When the BP disaster happened there was a nationwide outcry of wrongdoing on the part of the oil and gas companies. Investigations were launched. Implications were made. The oil and gas companies were blamed for climate change, earthquakes and the rise and fall of countries...maybe not the last...but you get the drift.

Now the Associated Press comes out with an article that says,

The government has failed to inspect thousands of oil and gas wells it considers potential high risks for water contamination and other environmental damage, congressional investigators say.

So let's see if I got this right, the government says the oil and gas companies are evil wrong-doers but the people in the government tasked with inspecting the work of the oil and gas industry have not been doing their job. I don't think oil companies actually mind regulation but want it done fairly and based on scientific facts and not the beliefs of some crack pot environmentalists who fly their private jet fueled planes to lobby the 'so called' regulators.

I think it's time to actually oversee the 'work' of these regulators and fire those who do not actually do the work. I wonder how many of these regulators in the Bureau of Land Management have actually seen or been on an oil platform. Have any of these government employees actually seen the industry they are tasked with regulating?

I don't understand how the 'government' can rail about environmental and safety concerns but doesn't actually go out and look at what they are charged with regulating. Put some of these people on a helicopter and fly them out to all the rigs in the gulf. Make these people actually go out and document every rig that is exploring or pumping. Let these 'regulators' put in the 60 to 80 hour weeks these hard working people of the oil patch work to power the American economy and then we'll see if their attitudes change.

What is the point in having a Bureau of Land Management if they choose to regulate by fiat or whim?

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