I don’t expect the dirty energy drillers to speak up too loudly any time in the near future with an oil rig off the Louisiana coast on fire and 11 people missing. Remember, President Obama gave the right-wing extremists one of their most sought-after energy policies by announcing the opening of additional off-shore areas to drilling exploration. He got no votes for his energy bill in return, of course, nor will he. But one of the reasons the pro-drilling community gave for wanting those areas open was the “increased safety” of drilling. I’d hate to see what unsafe drilling operations looks like:
Since 2001, there have been 69 offshore deaths, 1,349 injuries and 858 fires and explosions in the Gulf, according to the agency, which did not break down the cause of the deaths, the severity of the injuries, or the size of the fires and explosions.
This is one more reason why the climate and energy bill in the Senate should have been introduced already. The policy is far from perfect, but you won’t read of explosions and fires at solar or wind farms. Those are safe industries – on a number of levels.
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