Wanted: Smarter oil drillers

Opinion: May 5, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Kansas City Star: The huge oil spill now threatening tourism, wildlife, beaches and the seafood industry in and around the Gulf of Mexico may claim another victim: President Barack Obama’s plan to increase offshore drilling.

His proposal has its practical side because the nation needs to reduce its reliance on imported petroleum.

However, as we noted when Obama’s plan was unveiled in March, the federal government’s encouragement of offshore drilling must come with tougher regulations to prevent spills and swifter punishment when ecological disasters occur.

As if on cue, the biggest fear of many environmental groups came to a horrible fruition. An explosion on a rig presumably killed 11 workers and unleashed a torrent of crude.

essential equipment?

One disturbing possible explanation for the spill: BP officials said the rig’s device to prevent a blowout did not operate properly. That raised the question of whether the rig’s owner — Transocean — had correctly installed the essential equipment.

Federal investigators must take their time to find out why the rig explosion and the ensuing leaks occurred, and then offer good ways to prevent similar problems in the future.

Additional offshore drilling should not move forward unless oil companies — and the federal government — prove they have learned valuable lessons from the environmental disaster.