Bush allows oil drilling on pristine
Texas beach
news.independent.co.uk
By David Usborne in New York
23 November 2002
Environmentalists in the United States are again waging war with
Republicans in Washington. This time the row is over a decision to
allow an energy company to drill two gas wells in a coastal national
park in Texas that is home to the world's most endangered species of
sea turtle.
The federal government is to grant approval to BNP Petroleum to sink
two wells in the Padre Island National Seashore, a barrier island on the
Gulf of Mexico that features the longest stretch of undeveloped beach in
the US.
Permission was granted by the National Park Service, which is
administered by the Department of the Interior. The Park Service insists
the greatest possible care will be taken to respect the ecology of the
island. But environmentalists believe it will put the island and the turtles
in peril.
Lobbyists claim the decision to allow more exploration on Padre Island
is further evidence of President George Bush's disregard for the
environment in favour of allowing private companies to run riot over the
American landscape in search of new energy sources.
"Energy development does not belong within our national seashores,"
Randall Rasmussen, of the National Parks Conservation Association,
said yesterday. "People and marine life will be put at great risk in the
rush to sink wells because of Bush administration policies designed to
speed up drilling without careful consideration of its impact on the
environment.
"Drilling at Padre Island is not about decreasing our nation's
dependency on foreign sources of energy," he added. "This project is
designed only to enrich energy executives at the expense of seashore
visitors and endangered marine life."
The island is one of only two breeding grounds for the world's smallest
and most endangered sea turtle, the Kemp's Ridley. There is concern
that heavy lorries driving to the drilling sites will run over the turtles'
nests and destroy eggs. The area is also popular for camping and
fishing.
"The beach at Padre Island is starting to look more like a highway than
a National Park," said Fred Richardson, communications director of the
Texas chapter of the Sierra Club, a green lobby group.
"Most Americans believe that there are places that ought to be protected
and kept for the public, but the Bush administration is out of touch with
those values."
Under Mr Bush, oil and gas companies are being encouraged to drill on
more than 50 sites on federal land across the US, including territory
within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska.
Geographical surveys suggest there may be as much as 80 billion
cubic feet of gas under Padre Island that could take 30 years to extract
and could accommodate 15 more wells.
The Sierra Club has sued the government to try to block the drilling. The
group argues that by allowing large trucks to run up and down the
island, the government is violating the Endangered Species Act.
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