Obama to Reopen Offshore Oil Drilling in Shallow Waters

He is going to add new safety regulations, but I don't like off-shore oil drilling AT ALL! At least BP will hopefully get nailed with lots of penalties. Although it doesn't really matter because those dead animals will never get their lives back and who knows if the habitat will ever fully recover.

From the Wall Street Journal....

The Obama administration, facing rising anger on the Gulf Coast over the loss of jobs and income from a drilling moratorium, said Monday that it would move quickly to release new safety requirements that would allow the reopening of offshore oil and gas exploration in shallow waters.

Gulf Coast residents, political leaders and industry officials said delays in releasing the new rules, along with the administration's six-month halt on deepwater drilling—both issued amid public pressure—threatened thousands of jobs.

Well-owner BP PLC, meanwhile, faces penalties "in the many billions of dollars," for the Deepwater Horizon drilling disaster that has been spewing an estimated minimum 12,000 to 19,000 barrels of oil a day into the Gulf, said White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. The costs of the spill will "greatly exceed" the amount BP could recoup by selling any of the captured oil on the market, he said Monday.

And Obama STILL Wants Offshore Oil Driling?

What a mess.

And it looks like BP has some answering to do.

By the way, this mess is threatening the Breton National Wildlife Refuge at crucial breeding time.

More Federal Stimulus Money Used for Animal Research

It's really frustrating. Our country needs federal stimulus money and I was a big supporter of this initiative of President Obama's. But it disappoints and frustrates me to see it consistently used for purposes that I passionately oppose. To see an issue of such moral debate minimized to simply economic activity is just not right.

Animal Research Grants a Waste of Taxpayer Money

I like this letter which appeared in the Brandenton Herald (FL)...

President Obama promised to eliminate wasteful government spending; funding for animal research is one area that is overdue for reform. As billions flow into this waste, 44 million Americans lack adequate health care coverage.

Each year, millions of cats, dogs, non-human primates and other animals suffer and die in research laboratories. Please do not advertise to sell your pets.

World Week for Animals in Laboratories (April 17-24) exposes their plight and the broken federal research funding system that perpetuates outdated animal experiments at the expense of modern and more humane technologies. Animal research is not necessary to promote human health despite claims from vested interests.

Recent published studies document that an old boys network in the federal grant award process keeps “aging cash cows” afloat while leaving younger, innovative investigators struggling.

The result: antiquated, unnecessary and ridiculous experiments like those identified recently by In Defense of Animals, including studies of cocaine-addicted quail, nipple preference in nursing infant monkeys, toy preference in young monkeys, and effect of high-fat diets on mice (it made them fat and sleepy).

As billions flow into this waste, 44 million Americans lack adequate health care coverage.

Gundl Bhutani

Sarasota

West Virginia University to Build Animal Research Lab

Thanks to your tax dollars, federal stimulus money is being used to build a $14.5 million dollar research lab. It is the largest grant thus far under the stimulus package. It will house rodents for use in experiments.

Why would this West Virginia University project be the recipient of federal stimulus money? Because it will create JOBS! And research for drug development, which means more MONEY and JOBS!

From West Virginia Metro News...

The laboratory will be used to study human diseases and treatments.

“Setting up experiments to try and develop new insights that would be even before the drug development phase. It would be looking at biomedical or cellular mechanisms that are changed, for example in heart disease, and get insights into what might be a target for drug development.”

...The new facility is expected to result in 253 additional permanent jobs on the WVU campus, including 13 directly in the animal quarters and 240 in biomedical research laboratories around the Health Sciences Center. During construction, the project will add 113 jobs to the local community.

Obama Gets B- on Animal Protection

The Humane Society gives President Obama a B- on animal protection. Not that great, but I no longer think of Obama as a progressive anyway.

It's probably still better than w.

Bo Celebrated Birthday with Veal

Ugh. Bo Obama celebrated his birthday with a doghouse cake made out of veal. When I was still a meat-eater, the two foods I would not touch were veal and lamb. Veal is especially cruel, even for factory farming, although now I think foie gras is a strong competitor.

Certainly disappointed in the Obamas for such a poor choice of "cake."

Boo!

Happy Birthday Bo Obama!

Today was his birthday, dada dadada!!

Enjoy!

Southern Senator Stops Confirmation Over Animal Protection

Georgia readers should contact this Republican Senator and ask what's up.

Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) has put a hold on Cass Sunstein's confirmation as the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. According to Michael Markarian from the Humane Society, Sunstein's confirmation is supposedly being held due to pressure from some agribusiness groups. Sunstein is a Harvard law professor who has written about animal protection issues. He is the co-editor, for example, of Animal Rights: Current Debates and New Directions, which examines views both in favor and against animal law.

The position he's going for doesn't even deal with animal issues, but, if true, their corporate opposition shows the fear and the long reach of these greedy monsters.

Bo Obama in "Much Ado About Nothing"

There is a bit of a drama around the adoption of the Portuguese (yay!) Water Dog puppy Bo. Some are saying that President Obama broke his promise to get a rescue dog. Others are accusing him of getting a dog from a breeder. Yadda, yadda, yadda.

Here's our position.

Bo is not really a rescue dog. He came from a breeder and did not have a successful first placement, but his is nowhere near the tough stories we hear about in shelters. (It helps to have a sibling in Ted Kennedy's household.)

But he wasn't really adopted from a breeder either. His first placement didn't work out and he was with an obedience trainer for a second chance at another home.

So what is he?

He's simply a gift from a friend. Ted Kennedy gave him to the Obamas as an act of friendship. It's his own dog's sibling and I think it was a symbol of political alliance as well. I don't think there was anything underhanded in it at all. The dog was a fit for the family and it's hard to say no to Ted Kennedy.

We would have loved it if the Obamas had adopted a dog from a shelter. But there were allergy issues which are an understandable concern. And we also have to realize that there would not be a sudden rush to the shelter if the Obamas had adopted their dog from one. There may have been a rush to adopt that particular dog perhaps, but then the fad would fade and the people who were never sincere in the first place would just dump the dog again.

I think we animal people should just chill and enjoy the new puppy.

PETA Petition to Stop Animal Torture at Defense Department

Hah! Good luck! But it certainly raised my awareness that animals are used in military trauma-training exercises.

Days after President Barack Obama signed an executive order banning torture during military interrogations, PETA wrote to the president calling for the ban of another form of military torture: trauma and chemical-casualty training exercises conducted on animals.

Thousands of live animals are shot, stabbed, dismembered, burned, and poisoned every year in Department of Defense (DoD) training exercises designed to train medics and infantry in how to treat various human battlefield injuries. PETA is asking President Obama to issue an executive order requiring the DoD to replace animals with non-animal methods. These methods are readily available and already in use at several military installations. The non-animal methods include rotations in military trauma hospitals and the use of the DoD's own Combat Trauma Patient Simulator.

Please help animals who suffer for military training by asking President Obama to extend his ban on torture to include animals used in military trauma-training exercises.

Please send a polite e-mail to your Congressional representative asking him or her to urge President Obama to issue an executive order requiring the DoD to replace the use of animals in trauma and chemical-casualty training exercises with available non-animal methods.

Obama's Rules Freeze May Help Wolves

Let's keep our fingers crossed.

In one of his first presidential acts, President Barack Obama has ordered federal agencies to halt all pending regulations until his administration can review them....

Wildlife conservationists say the freeze will delay and possibly prevent the removal of gray wolves from the federal endangered species list in Montana, Idaho, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan, and also in portions of Washington, Oregon, Utah, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio.

Michael Robinson of the Center for Biological Diversity says the pause will afford President Obama and his new Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar the opportunity to rethink the previous administration’s efforts to remove wolves from the endangered species list.

I really hope Salazar turns out to be a good guy.

Farm Sanctuary Wary about Tom Vilsack for USDA

While the Humane Society was pretty happy with Vilsack as Obama's pick for the Department of Agriculture, the Farm Sanctuary is wary.

This is a December 18 post from Gene Bauer's blog pointing out some concerns about Vilsack. Bauer is the president and co-founder of the Farm Sanctuary.

Barack Obama has picked Tom Vilsack, former Governor of Iowa, to be the next Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). He’s certainly not the best choice; however, I think Vilsack may be a choice holding forth a reasonable hope of significant change. I’m glad that Obama didn’t select Charles Stenholm, a former Texas congressman with a long history of defending animal abuse, who had sought the position with support from the factory farming industry.

As Iowa’s Governor, Tom Vilsack took steps to protect animals, including vetoing a bill that allowed dove hunting. He has a mixed record on policies affecting industrialized agriculture. He vetoed a bill, which would have prevented Iowa from establishing stronger environmental standards for factory farms than the federal government, but he has also compromised with big agriculture, supporting weak environmental protections and genetically modified foods.

Humane Society Likes Obama's Animal Welfare Picks

I bet you didn't realize that Obama had any animal welfare picks, but he did. And, in general, the Humane Society and its Legislative Fund likes them.

They are very enthusiastic about Tom Vilsack, the proposed Secretary of Agriculture. In fact, he was their top choice. They're not so sure about Ken Salazar as Secretary of the Interior, but they see some promise. He has a strong environmental record and he has supported some animal issues in the past. (Here's some information on his financial contributors. Not sure whether it's enough to worry about yet. He does get money from alternative energy people too.)

HSUS is also happy about Lisa Jackson heading the EPA.

Petition Drive Launched Asking Obama to Adopt Shelter Dog

You can sign it here.

Will Obama Rescue a Dog?

Hey, if it's important enough to mention in his speech that he was getting a puppy, it's important enough for us to talk about it. He did say in the past that he would adopt a dog. Let's hope he sends a progressive message by giving a shelter dog a new home. Maybe he could get two...

LA Unleashed has a good roundup of reaction from the Humane Society and PETA.