Local Paper Editorial on the Gulf oil Spill: Why we're in so deep

…beyond speculation about this crisis’ political impact lies re-confirmation of this far more critical reality: As the oil appetite of the world (not just the U.S.) continues to grow, the difficulty in finding enough to go around is growing, too.

Oil will remain an indispensable energy source for decades to come. America must boost domestic production of it within reasonable regulations.

But the Gulf mess is a vivid reminder of the environmental — and economic — hazards of offshore drilling. Those risks are particularly pertinent for South Carolina. We depend heavily on tourism dollars generated by our healthy beaches and coastal wetlands. It’s discouraging to see some of our state’s prominent elected officials, including both of our U.S. senators, remaining supportive of drilling off our precious shores. It’s also frustrating to see so many Americans buying into the myth that “environmental chic” is to blame for the Gulf catastrophe — and for our dangerous dependence on foreign oil.

Long ago, oil virtually leaked from the ground in Texas and Oklahoma. Now it leaks in massive quantities from a mile below the water in the Gulf.

And now we must develop new sources of energy — and a stronger commitment to conservation.

Read the whole thing.

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Posted in * Economics, Politics, * South Carolina, --The 2010 Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill, Energy, Natural Resources, Politics in General

5 comments on “Local Paper Editorial on the Gulf oil Spill: Why we're in so deep

  1. Jill Woodliff says:

    There is great power in prayer. [url=http://anglicanprayer.wordpress.com/2010/05/08/a-prayer-litany-for-the-gulf-oil-spill/]Episcopal litany from Central Gulf Coast Diocese[/url]. [url=http://anglicanprayer.wordpress.com/2010/05/03/gulf-coast-oil-spill/]Prayer from a group of Mississippi intercessors[/url].

  2. Jill Woodliff says:

    This is a [url=http://anglicanprayer.wordpress.com/2010/06/17/energy-sources-and-use/]prayer[/url] for energy sources and use.

  3. Sarah says:

    Good to have demonstrated why our three main State newspapers are augering into the ground as they are.

    Thankfully, fewer and fewer people read them anymore.

    The author provides no evidence — literally none whatsoever — to counter the FACT that environmental regulations require the deep offshore drilling.

  4. Br. Michael says:

    I suppose no one recalls that the exhaust from horses was a major problem in large cities and the internal combustion engine was the environmental solution in its day.

  5. Clueless says:

    Personally, I think repentance and ammendment of life would be even more to the point than prayer.

    I have never done much thinking about Revelations, but y’know, the first bowl of wrath “a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image.” (Kaposi’s sarcoma anybody? That was how the AIDS virus first came to clinical attention about 1981).

    The second bowl was supposed to be seas turning the color of blood, and frankly that is what the Gulf looks like. That and red tide (which is what happens when you have a dying ecosystem with bacterial overgrowth). The third extends the ecological disaster to the lakes and streams (a matter of time).

    If those sunspots come in on schedule, that would fit in very nicely with bowl number 4.

    I seriously think that calling for sackcloth and ashes might be better than praying asking for more good gifts.