbing oil from helpless birds and squirting dish soap all over the coast of Florida. What will the President do when those photos hit the news?
Ok, Mr. President. It was a joke, right? And any minute now you're going to come out slapping your thigh and giving us back the position you once held on the Drill-Here-Drill-Nowers, and rescind your order to permit new offshore oil and gas drilling leases along the entire eastern seaboard.
Annnnnnnnny minute now ....
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