Speaking at the Mississippi Manufacturers Association Friday, Gov. Haley Barbour implied that the millions of gallons of crude pumping into the Gulf of Mexico and threatening fragile eco-systems, wildlife and livelihoods from Texas to Florida should not be a reason to stop offshore drilling, reports The Sun Herald.

"A bunch of liberal elite were hoping this would be the Three Mile Island of offshore drilling," Barbour said, referring to the 1979 nuclear accident in Pennsylvania. Since then, the U.S. has built no new nuclear plants.

In 2005, more than 4,000 oil structures were mining the Gulf for crude, according to the Christian Science Monitor, and despite a moratorium on new permits announced by President Barack Obama since the Deepwater Horizon explosion April 20, the Department of the Interior has granted at least seven permits and five environmental waivers, reported The New York Times on Sunday.

Estimates on the amount of oil pumping into the Gulf from the site of the April explosion vary, from a low of 210,000 gallons a day to more than 2.5 million gallons a day.

Previous Comments

ID

157945

Comment

Mr. Barbour, you have got to be joking. Does it matter that many Mississippians will be effected by this spill. Does it matter that these families who depend on safe waters to earn a living will be at the mercy of the government until BP uses every legal leg it can stand on to avoid payments?

Author

justjess

Date

2010-05-25T10:41:46-06:00

ID

157950

Comment

You know us liberal elitists just LOVE sitting around, hoping irreparable, catastrophic disaster will visit our home coast waters!

Author

Deirdra Harris Glover

Date

2010-05-25T14:54:19-06:00

ID

157954

Comment

Just once I wish Haley could stop spouting the party line and be truthful. Does he really think anyone is glad this happened? Only 27% of the people now support off shore drilling. Does this mean 73% of the country are liberals? No it means 735 of the country recognize the disaster that off shore drilling can create. This oil leak is going do tremendous harm to the gulf coast and to the people who make their living from the coast, many of whom are Miss. citizens. Haley's comments are a sign of what is wrong with our country. To many people using everything they can for political reasons only! Haley and the rest of the republicans have no interest is doing anything to help the people of America. Their only interests are in trying to make Pres. Obama and the democrats look bad and making the rich richer. Whether this helps or hurts the rest of the people is of no concern to them. It is enough to make you want to cry.

Author

wellington

Date

2010-05-25T17:01:13-06:00

ID

157975

Comment

Thanks Wellington and Amen!

Author

justjess

Date

2010-05-27T08:48:06-06:00