Offshore oil drilling might make environmental sense
The Obama administration sparked an uproar this week when it approved new oil and gas drilling in U.S. waters off the coasts of Virginia, other parts of the mid- and south Atlantic, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and parts of Alaska. Drilling remains off-limits near New Jersey and California, but Interior Secretary Ken Salazar called the decision "a new direction" in energy policy.
Indeed, offshore drilling has been seen as taboo for decades. The 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill was a galvanizing moment for environmentalists. It helped launch the modern environmental movement and gave us a new symbol of environmental threat -- the offshore oil platform.… Seguir leyendo »