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If anyone still believes we must drill, baby, drill offshore -- aside from Bill Kristol, that is, who wants to sink wells even closer to precious coastal wetlands -- then perhaps it is time to consider again the potential benefits of nationalization. After all, there is one country that has established an unrivaled record for environmental safety while exploiting its offshore petroleum reserves. That would be Norway, which created the company now known as Statoil Hydro as a fully state-owned entity and still controls nearly two-thirds of the company's "privatized" shares.

A federal appeals court on Thursday rejected an effort by environmental and Native American groups to stop exploratory oil drilling off the coast of Alaska that could begin this summer.

Interior Department continues to issue "categorical exclusions" for oil drilling, administration official acknowledges: 

The federal Minerals Management Service gave permission to BP and dozens of other oil companies to drill in the Gulf of Mexico without first getting required permits from another agency that assesses threats to endangered species - and despite strong warnings from that agency about the impact the drilling was likely to have on the gulf.

insane plan to choke off other wetlands with toxic mud pies ... 12 dredges already lined up to begin erosion work ... benefits flow to Army Corp of Engineers, engineering/construction contractors, local firms supplying offshore oil drilling

27 waivers or exemptions from in-depth environmental studies were given to Gulf Coast oil companies...AFTER the BP oil spill in April 2010? Does anyone know what these 27 waivers consisted of? Were they substantive, either individually, or as a whole? What agency or agencies granted them?

Conservatives have dubbed the spill "Obama's Katrina." But the roots of the disaster, which could potentially have been prevented by enhanced safety measures, stretch back to the George W. Bush years. During that era, Interior became a revolving door haven for industry lobbyists. MMS developed a hands-off approach to regulation and was known for its deference to the companies it was supposed to be policing.