Harassment, Pure and Simple -- the Bakken, North Dakota, USA

Updates

May 1, 2012: Speaking of harassment -- anyone who has questioned my world view that this administration is out to destroy the oil and gas industry, is more proof needed?

Armendariz used a metaphor that he acknowledged was “crude” to portray the enforcement practices of the EPA.

“It was kind of like how the Romans used to conquer little villages in the Mediterranean. They’d go into a little Turkish town somewhere, they’d find the first five guys they saw, and they would crucify them. And then you know that town was really easy to manage for the next few years,” Armendariz said.

“You make examples out of people who are not complying with the law,” he added.

“It is no secret in Texas, the heart of America’s oil and gas industry, that the EPA has become a petty, arbitrary and demagogic organization. It is a sad fall for an institution charged with safeguarding the public,” a letter signed by 26 members of Congress sent to Jackson on Friday said.

Original Post

At this link, read this paragraph:

Carter in his time imposed an excess profit tax and behold, soon there was no profit. It was but a matter of a few months when America’s rig count on active wells went from 4,500 to less than 55 in response to Carter’s meddling. Today, drilling permits are delayed or denied, causing projects to be abandoned. Oil and gas companies in North Dakota are charged with killing 28 birds in violation of the Migratory Bird Act and could face six months in jail, while bird-killing Cuisinart-like wind farms are ignored. Michael Fry of the American Bird Conservancy estimates that wind turbines kill between 75,000 and 275,000 birds per year, including an average of 80 golden eagles per year. Yet, there is no record of the Justice Department bringing a case against wind companies. This isn’t law enforcement, it is simple harassment dressed up as law enforcement.

Then, look at this PDF, and look at the off-shore drilling chart.

From all I can tell, based on mainstream media, the federal response to the 2010 oil spill in the gulf caused more economic damage (which is ongoing) than the original spill itself. The oil industry stopped the spill, and paid for the clean-up, and it's pretty much over, based on mainstream media reports. The government showed up with lawyers, briefcases, yellow legal pads, and laptops.

By the way, exactly who in the oil industry goes to jail for six months if found guilty of killing 26 migratory birds (ducks)?

If bird watchers and bird conservationists aren't at all sick of the thought of more whopping crane killers being put up, it speaks volumes about their sincerity. Wow, I am reminded of Dr Zhivago: when the wrong city was scorched, the perpetrators felt that the error was justified in the overall big picture.