Recent comments

Dear CPP-- Thanks for your note about Judge Feldman's decision. The moratorium is related to new deep-water drilling, not all drilling operations, so its scope is limited, as is its duration. I'm certain the number of workers affected by a temporary halt of new deep-water drilling pales in comparison to the number of workers whose jobs have already been lost due to the disaster to date, and many of those job losses are long-term losses. It's not going to be a mere six months before the oyster harvesting makes a comeback; it may be years. And, then there are the shrimping and fishing and crabbing jobs, and along with them those in the chain of distribution. And, then there will be the job losses in the restaurant and hotel industries along the once beautiful beaches, hundreds of miles of coastlines and small towns dependent on tourism as a key engine in their economy. Or, we could just go on with business as usual in the wake of the worst toxic spill in U.S. history. That wouldn't be prudent and could cost even more jobs in the long-run. But if you want to sign up for Judge Feldman's fan club, it's your right. How anyone can think that he should not have recused himself from deciding about a case that directly affects his personal financial investments in off-shore drilling is beyond me. But, overlooking that conflict of interest and the appearance of bias is simply not for me. Still, if you're one of the oil workers who is about the head-off to help with more deep-sea exploration then I genuinely am sorry that your job is at risk. But, I don't think anyone's job, temporary or decades long, is worth a deal with the devil to risk the destruction of the coastline of our country. There has to be a better way. Lisa