The Gulf Coast oil spill of April 20, 2010 caused the Obama administration to take some drastic measures, in order to prove to the nation that it was handling the emergency better than the Bush administration handled 2005’s Hurricane Katrina. Those drastic measures include a 6-month moratorium on offshore drilling (set to end November 30, 2010), a panel of “experts” to determine the cause of the spill, and new rules from the Department of Interior to minimize the harm of a future oil spill. But how are other countries responding to the U.S. disaster? Offshore drilling continues in Europe, with no changes thus far to the rules. China is investing in all sorts of oil ventures that include drilling offshore from numerous countries; it is even negotiating with Cuba for drilling rights near the Florida coast. Mexico continues to drill offshore with our support. And the United States is lending Brazil $2 billion to explore off its coast, where experts believe 30 billion barrels of oil awaits discovery and production.
