The Obama administration has lifted the moratorium on deepwater drilling put into place in May after the April 20 oil-rig explosion and spill disaster in the Gulf that took the lives of 11 workers. The stocks of energy and oil companies rose after the announcement. Shares of Transocean, the owner of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, jumped 4.7 percent.
Administration officials claim that new rules and enforcement of old ones will lower the risks to workers and the environment sufficiently to allow drilling. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar assured that before drilling may resume in deepwater sites, the CEOs of drilling companies must certify that the drilling rig has complied with all rules. Inspectors are also to be dispatched to rigs to conduct reviews and ensure drilling operators are implementing the new regulations.
Despite these assurances, Salazar himself has admitted that there will always be substantial risks involved in deepwater drilling. Clearly, oil industry profits have once again taken precedence over workers’ lives and the environment.
