07-14-2010, 07:18 PM
Back in May, President Barack Obama signed an executive order creating a seven-member commission to recommend how we might prevent future oil spills. He then ordered a six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling.
The bipartisan commission is co-chaired by Democrat Bob Graham, a former governor and senator from Florida, and William K. Reilly, a Republican who headed the Environmental Protection Agency under George H.W. Bush.
So, how impartial is this 7 member committee?
Bob Graham (who has promised an objective assessment) spent his political career fighting offshore drilling.
Bill Reilly, as EPA administrator in the cabinet of Bush 41, earned a reputation as a something of a conservationist. Reilly helped engineer Bush administration regulations that effectively banned offshore drilling in coastal areas for a decade.
Richard Lazarus, is a prominent environmentalist lawyer who has also published two books, "The Making of Environmental Law" and "Environmental Law Stories" (with Oliver Houck, a Tulane professor who for years warned about the dangers of lax energy regulation.) As The Wall Street Journal recently noted, "Mr. Lazarus has made a career out of suing private companies and governments to impose stricter environmental regulation."
Frances Beinecke is the president of the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC). In 2008 Beinecke said, "Offshore drilling is a needless risk, and there are better solutions to provide efficient, clean energy for America's future." Under her leadership, the NRDC launched a campaign to move America away from oil, and has already called for a "time out" for offshore drilling.
Don Boesch, serves as vice chair of the Ocean Studies Board of the National Research Council and is a member of the National Academies Committee on America's Climate Choices. Boesch recently wrote in The Washington Post, "the impacts of the oil and gas extraction industry (both coastal and offshore) on Gulf Coast wetlands represent an environmental catastrophe of massive and underappreciated proportions."
Terry Garcia, Executive Vice President for Mission Programs for the National Geographic. He has authored many stories about the critical impact that drilling and mining around the world are having on the ecosystems.
Cherry A. Murray, Dean of the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and John A. and Elizabeth S. Armstrong Professor of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
Good luck seeing any more drilling in the Gulf, 8ter.
The bipartisan commission is co-chaired by Democrat Bob Graham, a former governor and senator from Florida, and William K. Reilly, a Republican who headed the Environmental Protection Agency under George H.W. Bush.
So, how impartial is this 7 member committee?
Bob Graham (who has promised an objective assessment) spent his political career fighting offshore drilling.
Bill Reilly, as EPA administrator in the cabinet of Bush 41, earned a reputation as a something of a conservationist. Reilly helped engineer Bush administration regulations that effectively banned offshore drilling in coastal areas for a decade.
Richard Lazarus, is a prominent environmentalist lawyer who has also published two books, "The Making of Environmental Law" and "Environmental Law Stories" (with Oliver Houck, a Tulane professor who for years warned about the dangers of lax energy regulation.) As The Wall Street Journal recently noted, "Mr. Lazarus has made a career out of suing private companies and governments to impose stricter environmental regulation."
Frances Beinecke is the president of the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC). In 2008 Beinecke said, "Offshore drilling is a needless risk, and there are better solutions to provide efficient, clean energy for America's future." Under her leadership, the NRDC launched a campaign to move America away from oil, and has already called for a "time out" for offshore drilling.
Don Boesch, serves as vice chair of the Ocean Studies Board of the National Research Council and is a member of the National Academies Committee on America's Climate Choices. Boesch recently wrote in The Washington Post, "the impacts of the oil and gas extraction industry (both coastal and offshore) on Gulf Coast wetlands represent an environmental catastrophe of massive and underappreciated proportions."
Terry Garcia, Executive Vice President for Mission Programs for the National Geographic. He has authored many stories about the critical impact that drilling and mining around the world are having on the ecosystems.
Cherry A. Murray, Dean of the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and John A. and Elizabeth S. Armstrong Professor of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
Good luck seeing any more drilling in the Gulf, 8ter.
