State attorneys general are spoiling for a fight over Trump Administration’s offshore drilling plan
As Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke prepared to travel to the Carolinas to discuss offshore drilling, state attorneys general condemned the Trump administration’s plan to expand development of oil and gas in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans as “outrageous” and “reckless.” Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh (D), one of a dozen state attorneys general on the two coasts to co-sign a letter Thursday that called on Zinke to cancel the proposal, said, “We intend to sue if they go forward with this, unquestionably. We’re going to do everything we possibly can to stop it.” >click to read< 17:49
And the argument for more drilling along our coasts is…. What?
“Energy Independence” ? (we export oil into world market and there is no “independence” from our dependence on this substance and allowing this oil industry to continually consolidate and dominate).
“More jobs” (by squashing tourism and commercial fishing with hundreds of times more employment opportunities)?
“Lower pries at the pump” (WORLD MARKET!!! and P.S., commodity speculators do not care about your price at the pump!) “The United States has been a net exporter – i.e., exports exceeded imports -of oil since early 2011.”
“Exxon Mobil Corporation announced estimated 2017 earnings of $19.7 billion, or $4.63 per share assuming dilution, compared with $7.8 billion in 2016. U.S. federal tax reform in the fourth quarter resulted in a non-cash earnings gain of $5.9 billion, due to revaluation of deferred income tax balances.” (Trump’s and ExxonMobil CEO now Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson’s tax cuts). Non-cash asset impairments of $1.5 billion were recorded during the year, mainly relating to assets in the Upstream (‘upstream” in the Arctic, coming soon). (https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180202005259/en/ExxonMobil-Earns-19.7-Billion-2017-8.4-Billion)
Now if all this does is prompt you to “invest” in this long term scam, at the cost of wars and lost natural food resources, then I’d have to say that’s a bit shortsighted. And, just to be clear, I grew up with oil, the smell “white gas” we had to run in the old outboards, and I love the aroma of fresh Rotella going into the crankcase of our venerable ol’ Cat 3412 (624hp, 14gph). I have a diesel pick up truck (185hp, 19-20mpg) and a diesel car (140hp, 46mpg) and… I like the smell of diesel. But I also like to make a living from fishing, and eat healthy un-oil company fertilizer food, and I also like to breathe. And I am not interested in making the Dallas Headquarters Executives any richer at the cost of many others’ livelihoods and lives in some cases (the Ceo’s severance, before Tillerson took over ExxonMobil, was $398 million)
We have enough oil, the only reason to destroy our oceans is more fun and profit for the oil companies! “The United States has been a net exporter – i.e., exports exceeded imports -of oil since early 2011.” (this quote from “Investopedia” article below—I think it pretty much tells the story of why more drilling is a scam)
For a comprehensive and fastiduously documented study of this situation, please see Steve Coll’s “Private Empire: ExxonMobil and American Power”, The Penguin Press, New York, 2012. (Amazon, $16.00 in paperback)
From the article linked below:
“The United States is the top oil-producing country in the world, with an average of 14.86 million b/d, which accounts for 15.3% of the world’s production. This is down from 15.12 million b/d in 2015, but it was enough to land the United States in the No. 1 spot, which it has held for the past four years running. The United States overtook Russia in 2012 for the No. 2 spot, and it surpassed former leader Saudi Arabia in 2013 to become the world’s top oil producer. Much of the increased U.S. production is attributable to fracking in the shale formations in Texas and North Dakota. The United States has been a net exporter – i.e., exports exceeded imports -of oil since early 2011.”
Read more: The World’s Top Oil Producers of 2017 | Investopedia https://www.investopedia.com/investing/worlds-top-oil-producers/#ixzz569lcvGeS