WorldOil

The Last Barrel

Now that the Obama administration is embarking on another four years of breathtaking mediocrity, its bureaucratic minions have already devised two new angles by which to attack the upstream oil and gas industry—sea mammals and birds. And in pursuing one of these angles, the Obama shock troops are getting a helping hand from that ultimate money pit of malcontents, the United Nations (UN). Commercial noise threatens sea mammals—that’s what The New York Times reported last month, describing how “the ocean depths have become a noisy place.” Fingers are being pointed at sonar blasts for military exercises; booms from air guns used for marine seismic surveys; and the “whine” from the engines of many commercial ships in fleets worldwide. Marine biologists claim that the growing noise level is particularly dangerous to whales.