McCain and the Safety of Offshore Drilling

Dear John,

I see you're telling people "at every campaign stop that offshore oil drilling is safe, playing down the risk of environmental accidents, even when faced with the power of a hurricane." Here's one more tidbit to remember about offshore drilling that you're shilling for and have apparently overlooked as you have these other facts which you are failing to share with the American people.

In fact, Katrina and Hurricane Rita caused damage to oil rigs and storage facilities in the Gulf, according to press reports and government studies.

The hurricanes totally destroyed 113 oil rigs, according to the government's Minerals Management Service, and damaged 457 pipelines. The resulting oil spills were large enough to be seen from space, according to several reports.

A review by the Houston Chronicle reported that the two storms in the summer of 2005 caused 595 oil spills that released an estimated 9 million gallons of oil into the gulf, much of that from oil storage facilities on the shores. The government said there were a total of 146 small oil spills in federal waters caused by the storms.

Doesn't it bother you that you're lying to the American people? Evidently not or you wouldn't be doing it. Lying and misrepresenting the facts by omission are definite disqualifiers for the presidency in my book.

Well, here's one American telling you to stop lying.

Regards,

vbdietz