Gulf Oil Drill Ban Affects U.S. 23K Jobs

(AP)  A six-month ban on deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico would directly put more than 9,000 people out of work and indirectly affect another 14,000 jobs, according to a memo from the nation's top drilling regulator.

The federal document, which weighed the economic impact and alternatives to the ban, was sent to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on July 10 by Michael Bromwich.

Salazar issued a moratorium in June, but it was struck down by a federal judge in New Orleans after oil and gas drilling interests said it wasn't justified following the Gulf oil spill.

Special Section: Disaster in the Gulf

The Obama administration issued a new moratorium July 12 — three days after the memo — that stressed new evidence of safety concerns. The White House hopes the revised ban will pass muster with the courts.

The moratoriums were put in place following the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion April 20 that killed 11 people. Millions of gallons (liters) of oil spilled into the Gulf after the rig sank.

Some energy experts, engineering consultants and Gulf Coast leaders have joined Big Oil to ask Salazar to change his mind. Drilling was safe before the BP spill, they said, and Gulf communities that depend on the industry were suffering unfairly.

Interior Department spokesman Matt Lee-Ashley said the agency has been very clear that the economic impacts of the moratorium would need to be addressed and noted the Obama administration secured an agreement with BP to set up a $100 million fund for affected rig workers.

"In light of the current risks of deepwater drilling as illustrated by the BP Deepwater Horizon Spill and the potential impacts of another spill, the moratorium is necessary and appropriate. With that said, the worst-case economic impact estimates from three months ago have not been realized. The reality on the ground suggests that the impacts are less than we initially projected as a potential worst-case scenario," Lee-Ashley said.

[imthaid]

We can put those 23,000 people back to work. Just start another war on another countries innocent civilians. Maybe Canada this time? Hey, if we pick a fight with Canada soldiers would not have to travel so far. And, we could knock over that silly CNN tower that they are so proud of. Or, at least, hang an american flag from it. Who cares who we kill as long as americans can still afford their $600 cell phones and foreign cars? Just kill baby kill!
It's kind of sickening to know the only way your country can survive is by the ruthless and unwarranted destruction of others, isn't it? The war on drugs, the war on terror, the war on freedom and democracy. Just can't get enough war in america. Good thing there are plenty of imbeciles in america who will support war no matter what the latest lie is about.

[imthaid]

We can put those 23,000 people back to work. Just start another war on another countries innocent civilians. Maybe Canada this time? Hey, if we pick a fight with Canada soldiers would not have to travel so far. And, we could knock over that silly CNN tower that they are so proud of. Or, at least, hang an american flag from it. Who cares who we kill as long as americans can still afford their $600 cell phones and foreign cars? Just kill baby kill!
It's kind of sickening to know the only way your country can survive is by the ruthless and unwarranted destruction of others, isn't it? The war on drugs, the war on terror, the war on freedom and democracy. Just can't get enough war in america. Good thing there are plenty of imbeciles in america who will support war no matter what the latest lie is about.

[gruven13777]

Way to go Barry. Way to kill the economy.

[pensacola8-2009]

I wouldn't give one job to anyone who poisons my air or water. Those 23 thousand can find another line of work and survive just fine.

[fl2007rn]

Leave it to OBOZO to screw up yet another industry. He is clueless and is destroying our country. Look at healthcare reform. Insurance premiums are going up 9% next year and the large companies will lay people off to cover costs. Way to go OBOZO. By the way, OBOZO is at Martha's Vinyards while unemployment rose for the third straight week and Iran shot off test missiles yesterday. Our PREZ is a crock.

[us_1776]

Insurance premiums go up because the healthcare reform has not kicked in yet. Try 2014.

And thanks to the massive GOP economic crater that happened under Bush it is going to take years for the economy to recreate the lost jobs. And there is not a single politician on the entire planet that can make any difference in that. The economy is rebounding but as always, jobs are the last thing to come back. Welcome to reality.

And who cares what Iran does? GOP is just pushing this as a way to draw us into another war. No thanks.


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[rightbehind]

What happened to the republican judge that threw the drilling ban out. Everyone forgot about that? Plenty of spew out today.

[larry0304]

What new? The BEST thing the Obama administration does is put Americans out of work as the numbers prove. Of course vacationing every other week does keep the president busy........

[us_1776]

At this point in his presidency, Bush had taken 225 days of vacation away from the White House.

Compare that to President Obama who has taken just 70 days of vacation away from the White House and has full briefings and is working even while on "vacation".



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[us_1776]

At this point in his presidency, Bush had taken 225 days of vacation away from the White House.

Compare that to President Obama who has taken just 70 days of vacation away from the White House and has full briefings and is working even while on "vacation".



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[us_1776]

I don't care about these oil industry jobs.

I care about all the other millions of people that work down here in the Gulf Region and many of the businesses and people have been severely affected by the stupid oil industry and it's huge oil spill.

And we need to do a complete and thorough post-mortem on the failed BOP to find out what went wrong with that critical piece of equipment before we allow any more undersea drilling.




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[maakahill]

by us_1776
"I don't care about these oil industry jobs"

You are seriously misinformed US_1776, the oil industry supports the economy of the Gulf Coast region(except Florida) The moratorium is nothing more than another political calulation by the Obama adminstration to appease the enviromentist groups. Its absurb to ban drilling after one major incident in 60 years. It would be like stopping a plane travel after one crash. We have a clueless POTUS that is destroying our econmony. You should care about these jobs, since Obama is driving our of our country. I know of several units that have left the USGC to brazil. So you just continue to don't care and wait on your Goverment to support you..

[us_1776]

maakahill, I worked in the oil industry for years and if you think that this is the only serious incident that has happened then you know nothing about the oil industry.

The oil industry has one of the worst track records for accidents, oil spills, environmental damage, fires, injuries and deaths of any industry. And this has been allowed to go on for decades because Republicans have decimated oil industry regulations.

And as we saw with the investigation into the MMS full of GOP-appointees, there was essentially nothing but rubber-stamping going on. We need to completely overhaul the oversight and regulations on this industry so that never again can one accident cause over 100 billion dollars in long-term damage to economy of the Gulf States.



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