The White House announced today that the Department of Interior will be lifting the ban on off-shore oil drilling. This is good news. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement Michael Bromwich had estimated that the ban cost the region more than 20,000 jobs. Unfortunately, the Obama administration is leaving costly new job killing regulations in its place. Greenwire reports:
The Obama administration is acknowledging that its new offshore drilling safety regulations will raise costs for the oil and gas industry — and may also delay some offshore development, slightly increase gas prices and kill some jobs.
The new rules unveiled last week would increase operating costs by an estimated $1.42 million for each new deepwater well drilled with a floating rig, $170,000 for each new deepwater well drilled with a platform rig and $90,000 for each new shallow-water well, according to an Interior Department notice released yesterday.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar says the increased costs are worth it because it will reduce the risk of a new oil spill. But Secretary Salazar failed to identify how much risk the new regulations would reduce. How can the cost justify the risk if they don’t even know what the risk is?
For a better solution to oil spill liability, click here.
I don't see any reason we need regulations. It's not like there was ever a major issue, never any major spills that would affect an entire region, it's people and it's economy.
For that matter, we should also stop regulating food and medicine. Who cares if the food and medicine has lead, e-coli, and other fun stuff like that. I put 100% faith in the corporate world, who always looks out for the masses best interest. We have wonderful companies like Enron, Worldcom, Peanut Corp of America, run by fine individuals like Bernie Madoff – who always look out for the little guys!
When will all ordinary citizens wake up totally? Obama takes something away…then in the nick of political time they -Obama- gives it back…Right after the moratorium has killed off jobs, run off the oil rigs…and they are hard to lure in the first place. This is disgraceful…now the oil industry will not loose more money to put their rigs back in the Gulf —only to spend more in America to drill than they are putting in Brazil, Africa …due to the new regulaitons et. al. What kind of idiotic people are running this country?
Kevin, no one has suggested no rules, no regulations or no oversight at any level. However, we should be able to reach consensus with regard to how rules, regulations and oversight impact in reality – if we only increase costs but do not improve safety (or the area for which rules, regulations and oversight are directed), then those efforts are in reality nothing more than "feel good" or an attempt to pander to one's political base.
One reason our population doesn't regularly engage in rationally discussions associated with cost benefit analysis is due to a propensity to make decisions based on emotion and not on empirical data.
Sorta like your response, eh…………..
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