Was Barack Obama’s support of offshore drilling just an ill-timed compromise or a complete capitulation to corporate interests? That’s a question that might linger as long as the oil slick itself.
The fact that the spill came just weeks after Obama announced his plan to allow additional offshore has already invited some conspiracy theories and a rant from former Fema director “You’re doing a great job Brownie” Michael Brown. Now, some elected officals who previously supported the plan have joined with environmentalists in rebuking the President’s decision.
Additional scrutiny has also been placed on the Administration’s relationship with BP. The company made the largest political donations in its history to Obama’s Presidential Campaign. This may be misleading, as Obama shattered most donation records. BP and the natural resource sector in general, did not even come close to making it into his top 20 campaign donors. Multitudes of other companies also donated record amounts to the campaign.
Still, when you add the fact that BP received exemption from the Department of the Interior’s environmental impact study on drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, it calls into question if this disastrous event could have somehow been prevented, and at what cost corporate lobbying for self-interest comes.