Oil Man in the White House

On March 31, 2010, President Obama, fulfilling a campaign promise to allow offshore drilling as part of his “comprehensive energy policy,” announced he would propose off-shore drilling along the eastern Gulf of Mexico, much of the East Coast, and Chukchi and Beaufort seas north of Alaska.

Now, less than a month after this announcement, we are experiencing probably the worst oil tragedy in modern history in the Gulf of Mexico. In response to questions on this environmental crisis, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said, “We need to figure out what happened.”

Really, Mr. President, we need to figure out what happened? Does it matter why oil extraction systems fail? What we do know is that the destruction will be massive. It will kill the only coral reef system in the United States and cause untold damage to all manner of animal lives – including and most painfully, untold human lives. And in response, all you can say is, “We need to figure out what happened?”

You, Mr. President, had been warned of this very possibility. You knew and yet came down on the side of corporate interests against the warnings of coastal governors, environmentalists, and senators. On the very day you made your announcement, Senator Frank Lautenberg (R-NJ) released a statement where he stated, in part, "Giving Big Oil more access to our nation's waters is really a 'Kill, Baby, Kill' policy. It threatens to kill jobs, kill marine life and kill coastal economies that generate billions of dollars."

In his March 31 press release, Sen. Lautenberg emphasized the following:

· Drilling damages our vibrant coastal economies

· Drilling is dangerous

· More drilling will not solve our energy problems




How do you feel now, Mr. President?

We cannot drill offshore!

What more will it take before we admit the need to get off our fossil fuel habit?

This environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico threatens hundreds of species of wildlife, not to mention the tragic loss of human life.

We need to radically restructure the way we fuel a modern society, and it can be done with concerted effort. We just have to elect politicians who will choose reason over the interests of large campaign contributors.

Richard Curtis