Nelson Slams Backsliders On Gulf Drilling Ban

The Ledger gets it... Nelson gets it... When will Putnam get it?
(from theLedger.com)

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson continued his attack today on the turn around of President Bush and even Gov. Charlie Crist, who he believes are using high gas prices as leverage to allow drilling in protected areas of the Gulf.

Nelson's Communications Director Dan McLaughlin released excerpts from a year-end report by the Energy Information Administration, an independent agency within the U.S. Department of Energy, which implies that more drilling will not have an effect on oil prices or even supply in the near future.

One of two segments that Nelson's staff underlined in the report states:

"The projections in the OCS access case indicate that access to the Pacific, Atlantic, and eastern Gulf regions would not have a significant impact on domestic crude oil and natural gas production or prices before 2030."

Hmmm. Well just dig me up.

Another analytical statement that was underlined in the report certainly would not have been quoted by the proponents of increased drilling who are looking for support among the lemmings:

"Because oil prices are determined on the international market, however, any impact on average wellhead prices is expected to be insignificant.''

Nelson has said he is concerned that the high gas prices --- which some commodity analysts and oil industry experts say is driven by speculation, not market value --- will cause drilling in protected areas.