Offshore Drilling is Not The Answer: Restore the Moratorium

Offshore Drilling is Not The Answer: Restore the Moratorium

Following was written by Bill Adams with the Lancaster Coalition for Peace & Justice

The Categorical Exclusion, The Well,
The Result

Narrator:  Once upon a time there was a beautiful  sea called the gulf
of Mexico.

Blue tarp unfolded and props and props set up.

Narrator:  Many kinds of creatures enjoyed the clean, clear water of
this gulf as they lived their lives.  Many generations of fish,
turtles, dolphins, birds, and other wildlife lived in harmony with
their home and each other.

Creatures (kids)  start mock swimming on blue tarp.

Narrator:  Big oil looked at the beautiful sea but didn't see it,
instead they saw dollar signs.  They are blinded to the chain of life
in this vast ecosystem from the smallest plankton to the largest
whales by their greed and lust for money.   Thousands of feet
underneath the water during the formation of our planet vast  pockets
of oil formed which could be turned into huge profits in an oil
economy.  Big oil was licking their chops, they  wanted to drill as
many wells as they could in as short a time as possible in very deep
water of which little is known  other than it is inherently risky.

Narrator:  But we, the people, and our fellow creatures have the
“Environmental Protection Agency” to protect our waters and  lands
from any undue risks, after all their  their mission statement is “to
protect human health and to safeguard the natural environment -- air,
water and land -- upon which life depends. “  A tool to help them do
this is called the Environmental Impact Study or EIS for short.  the
purpose of the EIS is to ensure that the decision maker, those in
charge, are fully informed of the environmental aspects and
consequences prior to making the final decision. But in order cut away
lots of  bureaucratic red tape for some projects the  “categorical
exclusion”was created in 1978.    a categorical exclusion is category
of actions “that do not individually or cumulatively have a
significant effect on the human environment.” It was created for “no
brainers” like installing an outhouse in a national park.  And so it
was used until George W's gang assumed control of our land. What was
good for the exploration of the oil economy was good for the Toxic
Texan and friends.

Narrator:  Over a  period of time a mutually beneficial relationship
developed between government and big oil, banks, and all the
corporations of the land.  This relationship  was given a brilliant
green light when  the supreme court allowed  them to pour money  into
the campaign of   the candidate of their choice to ensure they get
elected.  Because the elected officials hand pick their administrators
who hire like minded staff to carry out their explicit and implicit
policies.


BP man gives government man stacks of money.

Narrator:   BP man thought, maybe just maybe , the Deepwater Horizon
could qualify for a categorical exclusion so BP  submitted their
environmental assessment. BP said a spill was unlikely and  no
additional mitigation measures would be needed; and after all,  in
over 30,000 pages of BP documentation not one word   gave  the
slightest nod to any danger.

BP man submits environmental assessment to government man.

Government man rubs chin in a concerned look, which turns to a smile,
rubber stamps categorical exclusion and hands it to a smiling BP man.

Narrator:  BP man gets “green light” to DRILL BABY DRILL!!

Jackhammer noise is played while oil workers set up the faux pipe.
Mentos  dropped into the 2 liter diet coke bottle inside the faux
pipe, OIL WORKERS BACK AWAY IMMEDIATELY AFTER MENTOS   ARE DROPPED
this will cause an immediate spurt, STOP DRILLING NOISE.

Narrator:  UG OH!!!!!!  Who could have known???  Why,  this is  like
those  Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, everyone thought they had
em!!!!!

Oil workers rub chin, shrug shoulders, walk away.


Narrator:  As the oil gushes into the gulf from the uncorked
underwater oil volcano, the gulf starts to die

Creatures (kids) slowly stop  swimming and the dolphin turns on side ,
sea otter and turtle go belly up.

Narrator:   The oceans,  70% of the earth, are interconnected.  The
gulf of Mexico is an arm of the Atlantic which has currents that touch
the oceans of the rest of the planet.  There is a growing sentiment
the relief wells may not work and the oil will spew until exhausted.
We here today will not know how this will end, or the lasting impact;
but our children's children will. Let's hope for the best.

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