Obama’s "Something for Everyone" Approach to Energy Security Misses the Mark by Opening Major New Offshore Areas to Oil and Gas Exploration

The email traffic and phone calls surged to a flood this morning as we waited with baited breath for clues on whether new offshore oil and gas development would be pursued under President Obama’s plan for the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS).   The Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) defines the OCS as all submerged lands lying seaward of state coastal waters (typically 3 miles offshore) which are under U.S. jurisdiction. Under the OCSLA, the Secretary of the Interior is responsible for the administration of mineral exploration and development of the OCS, which covers 1.7 billion acres.  Our hope was that the President would focus on the development of clean renewable energy and energy efficiency, rather than exposing  our precious ocean and coastal resources to the serious risk of long-term damage from expanded offshore drilling activities. 

Our ocean is a tremendous resource providing important ecological and economic services and generating billions of dollars each year for the Nation.  A majority of this value is attributable to tourism and recreation, which in 2004 contributed more than $116 billion to the nation’s GDP.  Our marine fisheries rely on healthy oceans: a 2006 report found that the commercial fishing industry generated over $103 billion in sales and $44.3 billion in income, and supported more than 1.5 million jobs in 2006; expenditures by recreational fishermen contributed $82 billion in sales to the U.S. economy and supported over 500,000 jobs.

Today, President Obama and Secretary Salazar announced that their plan for offshore oil and gas development will include the following activities:

• Proceeding with exploration of existing leases in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas in the Arctic Ocean as soon as this summer;
• Study of potential new areas for development in the mid and south Atlantic, (although the President says they will employ exploration technologies that reduce the impact of oil exploration, as NRDC Senior Policy Analyst Michael Jasny reports, science shows that the industry’s airguns disrupt the marine environment on a massive scale);
• New drilling activities in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico in areas currently under federal moratorium (and which would need Congressional action to proceed); and
• Delay of new leasing in the Arctic until the U.S. Geological Survey assesses information about resources, risks, and environmental sensitivities in the Arctic (though existing exploration activities would be allowed to proceed).

We do support the Administration’s decision not to pursue new drilling off California, Oregon, Washington or the North Atlantic.  Also positive is the decision to withdraw Alaska's Bristol Bay from consideration for oil and gas development through 2017.  However, the continuation of seismic and exploratory drilling  in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas is dangerous and most unfortunate.  While the Administration, on the one hand, recognizes the extreme sensitivity of the Arctic and the severe impact it has already sustained from climate change as reasons to delay further oil and gas leasing for two years, on the other hand, it is defying these facts by allowing seismic and exploratory drilling to go forward.  The subsistence way of life of Native Inupiat Eskimos could also be seriously threatened by these activities, and there is risk of extreme impacts to marine mammals as diverse as polar bears, walrus, ice seals, Bowhead and beluga whales. 

Image, New York Times

Offshore oil and gas drilling is contrary to developing the clean energy future that our Nation needs.  In President Obama’s remarks today, he argued that  new offshore drilling is a common-sense approach in the short-term; but offshore drilling poses long-term risks to our oceans, sea life and coastal communities, and the economic interests which they support.  America has better solutions than to drill our oceans and coastlines, and President Obama should focus his attention completely on those 21st century solutions that reinforce our transition to a clean energy economy. 

NRDC’s President Frances Beinecke stated today: “We need comprehensive solutions for America’s clean energy future— and more offshore drilling in America’s oceans does not fit in that picture. Offshore drilling carries significant environmental risks, without truly increasing our energy independence. There are many areas that are just too sensitive for offshore drilling, which threatens our oceans, sea life and coastal communities, including economic interests in these areas. America has better solutions than to drill in our pristine waters— which needs more research and investigation– and we should be pursuing these options.”

The truth is that the risk of major environmental damage – from the drilling process, tankers and leaking or broken pipelines – is real.  Despite our best efforts and intentions, oil spills still occur and even the best advancements in technologies cannot remove the danger of human error, technological failure, and accidents, resulting in significant environmental harm:

• In the fall of 2009, a massive oil spill occurred off the coast of Australia.  This incident destroyed a brand new offshore rig, spewed oil for 10 weeks, and could not be plugged for five months.   
• In September 2008, Hurricane Ike destroyed oil platforms, tanks, and pipelines throughout the Gulf of Mexico, releasing at least a half million gallons of crude oil. Previously, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita caused 125 spills from platforms, rigs, and pipelines in the OCS, releasing almost 685,000 gallons of petroleum products.

Further, drilling in one state, such as Virginia, doesn't mean that the risks from drilling are confined to that state.  Contamination from the massive 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill reached shorelines nearly 600 miles away; if the spill had occurred on the East Coast, it would have extended from Massachusetts to North Carolina.

It’s time to realize that we can’t drill our way to a clean energy economy. We need to protect our ocean and coastal resources, and the communities and jobs they support, from the dangers of offshore drilling.

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