An offshore oil island in Long Beach. Photo by Samuel Lippke.

3:30pm | A few days after President Barack Obama declared a six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling in the Gulf Coast – following the BP oil spill disaster – local Congressmember Laura Richardson released a statement today that backs the decision.

The President’s decision has drawn some criticism as experts say it could set oil exploration efforts back one year, while others pointed out that the decision caused drilling companies’ stocks to freefall. Still others have warned that the moratorium will put Louisiana gas and energy companies out of business in some of the state’s already most underemployed regions.

But in the aftermath of what is now the greatest oil disaster in U.S. history and BP’s failed effort to plug the still-flowing leak, others have called for strict punishment and drilling reassessment that aligns with Obama’s decision. In her statement, Richardson stresses the need to reexamine drilling practices and calls for more research into cleaner energy solutions.

The release reads as follows:

Beaches and shorelines are some of the most important assets communities located along the ocean have and keeping them clean and environmentally healthy is necessary to keep those communities strong. This moratorium is important in that it gives both the government and the industry a chance to step back and fully examine what went wrong, what needs to be fixed and how to move forward. This is a topic that hits especially close to home for the people of California’s 37th Congressional District, where keeping our ocean and shorelines healthy is vital to the local economy and where the oil industry is a major employer for the families that live here. By following Interior Secretary Ken Salazar’s lead, we will be able to develop a best practices guide to deepwater drilling so we can prevent future events like this from happening.
 
The Deepwater Horizon oil leak makes it clear that any new offshore drilling must employ the newest technologies and be subjected to diligent upkeep and careful oversight. President Obama has expressed his firm commitment to making certain that offshore oil and gas exploration is done in an environmentally sound way that protects our natural resources, as well as areas critical to commercial fisheries, tourism, and our national security.
 
Moreover, our nation faces an energy crisis that demands a comprehensive solution.  The United States consumes 20 percent of the world’s oil; the deposits off the coast of the United States represent less than 3 percent of the world’s oil.  We need to harness clean domestic energy sources such as wind and solar power, invest in biofuels, and make our cars more energy efficient.  Our long term energy strategy should both move us away from carbon-based fuels and protect our cherished natural resources, especially the vital ecosystems in our nation’s coastal regions.
 
This is why I voted in support of H.R. 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, which takes unprecedented steps to wean our nation off of its dependence on carbon-based fuels.  H.R. 2454 will unleash private sector investments in domestic clean energy sources, create thousands of new jobs and end our reliance on foreign oil, much of which comes from countries that are hostile to U.S. interests.

Richardson will attempt to win another term serving the 37th Congressional District at the polls next week against challengers Peter Mathews, Lee Davis and Terrance Ponchak.

In May, Press-Telegram reporter Kris Hanson wrote an article that quoted local officials confidently explaining that offshore drilling in California – including Long Beach – is very different compared to drilling in the Gulf and that a similar spill in local waters is extremely unlikely. Click here to read the article in the Contra Costa Times (I can’t find it on the P-T website at the moment).

Click here to read an staging-live.lbpost.com story in April about the offshore drilling oil islands here in Long Beach.