While Congress keeps refusing to allow oil exploration off the east coast, off the west coast, off the Florida coast, The drills are a drillin' and the pumps are a pumpin' off the Texas coast.* Why is that?* Two reasons:
*
1.* Texans have never had a problem with oil drilling.* They have always known and prove every day that the oil industry and wildlife can co-exist.* In fact, the drilling rigs actually create habitat.* They are artificial reefs teaming with fish and the entire ocean food chain.* So for the past seventy years or more, while the hippies, ecology nuts, tree huggers, and environmentalists, all have shut down oil exploration off every other coast, Texas rigs have been blowin' and goin.'*
*
2.* The U.S. Congress has no authority over the territorial waters off the Texas coast.* Congress can control the waters off all the other state coasts, but not Texas.* One of several conditions of statehood, back in 1846, was that Texas maintained control if its territorial waters.* So thanks to our far sighted Texas ancestors, the oil rigs have been bringing up the goods*without interruption*for decades.
*