Drill baby drill- about the only time I'd say that is for the relief well on this BP Debacle, then once they cap off the mess they need to reinstate the ban on offshore drilling, be fined to the fullest extent of the law. environmental stewardship needs to be the foremost concern in any oil exploration. A moratorium must be put in place until all failsafes are testable and doubly redundant. They had no contingency for this situation as they claim the chance of such a thing happening was so remote.
I went to the gulf coast on spring break several years ago and there were oil rigs as far as you could see, they were pretty unsightly in an otherwise nice part of the country. BP claims they will pay any legitimate claim resulting from the spill. How far does that reach though? Tourism, commercial fishing, recreational fishing, lost land value and tax revenue, unforeseen public health risks. How do you put a price on the effect on the ecology? An effect that nobody can 100% neutralize, it's simply too vast. Exxon oil still clings to the shores of prince william sound; once it BP's mess makes landfall it will pose great threats to delicate ecosystems that are very important not only to the people of the gulf coast, but everyone. coastal wetlands are an endangered resource and this mess courtesy of BP is a wakeup call.
The ban on offshore drilling needs to be reinstated. More stringent regulations and inspection standards need put in place on existing oil rigs and a moratorium needs to be placed on any new drilling until all existing facilities are brought to a higher standard. All of which must be at the expense of the oil companies. they make plenty of money, they need to reinvest it in safer practices, not oil exec pensions and flashy commercials. It may not be popular, but the price of gas is too low, Fuel efficiency needs to be a priority and perhaps if it were $5-10 per gallon people would think twice before frivolously buying huge SUV's. they have their place, but not the daily commute. for renewable energy to become mainstream it must be economically competitive with Fossil fuels. To accomplish this I feel it would be proper to tax oil and fossil fuels to the extent that solar and wind are competitive, any revenue raised could be used to Subsidzeof renewable infrastructure and research While setting up a super fund for environmental cleanup and renewal for the next inevitable disaster. Don't get me started on nuclear...no nukes are good nukes.
