July 14, 2010 at 8:55 AM
Washington’s Misguided Response to the BP Spill

By David Porter, Candidate for Texas Railroad Commission

In the eleven weeks since an underwater pipeline ruptured, spilling massive quantities of oil into the gulf, pressure has mounted on the Washington politicians to “do something” about it. Unfortunately, their impotent response has contributed little to the two most pressing needs: stopping the leak, and protecting our shores and gulf waters from an environmental and economic disaster.

Instead, the Washington politicians have given us a sideshow masquerading as a solution: over-reacting to the first such major spill in 30 years by making repeated attempts to ban all deepwater exploration. Washington has a tendency to offer pseudo-solutions that increase their role in managing what they have already bungled. Think the federalization of emergency response following Katrina. Or in this case, consider the Obama ban on deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.

I say this not because there shouldn’t be a discussion about the safety of deepwater exploration. But our priorities must be first plugging the leak, second mitigating the impact along the coast and throughout the gulf, and third figuring out what went wrong through a thorough investigation. At that point, those who acted irresponsibly should be punished, and policy changes aimed at preventing a repeat of this disaster should be implemented.

Shutting down deepwater exploration prior to a thorough investigation is not only a knee-jerk reaction meant to quell public outrage, it is a gut shot to Gulf Coast communities that will exacerbate their economic hardship. And coastal residents can take little solace in the fact the drilling moratorium was recently struck down by a federal judge as “arbitrary and capricious.” Because it is not going to end there.

Oil companies are even more reluctant to move forward with their rigs in depths greater than 500 feet in light of the Administration continuing to pursue the appeals process on the drilling ban issued in May. In the meantime, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar decided to go another route, issuing an order restricting drilling based on certain technologies and drilling configurations. One can only assume, the activity on the 33 deep-water platforms remain the targets. Those 33 rigs employ approximately 1,400 people, and when you take into account local businesses supported by the rig employees, we could be talking about over 46,000 jobs lost.

What was all this talk in the last campaign about creating jobs and being less dependent on foreign oil? The greatest economic threat to our country is over-reliance on foreign sources of energy. Imagine a day when the Islamic terrorists roaming the sands of Saudi Arabia finally over-throw the House of Saud. The economic impact would be both immediate and devastating. Now the president wants to shut the spigot on deepwater wells, when approximately 30% of the United States’ total domestic oil production and 13% of domestic natural gas comes from the Gulf of Mexico. Of that total, the moratorium would impact 80% of the oil we produce offshore, and 45% of the natural gas. A recent study by Bernstein Research states that a one-year delay on new deepwater projects could cut world oil supply by 500,000 barrels per day between 2013 and 2017.

I have worked in the energy industry for three decades in the Permian Basin, working with producers large and small to navigate the maze of federal taxes and regulations. As a candidate for Texas Railroad Commissioner – a position that oversees the nation’s largest energy industry – I am a proponent of common sense regulations that ensure the safety of workers and area citizens, that protect our environment, and that enable growth in one of the most critical economic industries in Texas. I believe safety should always come first. At the same time, when you consider we have not experienced a tragedy of this nature in more than 30 years in gulf waters, it seems a blanket ban on deepwater drilling is an over-reaction with real economic consequences.

The real lesson here is not that offshore drilling must be stopped, but that we must take whatever measures are necessary to enhance exploration safety so we can expand domestic drilling – both offshore and on land. Not only should we increase exploration of domestic fossil fuels, we should do more to tap the potential of cleaner sources – such as natural gas, nuclear power, clean coal, wind, solar and biofuels.

The attempted moratorium on deep-water drilling, issued to please the president’s far left base, underscores the need for statewide officials who will combat misguided Washington policies that harm our state. And that’s why I am running for Texas Railroad Commissioner.