New Drilling Moratorium is a Good Start - Oceana USA
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July 13, 2010

New Drilling Moratorium is a Good Start

Yesterday the Obama administration issued a new moratorium on deep-water offshore drilling through Nov. 30 in order to ensure that oil and gas companies implement safety measures to reduce risks.

Oceana’s senior campaign director Jackie Savitz commended the president for the decision in an AP article, and had this to say about it:

“The Administration has no choice but to put a hold on offshore drilling. New drilling poses major risks, which we simply can not take, especially while thousands of victims of the ongoing drilling disaster continue to wait for an end to this oil and gas nightmare. 

“In the meantime, in addition to the Commission investigating the spill, the President should also appoint a Blue Ribbon Panel to develop a roadmap for replacing the energy that would be acquired by further drilling with alternative solutions.  

Using conservation, energy efficiency and clean energy, we can replace the energy that would otherwise come from new offshore drilling without increasing energy imports.  We should start by building a Clean Energy Manufacturing Hub in the Gulf Region, and transitioning workers from offshore drilling jobs to careers building a clean energy economy.

We can end new offshore drilling permanently, without costing jobs.  This approach is the only way to make sure this tragic story never happens again.” 

Almost 130,000 people have signed our petition to stop offshore drilling. Will you help us reach 500,000?