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NEWS July 6th 2001
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| Bush announces oilfields plan George Bush has announced plans to further reward the oil companies who funded his campaign by opening up one and a half million acres (nearly 600,000 ha.)of the Gulf of Mexico to oil and gas drilling. Apparently, the plan is intended to make the US less dependent on foreign energy suppliers [try using less energy, then - Ed.]. The proposed drilling areas are over 90 miles from the coast, but in Florida, Alabama and Mississipi environmentalists are concerned by the risk of spills from tankers and pipelines, while the tourist industry is also worried. BP and Shell are believed to be interested in the new concessions, along with US oil companies. Interestingly, the plans have actually been reduced from the original Clinton-era proposal to open up around six million acres. Given that Bush is scarcely likely to have taken the decision on purely environmental grounds, suspicion has fairly obviously fallen on Dubya’s brother Jeb, the governor of Florida, the state which handed Dubya the election. Jeb is himself up for re-election next year, and his position has been suffering as a result of the row over the drilling. The only remaining question - is this a payback or simple nepotism? |