WHAT IS THE SAFETY RECORD OF THE OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY?
It’s had a very good record over the last 40 years. People don’t know much about this industry because blowouts and other incidents have been rare, and so offshore oil has not been under the media spotlight for its safety and environmental record. Offshore oil is therefore out of sight, out of mind. But what people don’t appreciate is that the industry has brought in over 30 percent of our domestic oil production from the Gulf of Mexico now and 20 percent of our natural gas. This event is a freak disaster, an aberration, but it’s going to cause people to rethink this whole endeavor. It’s going to be bad for the entire industry. There are already lawsuits filed over this. There are going to be calls for new and tougher regulations. This is a major change for the Gulf of Mexico. Q: WHAT ARE THE IMPACTS OF DISASTERS LIKE THIS? A: It’s wildlife – the birds in this region, the sea life, the shrimp, it’s the oysters, pelicans, the whales possibly, and all the people who depend on this wildli
