Louisiana Needs to Act On Their Own

It's clear that the White House has no idea what to do regarding the oil spill in the Gulf, and instead of making use of all possible remediation actions, they're blocking good ideas and making threats they can't back up against BP:

Louisiana state and local officials continued to hammer BP and the federal agencies responding to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill on Sunday, repeatedly threatening to “take matters into our own hands” if the response fell short.

At a news conference at a marina here, Gov. Bobby Jindal recited a timeline of his requests to BP and the Coast Guard for containment boom, skimmers and other supplies, saying that the resources were still far from adequate weeks later.

Around 65 miles of Louisiana coastline had been “oiled,” he said, as local officials held aloft pictures of oil-coated pelicans and a porpoise.

Saying that promises of more supplies frequently fell through, Mr. Jindal said he was going to send members of the Louisiana National Guard and Wildlife and Fisheries agents to monitor the oil and even to locate boom and other response supplies, which he and other officials said were available but sitting unused.

Mr. Jindal also urged the Army Corps of Engineers to immediately approve a plan to build artificial barrier islands out of sand to hold back the oil, a plan widely praised by local parish officials but questioned by some experts. He said he would raise the issue with President Obama in a conference call on Monday.

In response to increasing criticism that the White House has not acted aggressively enough on the spill, the Obama administration is sending Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano into the region on Monday at the head of a bipartisan Congressional delegation.

Lisa P. Jackson, head of the Environmental Protection Agency, was in the region on Sunday, meeting with frustrated Louisiana residents.

In a news conference on Sunday outside the BP headquarters in Houston, Mr. Salazar repeated the phrase that the government would keep its “boot on BP’s neck” for results. He also said the company had repeatedly missed deadlines and had not been open with the public.

Mr. Salazar added, “If we find they’re not doing what they’re supposed to be doing, we’ll push them out of the way appropriately.”

That statement, however, conflicted with comments made only hours earlier by the Coast Guard commandant, Adm. Thad W. Allen, who said on CNN’s “State of the Union” program that the access BP has to the mile-deep well site meant that the government could not take over the lead in efforts to stop the leak.

Louisiana needs to go forward on their own. Start building the barrier islands and let the Federal government try and stop it.  Does Obama really want the PR nightmare of suing Louisiana to stop them from protecting their shores?

This problem wouldn't be nearly as severe as it has become had environmental activists and the politicians they've bought and paid for not pushed drilling so far offshore.  There's plenty of oil to be had in shallower waters, but such drilling is no longer allowed.  In order to get the oil we know is there the drilling companies now have to go hundreds of miles offshore and drill in waters a mile deep.  This not only complicates the drilling process and adds huge costs, but makes problems that much harder to fix.

And until all these activists stop using vehicles and products that rely on oil, they need to shut up and get out of the way and let us get the energy we need wherever it can be found.