WHERE HAS COMMON SENSE GONE? No. 16, Thomas Paine – February 2011

I have continued to wonder about the Federal moratorium on offshore oil drilling. The courts have found the moratorium to be illegal. This has been viewed by the present Administration as a setback and accordingly emphasis has shifted to dramatically extend the Permit to Drill process, in effect negating the findings of the court. Now it appears the Minerals Management Branch will issue an occasional permit so to avoid the appearance of total non-compliance with the court finding.  Is this bureaucratic chicanery or merely bureaucratic bungling and ineptitude? Sometimes it is pretty hard to tell the difference since the various levels of Government have such a poor track record in responding to major events in a timely and appropriate manner. One need only look back as far as Hurricane Katrina to find an example of even more death, damage and disruption than was caused by the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster. The Government’s response to Katrina was subjected to justified criticism at the time. Even though the cause of the Katrina disaster was quickly diminished the significant after effects remain to this day. Continue reading →