“Maybe it’s time we look at the facts and realize that the lesson for today is we should not be punishing America by refusing to drill offshore. Maybe we should drill offshore because we can do so safely and because it has been proven in the past that we can drill safely.” – Congressman Ted Poe, June 24, 2008
What Ted Poe has had to say about offshore drilling since the Deepwater Horizon blew up: Absolutely nothing. Complete silence.
Ted Poe represents the 2nd congressional district of Texas. That congressional district sits right on the Gulf of Mexico, where the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling rig has released a huge amount of crude oil that the oil industry just doesn’t know how to contain. Ted Poe’s district includes Port Arthur, which was the site of another oil spill earlier this year that threatened the Texas Point National Wildlife Refuge.
Ted Poe was all too eager to promote the expansion of offshore drilling two years ago. Where is Ted Poe now, when his constituents need him to deal with offshore drilling’s filthy consequences?
Representative Poe ought to know better than to maintain his support for offshore drilling, but maybe the thousands of dollars he’s taken from Big Oil PACs over the last year and a half have made it a bit difficult for Poe to open up his mouth just right now.
