Today’s Drudge headlines:
These link to a March 31. 2010 story, and a May 14. 2011 story, respectively.
From which I guess we can infer that the Obama Administration thinks announcing a more relaxed policy is a good thing. If we look at the stories, though, we find that the the Administration annoucing that they’ll sell more leases and perform more studies, not allow more oil production.
But it’s worth remembering this story, which came on April 25. 2011:
Shell Oil Company has announced it must scrap efforts to drill for oil this summer in the Arctic Ocean off the northern coast of Alaska. The decision comes following a ruling by the EPA’s Environmental Appeals Board to withhold critical air permits. The move has angered some in Congress and triggered a flurry of legislation aimed at stripping the EPA of its oil drilling oversight.
Shell has spent five years and nearly $4 billion dollars on plans to explore for oil in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas. The leases alone cost $2.2 billion. Shell Vice President Pete Slaiby says obtaining similar air permits for a drilling operation in the Gulf of Mexico would take about 45 days. He’s especially frustrated over the appeal board’s suggestion that the Arctic drill would somehow be hazardous for the people who live in the area. “We think the issues were really not major,” Slaiby said, “and clearly not impactful for the communities we work in.”
Selling leases and performing studies, while making actual production infeasible or impossible, is not actually very helpful.
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