I live on Dauphin Island, 3 miles into the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Alabama. As I read the political positioning by the president and presidential candidates on whether to rescind restrictions on offshore oil drilling as a solution to soaring gas prices, I can only shake my head while gaping at the brightly lit crown of oil and natural gas rigs that surround my community.
At first, I liked the ubiquitous metal platforms, as close as a quarter mile from the beach, because they constitute good fishery habitat for my favorite sport.
Resembling the motorized contraptions we kids used to build out of erector sets, and towering several hundred feet into the sky, with sluices and cranes protruding like porcupine quills, they also serve as "repellent" for spring breakers, shooing most of the tourists to the Florida Panhandle, and regions south.
But I changed my tune after recent accidents involving the platforms, part of more than 300 accidents worldwide in the last 25 years, according to a British study. The scariest for me occurred last September when a cloud of poisonous gas was expelled by a nearby natural gas rig and drifted over the island, sickening dozens of residents and forcing the evacuation of the Dauphin Island Sea Lab School.
Full Story: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-oped0624drilljun24,0,3405753.story
