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June 30, 2010
Offshore Drilling and the Gulf Oil Leak Disaster
As many of you know, initial stages of offshore oil exploration have been conducted along Maryland, Delaware and Virginia's coastal waters, with indications of potentially productive wells. This could mean substantial employment and revenue for Marylanders if the oil industry finds these areas to be favorable, and can move us forward on the long road to energy independence, but environmental challenges abound.
Senators and Representatives were quick to blame BP for the disaster that occurred on April 20, but the fact is that Senators and Representatives have responsibility for oversight of the federal agencies that monitor companies such as BP and Exxon to conduct oil drilling in a safe, proven manner. In fact, Barbara Mikulski is a member of the Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, but she, like other members of the majority, failed to exercise oversight, instead choosing to blame the disaster solely on BP. She ignored the GAO's report in 2008 that cited severe deficiencies and gross misconduct in the US Minerals Management Service.
As your Senator, Jim Rutledge will hold federal Agencies and Departments, like the Department of Interior, accountable for performance using common sense tools that were developed for solid program management and product development. For example, NASA's Technology Readiness Level or TRL* rating system is used to help decide if a new process or product is ready to move into the next stage of development or production. Had the MMS applied TRL principles to evaluate BP's application to drill a deep well, approval would not have been granted because BP could not demonstrate their state of readiness to proceed to the next stage - - the actual drilling.
The difference between Rutledge and Mikulski is that as your Senator, Jim Rutledge will be working for you, the American Citizens, and not the oil companies or foreign businesses. A Democrat-led Congress was lax on holding federal agencies accountable for performance and ethics. When you send Jim Rutledge to the US Senate, he won't permit Agencies or oil companies to use our oceans as offshore laboratories to try unproven ideas that can jeopardize our shores, our seafood, and our Bay. As your Senator, Jim Rutledge will demand that companies engaged in off-shore drilling have developed and tested disaster management plans and equipment before new, risky processes are approved.
* An Expanded TRL Assessment Chart can be downloaded from www.Voters2010Guide.com
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Writer and Editor: Deborah C. Rey
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