Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Terminator terminates support for offshore drilling

Yesterday, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who used to be a "Drill baby drill," withdrew his support for offshore drilling because of what is happening in the Gulf of Mexico. Before, he was very supportive of expanding offshore drilling and proposed to expand offshore drilling off the coast of Santa Barbara. Even though offshore drill would help California with our $20 billion debt, Gov. Schwarzenegger says he'd rather find another way to make up the money than to risk the chance of endangering the ocean environment.

I guess this is one step towards the right step for cleaner energy. But, it's up to you guys to decide whether you think that he made the right choice. Do you guys think that the risk of another oil rig explosion is really low and should be chanced in order to pay our debt back?

6 comments:

Kristyn I. said...

I think it's clearly important to try and move towards more sustainable and less expensive (in the long run) forms of energy. The explosion, of course, highlights one of the major problems with offshore drilling, and I believe offshore drilling should eventually be phased out. With that being said, I'm not sure that this is the best time to stop offshore drilling. The response seems very reactionary to the explosion rather than really contemplated as we have an enormous debt and I'm not so sure that stopping offshore drilling is a higher priority than other things such as the school system.
It seems like a catch-22 right now, since we have such limited funds and so much we should be doing.
p.s. I like the title... very clever Ellery.

Kristyn I. said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Giovanna C. said...

"drill baby drill" hmm Ellery this quote sounds quite familiar... haha well anyways I think it is way to late for his bad decision, it is way to late as we speak right now our ocean is already endangered. Yeah maybe it will be good for the debt of our country but maybe this oil spill wake make people start to realize that we need to start changing our envoirment ways before it gets worse. As our governor he should prioritize what is importat.

ArianaR said...

I think offshore drilling is always a risky decision. The recent oil spill was something completely unexpected, as were all of the other oil spills the nation has seen. I'd have to agree with Kristyn, it's time for alternative resources. There have been a lot of talk of energy conservation (an idea that's been around forever...) that will lessen the need for offshore drilling. This idea is so much safer and much more manageable, and probably much easier to promote rather than offshore drilling

Colin Yan said...

I believe it is a good thing what the terminator has done. He is taking into account not only us, but the environment, which means biodiversity. I believe the beiodiversity to be much more important than paying back a debt. If we didnt have the nature we have today, we wouldnt be around. I agree with his decision.

devin_yan said...

Good job governator, I think this a great step towards a greeener environment. I htink that if more oil spills continue it is not worth it to drill.