The Obama administration, particularly Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, should be commended for ending a moratorium on deep-water drilling in the Gulf of Mexico several weeks early.
To us, the ban always appeared to be more of a political reaction to the massive BP oil leak than something based on science.
The moratorium, which was to have lasted until Nov. 30., idled 33 rigs and caused thousands of job losses in an already down economy. Five of those rigs, fulfilling industry predictions, pulled up stakes and are now working in Egypt and other parts of Africa, according to The Washington Post.
Yes, ending the ban early also can be seen as playing politics. With election season at hand, the decision could help Democrats in some coastal states. And drilling industry experts warn that the end of the moratorium could be an end in name only if the Interior Department’s new permitting requirements aren’t handled expeditiously, a point the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement concedes but promises to address.
Meanwhile, some environmental groups are critical of lifting the ban, and are warning of continued risks.
For all that, though, we’re pleased that Salazar, the former Colorado senator, made good on his promise to resolve the matter as quickly as reasonably possible. And we appreciate his leadership in doing so.
Soon after the moratorium was put in place on May 28, experts decried the ban and warned that stopping the rigs increased the risk of leaks.
And Salazar, in a meeting with the Denver Post editorial board, admitted that the problems that led to the massive failure with the BP drilling operation were unique and more a function of poor practices and decision-making than flawed equipment.
In fact, as The Washington Post relates, Obama, Salazar and others who had recently altered the administration’s stance on drilling — before the accident — had come to believe that the technology was safe and reliable.
The Washington Post makes the case that in the rush to find enough consensus in Congress to back a climate-change bill, the administration appears to have been too willing to expand deep-water drilling in exchange for measures that would create incentives for expanding wind and solar power. This after Obama campaigned as a “post-partisan” who would put science before politics in crafting difficult policy.
As for continued concerns about the environment, we have been pleased by a larger review the administration has launched due to the accident.
Michael Bromwich, who directs the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, says additional employees have been assigned to the permitting process, which includes new third-party review of well designs.
With the well capped, a more reasonable approach in the Gulf seems prudent.
