Stephan: The Obama administration has been an enormous disappointment to me and, I suspect, to many readers. In a few highly targeted and publicized efforts President Obama has done some compassionate and life-affirming things. But the day-in-day-out activities of his administration, as this account makes clear, the "fix" is in during Obama Administration as much as it would be in a Republican Administration.
Anyone who looks at the track record of oil exploration and drilling in the Arctic with open eyes sees that the potential for disaster is so great that it would be a mad scheme to undertake it. Particularly with a world awash in oil, and the transition out of the carbon era gathering speed.
All of this, of course, is a function of Citizens United, greed, and the tsunami of money that has swamped American government. I think it is also worth noting that this important article was published in The Guardian, while a deafening silence on the topic pervades media in the U.S.
Activists protest the Shell Oil Company’s drilling rig Polar Pioneer which is parked at Terminal 5 at the Port of Seattle.
Credit: Jason Redmond/Reuters
The Obama administration’s process for giving Shell the go-ahead for restarting its drilling in the Arctic lacked transparency and prevented an informed public response, environmental groups have warned.
The results of a third-party audit required by the US government before Royal Dutch Shell be allowed back into the US Arctic remain under wraps, and the third-party auditor – supposedly taken on to provide better oversight – was selected and paid for by Shell, the US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement confirmed.
The consequences of such a lack of transparency and opportunity for public scrutiny are worrying, the environmental group Greenpeace says.
Shell had to exit the US Arctic waters in 2012 after the oil giant’s equipment failed an environment protection test. Its activities in the area that year were […]
