Monday, September 6, 2010

Another Silly Times Picayune Editorial

The Times Picayune in its editorial opinion of September 2 under the heading "Seafood Image Is BP's To Fix" is another reminder how the newspaper, like many Louisiana elected officials want to pass everything off to BP and the federal government. This time they want BP to pay for fixing the image of Louisiana seafood being safe to consume.

Never mind that federal and state inspectors have found the seafood to be safe and we in Louisiana are eating it daily. (This writer had a catfish poboy just yesterday and President Obama had a seafood poboy last week) More area's of the Gulf have also been opened for commercial and recreational fishing but we are told customers out side of Louisiana do not feel comfortable in eating the seafood.

That means the state, the seafood industry in general (including restaurants) our tourist commission and yes even the Times Picayune has to be the ones to get the word out and pay for it. Leaving the problem up to BP won't cut it and neither will passing the buck and acting like cry babies. Louisiana's seafood industry is a $4 billion enterprise says the TP editorial and in this writers opinion it is up to Louisiana to take the responsibility to see it stays that way.

It is ironic that editorial editors of the TP don't blame BP for the moratorium, they blame President Obama, but they blame BP and want to hold them liable for the perception and image out side Louisiana that Gulf seafood is not safe to eat. I guess the TP realized it would be to much of a stretch to blame Obama for the perception and image so they looked to BP. The TP has adopted the methods of some of our political leaders, "pass the blame to some one else."

BP needs to be held accountable for the damage resulting from its rig explosion and the leaking of oil in the Gulf and the damage it caused and that is what should be pursued. President Obama and the federal government has handled the problem well and has been and still is engaged. It is time for the TP, Louisiana's elected officials and the seafood industry to do its part and assume the responsibility of getting the correct story out concerning Louisiana seafood to out of state customers.

The Moratorium On Deep Water Drilling In The Gulf Is Working

The Times Picayune of 8/27 carried a story concerning the above that hardly was noted and given little play. Probably because the story supported the moratorium and too many Louisiana loud mouths once again were proven wrong, including the editorial section of the Times Picayune.

The Bipartisan Policy Center issued a 21 page report that responded to a request by The National Oil Spill Commission. A part of their report said. The Department of Interior's drilling moratorium has served the productive purpose of allowing time for both industry and government to prepare for a safer, more vigilant and dependable future for U.S. offshore drilling. It also said: New, higher standards imposed by the Department of the Interior since the moratorium was imposed will achieve a significant and beneficial reduction of risks and will provide an adequate margin of safety to responsibly allow the resumption of deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.

The most important part of the report said: One value judgment we did make is that the need to impose an industrywide moratorium does demonstrate how profoundly unprepared the industry and government was for an incident of this magnitude.

If those industry representatives, elected officials and the Times Picayune had their way, there would have been no moratorium and safety issues involved in offshore drilling would never have been addressed. The death of 11 rig workers would have been only a foot note forgotten by those who support the status quo.

President Obama stood tall and showed his leadership and courage. Thanks for a job well done Mr. President.