Nice perspective from The Washington Post's energy reporter, Steven Mufson. The 1969 Union Oil blowout off Santa Barbara cast gooey muck up on the beaches and helped propel the ban on offshore drilling and the environmental movement generally. In today's story, Mufson reports that the Gulf spill could surpass the Santa Barbara disaster in volume of oil leaked by next week.
The spill baby spill will certainly impede renewed efforts to drill baby drill offshore. Obama recently said he wants to reverse the ban on offshore drilling. But he didn't really mean it; it was a political feint to the right. This will set back efforts even more.
Mufson: