Gulf oil spill: Markey mocks Palin's 'drill baby drill' mantra

In his opening statement for the House Energy and Commerce's Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation, which is looking into the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, U.S. Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), took a swipe at the "Drill Baby Drill" mantra offered by Sarah Palin and others in the Republican party during the presidential election:

"I think a root cause for this accident is the 'drill, baby,     
drill' boosterism. There was oil industry boosterism that minimized     
potential hazards. There was a boosterism on the part of the previous      
administration that got rid of protection that they viewed as          
obstacles to increased drilling. Now, we see the results.            

Boosterism led to complacency, and complacency led to disaster.

And this is a disaster. But it was not inevitable."

Other members of Congress have noted, however, that as much as a third of domestic petroleum production comes from the Gulf of Mexico. U.S. Rep. John Sullivan, (R-Oklahoma) spoke next:

"During this hearing, and the continuing investigation, it is        
 important that we do not lose sight of the fact that 30 percent of the 
 total U.S. production of crude oil comes from offshore.  While some        
 may want to stop drilling offshore altogether, this would be a   
 terrible mistake.  If we were to ban or restrict offshore drilling, we      
 would simply increase our national dependence on foreign oil, which     
 makes our nation less secure in the short term and long term, and       
 increases the cost of energy." 

Markey also had harsh words for one of the methods BP is contemplating to stop up the wellhead that is gushing 5,000 barrels of oil a day:

"And after the failure of the containment dome, we are now hearing     
 of plans to stuff the blowout preventer full of a mixture of golf  
 balls, old tires, and other junk.  When we heard the best minds were        
 on the case, we expected MIT and not the PGA.  We already have one        
 hole in the ground, and now their solution is to shoot a hole in one."

-- Geoff Mohan

Photo: U.S. Rep. Edward J. Markey during a session on oversight of the drug industry. Credit: Mario Tama / Getty Images

Comments

[The Bear Party]

drill less baby, drill less
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70RZzxR8pqU

[Marcus W.]

Can nobody do basic math? I've seen the video and to suggest that 70,000 Barrels/day is leaking is saying that 45 gal/sec is spewing out of the pipe. Seeing as the well could only produce at 1.8 gal/sec and unrestricted flow is estimated at 3 gal/sec, we're talking about 4,700 barrels/day

I am not condoning the spill in any way, but sensationalism is never productive.

[norrishall]

This disaster reminds many of us who sit on the fence that there is no such thing as a safe oil rig, safe nuclear energy plant, safe coal mine.
All it takes is an equipment malfunction or a careless worker to precipitate an environmental catastrophe.
The Republicans got it wrong when they wrapped their energy policy in the "Drill, baby, drill" mantra of Sarah Palin.
It made for great TV theater.
But in the end it showed how shortsighted some people were in trusting a technology which is not well thought out and for which there is no emergency plans in place.

Perhaps the silver lining is that this catastrophe has caused people to rethink the concept of "Drill, Baby, Drill" and to question the assurances of oil executives and Republicans that "modern oil drilling is safe"

[JVMFan]

Obama needs to get his head on straight regarding oil drilling! Jane, the host of "Issues" on CNN headline news channel believes we should definitely stop all this. I agree!!!!

[one]

.
ANOTHER DAY HAS BEEN LOST AND 300,000 MORE GALLONS OF OIL SPILLED!!!
.
ALL THE ENGINEERED SOLUTIONS NEED WEEKS OR MONTHS TO BE ADOPTED!
.
23 DAYS AFTER THE DISASTER, DON'T LOSE OTHER PRECIOUS TIME DISCUSSING HUNDREDS OF OPTIONS!!!
.
ONLY THE *FIRE* IS FAST!!! SO, YOU HAVE ONLY *TWO* POSSIBLE OPTIONS:
.
1. BURN THE OIL ON A HUNDREDS BY HUNDREDS OF MILES ON SEA SURFACE WITHOUT STOP THE OIL LEAK, OR...
.
2. BURN THE OIL AT 5000 FT. UNDER SEA IN A RELATIVELY SMALL AREA HOPING TO SEE THE HIGH TEMPERATURE TO MELT THE OIL PIPE AND STOP THE LEAK
.
http://www.ghostnasa.com/posts2/070oilspillsolution.html
.

[Tim Holt]

Gee. So Bill Carson hates Ed Markey for being in favor of wind power of Massachusetts and thinks his not outlawing tug barge petroluem traffic off the east coast is hypocracy. Tug barge use is dangerous and a USA phenomenon that is a way of working around manning regulations for ships. No other region on the earth has underpowered boats tugging massive amounts of dangerous cargoes on wires a half mile behind. Corruption. Lack of safety, lobbyists, Republican lackys are the real problem. Money is all that matters. Leave industry to employ children, underpay, pollute...anything for profit for the very rich. Your real problem is that you point your finger at others but industry profit is not morality or good citizenship if it causes harm in the end.

[Bill Carson]

Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), is the sales representative for Cape Wind !

Ed Markey was no where to be found during the biggest oil spill in the history of Massachusetts !

On April 27, 2003, eight years ago the Bouchard Barge B-120 hit an obstacle in Buzzards Bay, creating a 12-foot rupture in its hull and discharging an estimated 100,000 gallons of No. 6 oil. The oil is known to have affected an estimated 90 miles of shoreline, killing 450 numerous bird species the day it happened, and recreational use of the bay, such as shell fishing and boating.

Where was Ed Markey ?