Deepwater ban could end early

Published: Wednesday, August 18, 2010 at 9:12 a.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, August 18, 2010 at 9:12 a.m.

The ongoing debate over the wisdom of the Obama administration’s ban on deepwater drilling appears to be changing some minds.

That can only be good for Louisiana — particularly our part of the state.

The oil-and-gas industry supports more than 320,000 Louisiana jobs and generates more than $12.7 billion in household earnings, according to state data cited in a recent Associated Press report.

That is a huge economic impact the federal government is running the risk of upsetting.

The industry will not go away because of the ban on deepwater exploratory drilling.

The fact is that it affects only a tiny portion of the rigs in the Gulf of Mexico.

But various economic experts have estimated the ban’s cost in the thousands of jobs and in the billions of dollars.

The public argument for the drilling ban was that the industry needed to re-evaluate its safety and spill-response plans before it could be allowed to resume normal activities.

The plan for the ban was that it would go until Nov. 30 while a commission examined what happened on the Deepwater Horizon that led to the deadly explosion and resulting spill and recommended new guidelines aimed at preventing future spills.

Those are understandable, even laudable, goals.

The government has a vested interest in keeping the people and environment safe even as it allows companies to plumb the depths of the ocean to feed the nation’s thirst for oil.

However, many have argued from the start that a drilling ban does not advance the cause of making drilling safer.

Instead, it needlessly punishes the companies and workers depending on the industry for their incomes.

Now, though, there could be signs that the tide is turning.

Four months after the Deepwater Horizon explosion, little has been accomplished by the commission in terms of instituting changes in the regulatory climate of the oil-and-gas industry.

And some are beginning to ask whether the ban is doing any good.

The co-chair of the commission, in fact, told the AP that he does not know why rigs that are inspected and found safe cannot resume drilling.

It is a fair question, one that gets to the heart of the drilling ban.

If a rig is safe, why should it sit idle while an arbitrary amount of time passes?

The fact that all the rigs are prevented from exploratory drilling makes the case that the impetus behind the ban is punishment rather than precaution.

In the end, it really does not matter. What matters is that Obama and his advisers rethink a destructive decision for the residents and companies of south Louisiana.

Perhaps the anti-ban argument is gaining traction.

Let’s hope the president does not wait until Nov. 30 to put these rigs back to work for the state and the nation.

Editorials represent the opinions of

the newspaper, not of any individual.


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