My family (father side) lives, works, breathes and plays in the Gulf of Mexico. Some of the family work in the oil industry. They are the operators for the plants that refines the oil to be used for our vehicles, for our roads, to our energy plants throughout the United States. My grandfather study the Gulf floor and have surveyed Alaska, there are oil wells that could by the three companies they work with say could completely keep us from ever using any foreign oil within this country. We would be self-sufficient. I have an uncle who work for a helicopter company who carries men offshore to these rigs and so that they can bring the crude into the ports to be refined to supply the companies with the oil needed to complete their jobs. We had one accident in the Gulf and yes it was bad. It caused many problems, but we came back. We are finding now that companies are starting to listen to the employees on the rigs, petroleum refining companies and seeing things done to improve safety. If the government would get out of the way and allow good truly safe economic companies do the jobs that we are capable of doing we would be able to give jobs to people who really wanted to work and the employment rates would drop drastically throughout the Gulf states. In everything there will be a cost, but when people who know how to do a job cannot because others feel one way is better than the other then I disagree. By me not really being into the whole oil thing, I learn what I know either