Opinion
“This is not 1965, the oil and gas companies can drill offshore now with all the new technology they have and do it safely and not cause accidents,” a constituent wrote to me recently in an email.
“Drill baby drill” was the call from across the country not that long ago. If you didn't agree that the government should open more offshore area for drilling and exploration you were labeled anti-American, an environmental extremist or worse, a socialist. The latter being the label of choice by some for anyone that disagrees with them on anything.
Drilling offshore is and has been going on for sometime. And from day one, drilling proponents have said that “new technologies make it safe” and that oil spills shouldn't be of concern.
We heard it again last month when Sarah Palin spoke at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference in Louisiana. “We don't need more studies. We need more action,” she said. “Let's drill baby drill. Not stall baby stall.”
If only we could “stall baby stall” the oil that is now spilling into the gulf coast. The Louisiana spill is leaking 210,000 gallons of oil per day – up four times from what British Petroleum claimed when they first reported the spill to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
It's hard to understand how British Petroleum could be so far off on their calculations. Now it sounds like it may take months to drill a relief well, during which time experts fear ocean currents could move the oil up and down the East Coast.
I have always opposed drilling for oil off the coast of Northern California and for good reasons. First, there isn't enough recoverable oil to benefit our needs vis-a-vis the risk. But that hasn't stopped some from pursuing leases to explore and drill.
Second, our coast is rich in marine life and is one of only four major upwellings in the world. Damage to this fragile ecosystem would devastate not only our district but an incredible amount of marine habitat throughout the Pacific Coast.
Third, our tourism industry is the life blood of many communities in Northern California and visitors don't buy rooms, dinner, or shop in area devastated by oil spills or cluttered with off-shore oil drilling equipment. Our fishing communities, tourism communities and related businesses up and down the coast generate billions in economic activity and should not be put in jeopardy by drilling off shore.
Last, but certainly not least, the beautiful, rocky and rugged Northern California coastline would make cleaning up a spill extremely dangerous and difficult. Some argue that the rough terrain coupled with equally rough seas would make clean up impossible. And remember, our coast is earthquake prone, which only exacerbates the spill concern.
It is particularly difficult to understand why some would continue to promote this policy at a time of great advancement of renewable energy.
Renewables are many years away from displacing oil and we will always rely on some amount of oil. However, we need to be doubling down on our efforts to develop renewable energy technology, put these new innovations into operation and get as far away from oil as we can.
This is a tall order but we're entrepreneurs, innovators and, most important, Americans. We can and we will succeed.
Congressman Mike Thompson represents California's First Congressional District, which includes Lake County, in the US House of Representatives.
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- Written by: Congressman Mike Thompson
On Thursday, April 15, in the state of Wisconsin a federal court judge ruled as “unconstitutional” something that almost every president in the history of our nation has supported – certainly each president within our lifetimes – as well as many of the signers of the US Constitution.
Judge Barbara Crabb of United States District Court in Madison, Wis., ruled that the National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional.
What is the National Day of Prayer? In 1777 it was the day that Congress set aside as a day of Thanksgiving to our “Divine Benefactor” for the new born United States.
In 1789 James Madison introduced the Bill of Rights to Congress; it included what we now call the First Amendment which reads: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
The same Congress, which passed the First Amendment, asked President George Washington to declare a National Day of Prayer in 1789.
The president gladly complied, proclaiming, “It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor.”
The finest minds in American history have long recognized that neither the Constitution, nor the Bill of Rights, guarantees the people “freedom from religion.” Rather, the law of our land requires the courts to refrain from creating laws which establish religion or prohibit free exercise of religion; proclaiming a day of prayer and thanksgiving neither establishes a religion nor prevents free exercise of it.
The lawsuit that led to the ruling last week was brought to the courts by a Madison, Wis.-based group called the Freedom From Religion Foundation.
Their Web site describes their mission as follows, “The nonprofit Freedom From Religion Foundation works to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism [sic],” and to promote the constitutional principle of separation between church and state.”
Separation of church and state was not a constitutional principle according to any of the signers of the Constitution. In fact, the phrase comes from a personal letter from President Thomas Jefferson written to a Baptist minister guaranteeing him that the state would not do the very things that the Freedom From Religion Foundation are now doing.
The most poignant proclamations calling for National Days of Prayer have come at the darkest moments of our history, and have expressed the sighs of our souls and longing for a better future for our country.
My personal favorite was Abraham Lincoln’s 1863 proclamation two months after using the Emancipation Act and months before the horrors of Gettysburg:
“Whereas, the Senate of the United States, devoutly recognizing the Supreme Authority and just Government of Almighty God, in all the affairs of men and of nations, has, by a resolution, requested the President to designate and set apart a day for National prayer and humiliation. And whereas it is the duty of nations as well as of men, to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions, in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon; and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord.”
There is an appalling hubris at work in the acts of organizations like the Freedom From Religion Foundation and Judge Crabb’s ruling which seek to strip America of its soul, leaving nothing but a political machine in its wake.
Evidently President Barack Obama also disagrees with Judge Crabb because he has pledged that on May 6 he will issue a proclamation calling for a National Day of Prayer.
As with many of our freedoms, we often fail to appreciate what we have until we are in danger of losing them.
Personally, when asked to help plan a National Day of Prayer event in Lakeport this year I said I was “too busy.” I see now a different response is required.
A National Day of Prayer event will be offered at United Christian Parish, 745 N Brush St. in Lakeport, on Thursday, May 6, at 6 p.m. All are welcome.
Rev. Shannon Kimbell-Auth pastors United Christian Parish in Lakeport, Calif.
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- Written by: Rev. Shannon Kimbell-Auth
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