Reply #179: From your link. [View All]

In the wake of the BP disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, the Department of the Interior’s Minerals Management Service (MMS) has continued to issue “categorical exclusions” for oil companies, allowing them to bypass the last stage of environmental review before proceeding with drilling projects, an Interior Department official told ABC News Wednesday.

But, the official emphasized, the problem is current law, which only gives the Department of the Interior 30 days to conduct the final review.

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So they did do some. it's just not their fault. This agency is widely known to be a captured agency. They ARE BP, exxon etc. I'm surprised any anonymous spokesperson for the agency is believed but especially since they admit it and the discrepancy is on the actual number in this article. In another article they admit it no excuses or but...but... buts.

I'm also surprised that in the wake of the disaster in the gulf folks exposing the fact that are granting exemptions, whatever the number, is vilified because some think it reflects bad on the administration.

What's really incredible is the whole premise of the OP's debunking is based on the fact some folks, including him, read the words "in-depth environmental studies of oil exploration" and see oil rigs. Massive fail on that one.