Editorial

To the Editor:

What in the world is going on with our politicians!

They don’t want to do their job, they don’t want to ruffle feathers, they say!

Well, it’s time to ruffle their feathers and let them know who they work for; and why we the people put them in office.

All you hear about is the wall. It will take 2,500 miles of wall to enclose our friends and neighbors to the south. Never in the history of the world, have walls ever worked. The only thing the wall does is make an enemy of our friends and neighbor.

Print newspapers are still the primary way that tens of millions of Americans receive information about their communities and the world. They are also the way that many people find out about job opportunities. While we assume that everyone has an internet connection, the fact is that many areas of the country have limited or no internet service. According to the Federal Communications Commission, nearly 40 percent of Americans living in rural areas lack access to fixed broadband internet.

Some recent editorials and news stories have falsely characterized regulatory review efforts currently underway at the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, apparently without having actually read the proposed revisions. One editorial in the Houston Chronicle expressed worries that many, including the U.S. Government and our agency, commonly referred to as BSEE, might have forgotten the lessons of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon tragedy and other offshore incidents. For the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement nothing could be further from the truth.