Bush allows oil drilling on pristine Texas beach

Environmentalists in the United States are again waging war with Republicans in Washington. This time the row is over a decision to allow an energy company to drill two gas wells in a coastal national park in Texas that is home to the world's most endangered species of sea turtle.

The federal government is to grant approval to BNP Petroleum to sink two wells in the Padre Island National Seashore, a barrier island on the Gulf of Mexico that features the longest stretch of undeveloped beach in the US.

Permission was granted by the National Park Service, which is administered by the Department of the Interior. The Park Service insists the greatest possible care will be taken to respect the ecology of the island. But environmentalists believe it will put the island and the turtles in peril.

Lobbyists claim the decision to allow more exploration on Padre Island is further evidence of President George Bush's disregard for the environment in favour of allowing private companies to run riot over the American landscape in search of new energy sources.

"Energy development does not belong within our national seashores," Randall Rasmussen, of the National Parks Conservation Association, said yesterday. "People and marine life will be put at great risk in the rush to sink wells because of Bush administration policies designed to speed up drilling without careful consideration of its impact on the environment.

"Drilling at Padre Island is not about decreasing our nation's dependency on foreign sources of energy," he added. "This project is designed only to enrich energy executives at the expense of seashore visitors and endangered marine life."

The island is one of only two breeding grounds for the world's smallest and most endangered sea turtle, the Kemp's Ridley. There is concern that heavy lorries driving to the drilling sites will run over the turtles' nests and destroy eggs. The area is also popular for camping and fishing.

"The beach at Padre Island is starting to look more like a highway than a National Park," said Fred Richardson, communications director of the Texas chapter of the Sierra Club, a green lobby group.

"Most Americans believe that there are places that ought to be protected and kept for the public, but the Bush administration is out of touch with those values."

Under Mr Bush, oil and gas companies are being encouraged to drill on more than 50 sites on federal land across the US, including territory within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska.

Geographical surveys suggest there may be as much as 80 billion cubic feet of gas under Padre Island that could take 30 years to extract and could accommodate 15 more wells.

The Sierra Club has sued the government to try to block the drilling. The group argues that by allowing large trucks to run up and down the island, the government is violating the Endangered Species Act.