For someone who was a lion on Wall Street, Gov. Jon Corzine's (D-NJ) complete and utter inability to understand the costs of high energy prices on all Americans is astounding unless you consider that he thinks that high energy costs are good.
That's the only way to consider why he continues to oppose offshore drilling, even if you could never see those drilling rigs and platforms since they'd be located over the horizon.
He repeatedly talks about the impact of oil spills on the coastline and how that could be detrimental to the tourism industry. Frankly, Corzine couldn't care about the tourism industry of the effects of oil spills. Because, if you do a cost-benefit analysis, you'd find that the higher energy costs borne by all people in the country is hitting the tourism industry hard, including those businesses heavily reliant on tourism dollars along the Jersey Shore and that seriously exceeds that which might conceivably occur should an oil spill. Never mind that the state could impose new taxes on oil and gas severance from within its borders to offset any potential spill and could set up oil spill mitigation funds to prepare for that possibility, but the Governor refuses to address the issue at all.
The fact that Corzine says that it makes more sense to drill in the Gulf where there are proven reserves shows that this isn't about tourism, but about NIMBY. He simply doesn't want his personal views to be spoiled by the very technology and materials that have made his personal wealth possible.
No one really knows just how much oil and natural gas is available to be drilled offshore, but if you never give the oil companies a chance to explore and exploit those finds, you will not find out. Congressional Democrats have been opposed to such actions for decades, and Corzine simply reiterates the zero-energy policies with a dash of NIMBY.
New Jersey deserves better.
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