I grew up in Louisiana and now live near Tampa, Florida. I told folks here that tar balls have been washing up on the shores of the Louisiana coast since I was a kid (I’m 50 years old now), and they are likely to continue doing so. When folks around here freaked out about the potential damage to the beaches, I reminded them that the hurricanes wash out much of the beach every summer, and that they are restored by barging in new sand from offshore.

Even though these are known facts, Florida Governor Chris suddenly wanted to ban oil drilling forever along Florida coastline after just months before pledging to support more new drilling. We have a scientist now exclaiming that we don’t know the long-term impact despite years of study from the Mexican oil disaster that reveals little / no evidence of a lingering problem.

The hysteria is purposeful – it serves political and financial aspirations, so when in doubt – follow the money.

Larry Ainsworth, USA