The Politics of Deep Sea Drilling

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The BP oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico continues to cause environmental and economic damage throughout the Gulf Coast. It’s also creating plenty of political friction, as President Obama and politicians from oil producing states battle over whether deep sea drilling should end. This battle has some Democrats in Texas at odds. Environmentalists have called for a permanent ban. But the party’s candidate for governor, Bill White, has opposed the idea. KUT’s Ben Philpott reports.

June 29, 2010 · The BP oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico continues to cause environmental and economic damage throughout the Coast. This is also creating plenty of political friction, as President Obama and politicians from oil producing states battle over whether deep sea drilling should end. But the more tangible effect for now has been economic worries over a long-term moratorium on deep sea drilling.

“There’s potentially 7,500 people that could be impacted in terms of employment if those off-shore rigs aren’t put to work,” said David Yoskowitz, economics professor at Texas A&M University at Corpus Christi. “And if each one of those is making $60 to 80 thousand a year and if they go for just 6 months out of work, that’s about $250 million. That’s real numbers.”

Yoskowitz was part of a panel discussion organized by the Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce, a part of Texas that could see a large chunk of those lost wages. Chamber president Foster Edwards says the area is safe from this issue for now because most companies had a backlog of orders to keep them busy. But if the Obama Administration implements a long term drilling moratorium, then the economic problems will multiply quickly.

“The company that build the rig won’t buy supplies, steel or whatever, they won’t buy the components, like the housing unit I was talking about,” said Edwards. “The company that builds the housing unit won’t be buying supplies and parts and components. I mean you get down to the nitty-gritty. If I don’t have people working here anymore, I don’t even need to by toilet paper.”

Those concerns have lead to politicians in oil-producing areas to fight the moratorium — that includes former Houston Mayor Bill White.

“Most people understand that if we consume petroleum we can get it either from domestic sources,” said White at the Texas Democratic convention over the weekend. “Or we could import it in tankers from countries whose environmental standards are more lax than the United States in many cases.”

It is easier to focus on the economic arguments while Texas shores remain free of tar balls and oil-soaked animals. But that destruction is playing out on the shores of the four other Gulf states. Dr. Greg Stunz, associate professor of marine biology at Texas A&M Corpus Christi, reminded the audience at last week’s Corpus Christi Chamber panel of how fragile the coast is and how damaged it will be from this oil leak.

“I mean, interestingly, by the time we finish this panel discussion, two more football fields will be gone in wetlands in Louisiana,” said Stunz. “And that’s before oil impacts and hurricanes and things like that. That’s just from other activities going on.”

This has led environmental groups like the Sierra Club to call for a moratorium on offshore drilling. More often than not those groups and their followers back Democrats in Texas. So what does that mean for candidate White who does not support that stance?

“We’ve endorsed Bill White — the Sierra Club has — and we see an opportunity right now to work with our governor in a way that we haven’t in Texas in a long time,” said Eva Hernandez, who is with the Sierra Club. “Where we can have those conversations and look towards a future where we can actually create a clean energy economy.”

Both White and Governor Rick Perry oppose the drilling moratorium. But White gets the environmental nod basically because environmentalists believe they can talk to him and he will listen. White says when on the campaign trail, one thing he hasn’t heard is people complaining about his stance on off-shore drilling.

“You know, personally, I’ve been on the campaign trail for eighteen months, and I’m sure they’re out there, but I haven’t met people who’ve told me they oppose all drilling for oil and guess everywhere,” said White. “I haven’t met anybody like that.”

One final point that may have Democrats glossing over White’s drilling support: Democrats want to win very badly. Is Bill White the perfect environmental candidate? Maybe. Maybe not. But Democrats think he is a heck of a lot better than Governor Perry. And that’s why they’ll vote for him.