The government may be on the verge of a shutdown, but President Obama shut down offshore drilling a long time ago, and has ignored court orders in order to keep it down. As Jim Adams, president of the Offshore Marine Service Association, remarked, “Obama’s government has shut down oil exploration for nearly a year, but I guess the tens of thousands of Americans working to fuel this country’s energy needs don’t count.”
That’s a little harsh. It’s not that those thousands of workers don’t count to Obama, it’s that they count less than the combination of environmentalist ideology, and the strange determination to choke off America’s energy supply, that drives the President.
The Offshore Marine Service Association will be cheered to know that soon, thousands of workers will once again be earning a living from offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. Unfortunately, they’ll be Cubans.
The Associated Press reports that Cuba has formed a partnership with several foreign oil companies to drill five wells in the Gulf of Mexico this summer. Geological studies indicate there could be 5 to 9 billion barrels of oil within Cuba’s reach.
The reason America’s offshore industry was deliberately wrecked by President Obama was supposed to be concern over their ability to conduct operations safely. Don’t worry, because Cuba will handle these matters much more competently than any American company could. (If you’re tempted to object that BP is a British company, remember that we have so many important cultural ties with Britain that we’re practically the same country. Why, we’re even going to adopt their health-care system!)
Cuba, unlike America, is a bastion of high technology. One of their ministers assured the AP that “the equipment that will be used is the most modern, the safest. The regulatory framework is very strict, and the companies that will drill are prestigious and experienced. I don't think we are going to have any more risks.”
Whew, that’s a relief! It’s obviously well worth destroying thousands of American jobs to leave the entire Gulf of Mexico to Cuba. Even if the Communists and their corporate partners caused a disastrous oil spill, it’s a well known oceanographic fact that Cuban water does not connect with American water in any way. The new Cuban wells will do nothing to disrupt the peace of mind our President earned by unlawfully wiping out a major American industry.
