By Joseph Picard: Subscribe to Joseph's RSS feed
June 14, 2010 7:28 PM EDT
Louisiana's coastal lands are being polluted by oil from the massive and as-yet-unstopped Deepwater Horizon well leak. The state fishing industry, due to the spill, has been granted failed fishery status from the federal government. Tourism is hurting and the state bird, the pelican, is appearing regularly on TV news, having thick black oil cleaned from its feathers by caring wildlife workers.
The oil spill has been a disaster for Louisiana. But a part of the federal response to the disaster, the worst of its sort in U.S. history, may prove even more calamitous for the state.
"The moratorium on drilling is having the direst effect on jobs in Louisiana," said Professor Eric Smith, director of Tulane University's Institute of Energy.
A six-month federally imposed moratorium on all oil and gas drilling in the Gulf has been in effect since late May. On April 20 the Deepwater Horizon rig, operated by BP, exploded. Oil has been gushing from the ruptured well ever since, while efforts are ongoing to plug the leak and capture the oil. The shorelines of Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida have been reached by the spreading oil, which has been detected as far south and east as the Dry Tortugas.
There were 33 rigs in operation in the Gulf when the Deepwater Horizon blew, and the other 32 have been shut down by the government order. According to Smith, another 9 rigs were due to soon go into operation.
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"Each rig employs 240 workers," Smith said. "We calculate that four jobs are affected for each job on a rig. Right now, conservatively, 10,000 people are out of work because of the moratorium, and that number is only going to grow as the moratorium continues."
If the moratorium continues much longer, the rigs will be able to break their contracts and will leave for work elsewhere, in South America, for example, Smith said.
"Once contracted off the coast of Brazil, they will not be coming back here, even when the moratorium is lifted," he said. "Then the jobs situation and the economy, for the state, the region and the rest of the country will worsen."
U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-LA, recently wrote a letter to President Obama imploring him to reconsider the moratorium.
"I fear that this action could exacerbate, rather than alleviate, the impacts of this spill upon both our economy and our environment," Landrieu wrote "I believe that we can demonstrably improve the safety of deepwater drilling without shutting down the Gulf Coast economy for more than six months."
The senator outlined 8 measures that, she said, will allow drilling to resume while protecting the Gulf and environs from further disasters. The proposals basically allow drilling to resume with greater precautions and under a more watchful eye.
According to published reports, Carol Browner, assistant to the President on climate control, said over the weekend that lifting the moratorium was a possibility but would depend on recommendations from the special commission appointed by Obama to respond to the Gulf crisis. Senator Landrieu's office said today that she has not yet heard back from the White House.
Professor Smith called the moratorium an "overreaction" and said it was completely unnecessary.
"We have hade only one major spill in the Gulf in the last 30 years of drilling," he said.
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