Offshore drilling ban repealed

Leave it to the Republicans to initiate such an ill-conceived idea. Leave it to the Democrats to cave.

The offshore oil drilling ban has been in force since the early 1980s. In the bad old days, before the moratorium, Americans were forced to deal with environmental disasters like the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill that dumped nearly 100,000 barrels of crude in the ocean, polluted the beach for months, and ruined wildlife. After the drilling ban, there would be no more spills from platforms off American shores.

Now, after almost 30 years, the ostensibly Democratic-led Congress has lifted the moratorium.

We'll see how long it lasts before there's another platform spill. It will almost certainly happen.

Will lifting the ban solve our energy crisis? Here's a hint: no. It'll be another 5 to 10 years before we get any gasoline from it.

The lifting of the ban is even worse than originally feared: Instead of giving states powers to halt the bans within 100 miles of their shores, states are instead being granted this power within only 3 miles. Everything from the 3-mile limit to the continental shelf will be open for drilling. Lest you think 3 miles is sufficient to keep oil off our beaches, the Santa Barbara spill was 6 miles from the shore.

The states need to act by patrolling their waters to keep platforms from being built.

All this for a finite resource like oil. Why not invest in renewable energy sources instead of remaining dependent on Big Oil?

(Source: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/24/43625/9799/814/608387)