Early Wednesday morning there was another Gulf Coast oil rig explosion. The rig is west of the Deepwater Horizon site, 80 miles south of Vermillion Bay in Louisiana.
All thirteen workers were accounted for, and only one injury was reported.
Government officials said that the rig has been out of commission for a while and had been undergoing maintenance work, therefore not impacted by the Obama administration’s ban on deepwater oil drilling.
The timing of its explosion, however, was certainly impactful. The news came only hours after Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal made a speech in Lafayette, LA pushing to lift the Obama administration’s ban on deepwater drilling.
Jindal said, “Our people don’t want a BP check. They don’t want an unemployment check. They want to go back to work.”
Even though this rig wouldn’t be in commission had the ban be lifted, it’s still pretty clear that this is not the time to be harping about lifting the ban.
What Jindal also forgot to mention is that “work” is the reason that approximately 4.1 million barrels of oil were dumped into the Gulf of Mexico, and the reason most of Louisiana’s seafood industry is in shambles.
While the oil industry is a big part of Louisiana’s economy, so is the seafood industry. The one thing that’s different is who gets the money from these industries.
The seafood industry is mostly local and many operations are family-run. The oil industry is run by multi-billion dollar conglomerates that have a strong hold over political policy.
It would appear that Jindal is more concerned with helping large corporations than actually looking out for the people of his state and people most affected by the explosion.
It is unfortunate that rig workers aren’t able to work, but the industry they chose to work in is the problem. To be fighting for them, at a time when other people who had nothing to do with the explosion are suffering just as much, if not more, is a slap in the face.
To be sure, more work is needed in this country. But as this incident demonstrates, Jindal and the GOP should focus on creating environmentally responsible jobs rather than reinforcing our dirty habits.
September 02, 2010 at 7:07 pm, Lacey Riot said:
Great job, Jared. Thanks for speaking up for us LA folks.
September 02, 2010 at 11:51 pm, docbets said:
They still think it is all about them. When the food chain is poisoned, it is not a local matter. Imbecilic. They oil boys are digging their own grave but I am pretty sure there isn't the will in Washington to actually end the desecration.