Your Lefts and Rights: Offshore Drilling

So there was a big oil spill, and now the question is what to do. Many questions get raised in a situation like this. What is the government's role in the cleanup process? Did they respond fast enough? Should they be active in preventing this from happening in the future? Those are just some of the legitimate inquires into where to go from here.
Already Obama is being criticized for his apparent delay in coming to the aid of the Gulf Coast. The right is quick to call it similar to Bush's delay in responding to Hurricane Katrina that he got so much heat for.

As of now, the government is assisting in the cleanup efforts monetarily and physically. The government is estimated to spend about $7 billion dollars in the cleanup effort, and BP will match that price tag in an attempt to fix their accident. Everyone agrees (shockingly) that everything possible needs to be done to contain and eventually eliminate the massive slick now shifting around the Gulf of Mexico. The problem lies in the political cards this disaster could open the door for.

For a long time the left has been adamantly against excessive drilling within our borders, whereas the right's feelings can be summed up by the catchy phrase "drill, baby, drill." Unfortunately for the right, this large-scale oil spill does not exactly look good when you find yourself lobbying to increase drilling. The situation becomes especially complicated because of Obama's recent decision to allow for increased offshore drilling. As preparation for those sites to be opened was just getting underway, this explosion and spill occurs.

Obama has already showed misgivings about his decision by suspending any new drilling in the gulf until investigators can determine the cause of the rig explosion and subsequent oil leak. With more offshore oil platforms, common sense says there is more of a chance another environmental disaster will happen. Because of that, the left is calling for drilling to be limited and eventually phased out.

The right is warning against letting this accident cause any second thoughts about the possibility of more drilling in America. With vast oil supplies and the opportunity to get out of bed with our enemies, they say we cannot afford to not take advantage of our natural resources no matter the potential environmental cost. Ultimately, the right would like to phase out drilling as well, but until then they believe it is important for us to use what we have available.

While I do not blame the left if they continue to use this situation as a rallying cry for their cause, it is not something I totally agree with. First of all, a vote was already passed and Obama signed off on the expansion of offshore drilling. To go back on that now would be dishonest and detrimental to the already fragile trust between Democrats and Republicans. Secondly, this kind of spill is very rare. The problems caused by the leak will be fixed eventually because oil is a natural substance, and any new drill station will certainly be built with this accident in mind and create new safety features. In comparison to the amount of drilling that is happening as we speak, the chances for drilling disasters are small and continuing to decrease. It is important that we remember that oil is a natural substance as well. It's not like we dumped a couple million gallons of diesel fuel in the ocean…this stuff actually came from the depths of the ocean. That is not to downgrade the effect this spill will have on the Gulf of Mexico. Instead I just mean to say it will eventually be corrected by a long-lasting cleanup presence in the area.

So I say keep drilling. Let's not let this accident deter us from buying less oil from places like Saudi Arabia. It is my hope that future offshore platforms will improve as a result of this disaster and the chances for another major slick will be lessened. While I think we should continue to drill, it doesn't mean we can take our foot off the gas pedal to find other ways to fuel our engines. No matter what happens, the government needs to be involved as little as possible when it comes to the business cycle! That approach will create a profitable business environment and a multitude of long lasting jobs.      

Tyler Goodwin is a sophomore Business Administration and Justice Studies major at UNH. With this column he hopes to show that it is possible to solve major issues without being divisive or following the doctrine of specific political groups.