Peter LaFontaine’s Archive

Somebody Stop Me Before I Spill Again!

Last week we wrote about the danger posed by Shell’s plans to drill in the Arctic Ocean north of Alaska. Well, now comes the “told you so” moment. From the … Read more

Shell Moves Us One Step Closer to an Arctic Tragedy

The Arctic Ocean is one of the globe’s last wildernesses: often dark, always frigid, and prone to violent storms and drifting ice sheets that make navigation next to impossible.  But … Read more

Just When You Thought It Was Safe to Go Back in the Water

More evidence that Congress lives in an alternate universe: they still think offshore oil rigs are no place for regulators. Basic common sense says that if you want to increase … Read more

Big Oil Finally Catches a Break, Can Now Afford to Send Kids to College

Big Oil made big news on Wednesday when Exxon Mobil announced a major find in one of its Gulf of Mexico oil fields.  Predictably, the industry and their friends in … Read more

Senator Takes Ball, Goes Home

President Obama’s top oil regulator won’t get a raise until he puts more drilling rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, at least if Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) has his way. … Read more

Gulf spill side effect: Amnesia

The politics around offshore drilling have taken a turn for the crazy.  Last month, while the rest of the country was marking the one-year memorial of the Deepwater Horizon tragedy, … Read more

Do we need to hold a bake sale to fund drilling rig inspections?

A year after the Gulf oil spill, Congress has not passed a single bill to make offshore drilling safer. But they have managed to screw up the one slam-dunk item … Read more

There’s Nothing Radical About Safety

With the 1-year memorial of the Deepwater Horizon disaster almost here, NWF and other environmental groups sent a letter to President Obama, asking him to fully implement the drilling safety … Read more

Gulf Spill Rig Owner: Well Done, Execs!

You just can’t make this stuff up.  Transocean, the company that owned the Deepwater Horizon oil rig at the center of last summer’s Gulf oil spill, is giving bonuses to … Read more

Maddow Tears Apart Drilling Plan Safety Claims

Under heavy fire from Republicans and oil state Democrats, the Obama Administration has sped up offshore oil production, granting six new deepwater permits in a little over a month.  Many … Read more