Rob Perks's Blog: Moving Beyond Oil

BREAKING NEWS: Virginia Coast Off-Limits to Drilling

2010-05-06T18:55:39Z

This just in...The U.S. Department of Interior has indefinitely suspended plans for an oil and gas lease sale off the Virginia coastline!

Two days ago I blogged on this:

As a native Virginian who grew up surfing Virginia Beach and vacationing along North Carolina's nearby Outer Banks, I've long opposed coastal drilling along those placid shores. When skyrocketing gas prices a couple of summers ago led to Congress lifting restrictions on drilling in protected portions of the Outer Continental Shelf, I was shocked. Hearing the "drill, baby, drill" mantra adopted during the 2008 election infuriated me. And when elected leaders like Virginia Gov. Bob McDonald pledged to open their state's fragile coastlines to oil and natural gas development, I was bewildered. How could they not see the environmental and economic dangers? I guess the lessons of Alaska's long ago Exxon-Valdez oil spill were forgotten. I, for one, never want to see Virginia Beach's tourism-based economy threatened by spills or converted from a natural playground into a center for petro-industrial commerce.

Recall that in late March President Obama proposed opening new offshore areas to drilling and announced plans to hold by 2012 a lease sale 50 miles off the coast of Virginia, among other places. On April 29, the federal government published notice of public meetings to be followed by a scoping period through mid June as a prelude to the Virginia lease sale.

But, as quoted in The New York Times today, an Interior Department spokesperson says the agency is "temporarily postponing public meetings on potential offshore activities so that information from the ongoing review of OCS [Outer Continental Shelf] safety issues that the president has directed can be appropriately considered in those meetings."

Great news for Virginia's beach lovers!

Let's hope the Obama administration learns from the Gulf Coast catastrophe that drilling our fragile shores is not worth the risk to natural resources or our coastal economies that depend on a clean and healthy ocean. It's time to break our addiction to oil and other dirty fuels by passing comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation.

Drill, baby, still? No way!

Please take a moment to tell President Obama to impose a moratorium on ALL new offshore drilling.

And here's video of NRDC's Wesley Warren further explaining why drilling is not the answer to our energy needs:

Drill, Baby, Drill? Clean, Baby, Clean!

2010-05-04T15:30:13Z

Talk about having your head stuck in the oil-soaked sand. In the wake of the Gulf Coast oil spill, Sarah Palin recently reiterated her commitment to the slogan 'drill here, drill now', writing on her Facebook page:

"All responsible energy development must be accompanied by strict oversight, but even with strict oversight in the world, accidents still happen. No human endeavor is ever without risk -- whether it's sending a man to the moon or extracting the necessary resources to fuel our civilization."

Tell that to Johnny Nunez, a life-long commercial fisherman in Shell Beach, Louisiana. "This oil is the one thing where there's no recovering," Nunez told the Washington Post. "If we lose the fish and the land, there's no building back. This whole way of life is going. This whole generation is lost. I'm 55 years old, and I might not fish again."

My colleague Apollo Gonzales, who is in southern Louisiana along with other NRDC staff responding to the disaster, profiled another boat captain who explained how BP's spill threatens to destroy not just the local seafood economy but the very fabric of the Gulf Coast's way of life.

As a native Virginian who grew up surfing Virginia Beach and vacationing along North Carolina's nearby Outer Banks, I've long opposed coastal drilling along those placid shores. When skyrocketing gas prices a couple of summers ago led to Congress lifting restrictions on drilling in protected portions of the Outer Continental Shelf, I was shocked. Hearing the "drill, baby, drill" mantra adopted during the 2008 election infuriated me. And when elected leaders like Virginia Gov. Bob McDonald pledged to open their state's fragile coastlines to oil and natural gas development, I was bewildered. How could they not see the environmental and economic dangers? I guess the lessons of Alaska's long ago Exxon-Valdez oil spill were forgotten.

I, for one, never want to see Virginia Beach's tourism-based economy threatened by spills or converted from a natural playground into a center for petro-industrial commerce. It appears now that BP's oil rig explosion and resulting massive spill is causing some coastal drilling advocates to wake up and smell the petroleum fuel washing up on shore along the Gulf Coast. Gov. Crist in Florida has already flipped his position and once again opposes drilling off the Sunshine State's crystal shores.

Although Gov. McDonald is still championing oil and gas development off Virginia's coast, other state officials are no longer as enthusiastic. Virginia Beach Mayor Will Sessoms, who endorsed the push to drill off his coast, now is reportedly "alarmed" by the tragedy unfolding in the Gulf, which he says is a "wake-up call." It's interesting to note that Mayor Sessoms and his fellow city council members passed a resolution supporting coastal drilling because they thought it would actually help tourism by keeping the cost of gas down. But as the Washington Post reports, a study of the Atlantic Ocean by the federal government estimated that the amount oil off Virginia's shores is equal to the amount of oil used in six days and the amount of natural gas would last less than a month.

Why would we as a nation jeopardize our natural heritage and coastal economies for so little energy? In Louisiana alone, the BP spill threatens the state's annual $2 billion seafood industry, as well as its $1 billion per year recreational fishing revenues. And the oil slick is not likely to be cleaned up for years -- possibly shutting down these resources for a generation, as feared by fishermen like Johnny Nunez.

Yet some people refuse to heed the heart-wrenching lessons of the massive disaster unfolding before our eyes. Nor do they recognize the role of high-carbon fossil fuels in our even more pressing climate crisis. In her Facebook post, for example, Palin added: "I continue to believe in it because increased domestic oil production will make us more secure, prosperous, and peaceful nation."

To contact your senators, click here.

This is no time for rhetoric that defies reality. The Gulf Coast catastrophe is a wake-up call that America needs to break our oil addiction and move beyond dirty energy. We must do this by adopting policies that will usher in a new era of clean, renewable energy. That is truly the only way to enhance our national security by reducing our dependence on oil, to ensure economic prosperity by spurring technological innovations that will create jobs, and to address the greatest environmental threat our planet has ever faced.

When it comes to energy, the mantra must be "clean, baby, clean!"

Veterans, Clean Energy and Common Sense

2009-11-10T16:21:40Z

Another Veterans' Day is upon us, a time to reflect on our armed servicemen and women who are stationed around the world to protect us. Many of these brave soldiers, sailors and marines have spent years serving in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere, selflessly putting their lives on the line for their families, friends and fellow countrymen here at home. While I honor their duty and courage, frankly I'm not happy that our nation's dependence on foreign oil is partly to blame for putting our soldiers in harm’s way.

There’s a growing consensus among our troops, military leaders and national security experts that one of the best things we can do to enhance our national security is to get off fossil fuels and transition to clean, home-grown energy. If America shifts to renewable alternatives -- like wind, solar and geothermal -- we can significantly reduce our dangerous addiction to oil, which currently costs our country $1 billion per day.

That’s why I'm so glad that a group of veterans, led by Operation Free , launched a bus tour across America. Their stated mission: promote clean energy! These vets, after serving our country overseas, volunteered to spend two weeks travelling through nearly 70 cities and towns in 22 states. My NRDC colleague, Rocky Kistner, rode along on one of the buses and blogged about his experiences and observations along the way. Here’s an excerpt from his last blog:

Although it was a grueling schedule with tight quarters at times, we developed a camaraderie that made the trip a rewarding experience. I also gained a special insight into why these veterans took the time to make this tour. All were motivated to help humanity deal with one of the most serious threats civilization has ever known. But there was also another important reason--no one wanted to put a single service member in harm's way due to the international security threats posed by climate change.

Looking back, I will remember most our stops at veterans' war memorials along the way. This was "hallowed ground," as Army vet Rafael Noboa described it, a testament to the lifelong service each veteran gives his or her country. Many said this tour was one of the most important battles of their military careers. It was an honor to serve beside them.

You can watch a video from the bus tour here (also on Rocky’s blog).

This week, the group VoteVets.org launched a television ad campaign aimed at getting the Senate to pass a clean energy and climate bill. The ads are airing in West Virginia, Indiana and Missouri. (Previously, versions of this ad ran in Michigan, North Carolina, and Virginia). These ads coincide with a growing movement by veterans and security groups making a push on Capitol Hill to get a bill passed and on to President Obama for his signature. Check out the ads:

WEST VIRGINIA

INDIANA

MISSOURI

This week also marks the release of NRDC President Frances Beinecke’s new book, Clean Energy Common Sense, in which she explains why America needs to move to clean energy to protect our planet and increase our national security.

In her book, Frances quotes leaders like four-star General Anthony Zinni (ret.), U.S. Navy Admiral Lee Gunn (ret.), and CIA Director Leon Panetta. These are experts with unquestioned authority on national security and who know what it means to put young people on the front lines. They know the price we pay due to our reliance on oil and the opportunity we have by shifting to a clean energy future.

Veterans of America, on a mission to support a clean energy future, we salute you!

Fossil Fools Gather in D.C. to Promote a Dirty Fuel

2009-03-24T15:00:01Z

Spring in Washington is a lovely time, with cherry blossoms about to bloom and tourists trekking to the Mall to gaze at monuments. But our fair city is about to see a different influx this week, as attendees arrive for the so-called World Coal-to-Liquid Conference (March 25-27). Fair to say, the participants are single-mindedly focused on fulfilling their dream of using federal tax dollars to fund an entirely new industry devoted to converting America's coal reserves into liquid transporation fuel.

Yes, I'm talking about the folly of liquid coal.

It's notable that the sponsor of the conference -- the industry front group Coal-to-Liquids Coalition -- is billing the participants as "grassroots supporters" in the crusade to promote liquid coal as an alternative transportation fuel that can help us break our addiction to oil. But the ticket prices for this conference range from $1000 to $2500. That likely explains why the attendees are almost exclusively a mixture of fossil fuel-friendly corporations (Chevron, GE, etc.), energy-focused federal and state agencies (EPA, DOE, WV Division of Energy, State of Wyoming, etc.), military coal boosters (U.S. Air Force) and industry-funded associations (National Coal Council, American Petroleum Institute, National Mining Association, etc.). Not a legitimate grassroots group in the bunch, as far as I can tell.

A while back I snagged this lame-brained bumper sticker, courtesy of the Coal-to-Liquids Coalition. From our perspective, a more suitable slogan would be: Liquid Coal is Fool's Gold!

Make no mistake: liquid coal is rife with environmental and economic downsides. Despite the Obama administration's clarion call for clean energy solutions, the industry and its backers remain hell-bent on selling this dirty fuel as a solution to America's energy problems. In reality, liquid coal offers only enormous expense, minimal energy security benefits and an increase in greenhouse gas pollution.

Consider, for example, that the Energy Department estimates the cost of a liquid coal plant at $7 billion, excluding additional costs from carbon regulations that President Obama has promised to enact. And since converting coal into liquid generates twice the global warming emissions of regular gasoline, putting a price on carbon pollution could significantly ratchet up the already high costs. Of course, nobody at the World Coal-to-Liquids conference will be paying those costs. Instead they would be passed along to ratepayers and taxpayers, who would also foot the bill for the massive government subsides it will take to even get the industry off the ground.

In addition to the serious implications for the climate and our pocketbooks, liquid coal also would cause a range of other environmental problems. For instance, production of liquid coal requires huge amounts of water -- already a big concern around the country, particularly in Western states.

On the security side, experts like former CIA director James Woolsey and other defense experts agree that liquid coal would be a crude substitute for oil. According to a recent report co-produced by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, unconventional dirty fuels like liquid coal simply are not suitable energy solutions. To wit:

"High-carbon unconventional forms of energy are not viable replacements. The Western Hemisphere, for instance, is rich in unconventional fuels such as oil sands, oil shale, and extra-heavy oil deposits, as well as coal, which can be used to make liquid fuels. From an energy security point of view, the presence of these unconventional reserves adds some comfort for the U.S. But these supplies will be costly to develop, and present sizeable environmental challenges, including significantly higher carbon dioxide emissions relative to conventional fossil fuels..."

"On the technology and fuels sides, there are clear pitfalls to avoid. In particular, the world must steer clear of pathways that move to unconventional liquid fuels (e.g., oil sands, coal-to-liquids, and corn-based ethanol), which while often touted as replacements for oil, do not offer the promise of long-term security and low emissions. Furthermore, while the new administration must recognize the need for near-term affordable and reliable transportation services, it should not let quick fixes for the current system (like increasing oil supply) delay investment in a more secure, low-carbon transportation system."

Bottom line: Instead of inventing new ways to use dirty coal, we should be boosting renewable energy production, increasing efficiency and making our vehicles go further on a gallon of gas. Unlike liquid coal, these clean energy solutions can help end our dependence on fossil fuels and help the economy. Right now the development and production of renewable energy and energy efficiency programs have the potential to be the work horses of job growth and economic recovery, with absolutely none of the negative side affects of liquid coal.

Canada's Tar Sands: Looking for Oil in All the Wrong Places

2008-12-22T16:58:46Z

Everyone realizes that America is dangerously addicted to oil. What people need to know is that if crude oil is cocaine, tar sands oil from Canada is crack. It doesn't make any sense to replace one with the other -- we need to break our dirty fuels habit.

Todd Paglia with Forest Ethics does a bang-up job in Grist with his overview and slide show of one of the world's dirtiest dirty fuels: tar sands.

At the moment, the world stands at an energy crossroads. As cheap, plentiful conventional oil becomes a luxury of the past, we now face a choice: to set a course for a more sustainable energy future of clean, renewable fuels, or to develop ever-dirtier sources of transportation fuel derived from fossil fuels -- at an even greater cost to our health and environment.

The United States is the world's top oil consumer and thus the primary driver behind the development of new forms of dirty transportation fuels. These unconventional fuels are derived from lower-grade, difficult-to-access raw materials, including tar sands, oil shale and coal. Moving down this road has enormous consequences for the air we breathe, the water we drink, our climate, our wildlands and wildlife.

In terms of the tar sands, it's safe to say that we're truly scraping the bottom of the barrel. In Canada, the oil industry is transforming boreal forests and wetlands -- one of the world's last remaining intact ecosystems -- into America's gas tank. Read all about this ecological disaster that is fueling the climate crisis.

It's all the more galling, therefore, that some are willing to overlook the many problems with tar sands oil for the sake of a quick fix that would only feed our energy addiction. Consider this irresponsible OpEd in the Rocky Mountain News. Perhaps it's no surprise that the petroleum geologist who wrote it advocates ignoring the perils of global warming in order to secure a pipeline to tar sands oil that will offset America's reliance on foreign oil from hostile regimes. I'm not sure it helps his case to argue that dirty fuel from friendly Canada could "help meet U.S. energy needs for decades." Wow, decades, eh? So not just a quick fix, but a short-lived one as well.

After blaming NRDC and other environmental groups for warning against this foolish fuel, the petro-geologist urges Congress to "stop indulging in global warming and unproven greenhouse-gas emission hysteria." He calls tar sands oil "the bridge to the new future alternative fuel sources that must be developed but are presently neither economically viable nor available in sufficient quantities to meet our current or future energy needs."

We don't need another bridge to nowhere. Our energy future is now -- and all it requires is investing in affordable, available clean and renewable sources today that will move us beyond oil and dirty fuels that imperil our planet and which ultimately threaten our security.

Robert Redford Helping to Rescue Redrock Wilderness

2008-12-18T15:48:51Z

I had the great pleasure of meeting Robert Redford a few years ago when he came to D.C. to headline a press event I organized on Capitol Hill, urging Congress not to pass legislation that would open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. As part of that event, NRDC presented over 200,000 petitions to President Bush, signed by people opposed to drilling in the refuge. The petition read, in part:

"WHEREAS, the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is our nation's most important birthing ground for polar bears, caribou, and other Arctic wildlife, and is the very last piece of northern Alaska that is off-limits to the oil giants...I THEREFORE PETITION YOU to obey the will of the majority of Americans who want to keep this one pristine corner of the Arctic wild and free."

I had enlarged a petition to about four feet tall and mounted it on an easel in proximity to the podium. At the conclusion of his speech, Redford signed the petition with a sharpie while the press corps snapped photos for stories that appeared the next day. That prop now hangs on my office wall -- probably the biggest Robert Redford autograph you'll ever see!

Following the press conference, Redford didn't exit to a waiting limo to be whisked to the airport for a chartered flight back to L.A. He spent the rest of the day walking the halls of Congress, lobbying various House and Senate members to protect the Arctic Refuge. When the vote came soon after, the bill to drill the refuge went down in glorious defeat. And since then the Arctic has remained off-limits to exploitation by Big Oil.

While Redford's star power certainly wasn't the only reason for this monumental environmental victory, he clearly helped the cause by bringing so much media attention to the issue and by using his influence to personally persuade legislators.

As a committed environment advocate (and long-time NRDC trustee), Robert Redford continues to not just talk the talk but also to walk the walk. Just yesterday, he lent his voice once again, joining members of Congress (via live video feed) at a press conference in D.C. to blast the Bush administration's 'midnight regulation' to auction off Utah wilderness to oil and gas companies.

Amazingly, the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management (BLM) plans to sell more than 110,000 acres of land near breathtakingly iconic western vistas -- including Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, Dinosaur National Monument, and Nine Mile Canyon -- for drilling. This lease sale, which is set for tomorrow, includes wild lands containing the nation's greatest density of ancient rock art and other cultural resources, along with unique natural features found nowhere else on earth.

These national treasures now on the auction block were made available to industry through hastily approved resource management plans that will have serious ramifications for 3 million acres of protected public lands. If the lease sale goes through, the highest bidders would earn the right to turn vast tracts of pristine wilderness into industrial wastelands. Once drilled and destroyed, Utah's Redrock wilderness can never be restored.

As Redford said during yesterday's press conference:

"You can't put a price on silence or solitude. Future generations deserve to experience the wildness and beauty of these lands, and to leave them as a legacy to generations that follow."

See what else he said to at the press event.

NRDC, along with a coalition of environmental and business groups, will file suit to halt this early Christmas gift to the energy industry. Since we have the best litigators on the planet, I'm pretty confident we'll beat back the Bush administration in the courts. In the court of public opinion, where media coverage can make a difference in elevating awareness on important issues, we're also fortunate to have the best champion for America's wildlands: Robert Redford.

Like Redford, you can help by making your voice heard. Click here to let the Bush administration that America's wildlands are not for sale!

More Americans Want Clean Energy, Not Oil Drilling

2008-12-05T16:58:02Z

Prices at the pump may be falling but no one expects the days of cheap oil to return for long. Regardless of gas prices, more Americans want our leaders to transition us away from oil by investing in clean energy. In fact, a recent public opinion survey commissioned by NRDC shows that 72% of Americans believe our country has the technology to break our addiction to dirty fuels in favor of clean, smart, innovative energy solutions that will do just that -- while also creating millions of jobs and solving the climate crisis.

Some of the survey's notable findings include:

84% believe that higher gas prices mean we need to move away from our dependence on oil and toward renewable energy and energy efficiency.
77% believe we are capable of developing energy alternatives to reduce our economy's dependence on oil and gas.
72% believe we already have the technology to do this.

"When people are presented with a variety of energy choices, Americans want investment in clean, renewable energy to stabilize our costs and create a more sustainable future," noted NRDC's Dan Lashof. These solutions -- like the wind, sun, and Earth's natural heat -- are available and Americans want us to start using them now.

The survey examined Americans' views toward a number of policies to address the country's energy crisis, and a majority of Americans -- even during a time of record gas prices last summer -- stated the following would make a "great deal of difference" in solving our energy problems:

Improving fuel efficiency to an average of 50 miles per gallon (68%)
Investing in renewable energy such as wind, solar, and geothermal energy (68%)
Building more wind farms (64%)
Improving home efficiency (61%)

As I've said before, the way to get off oil is to improve energy efficiency as well as invest in renewable energy and new energy technology. We need more choices for energy efficient cars, and ways to make our houses and offices more energy efficient. Where it will work, we need more choices for ways to get around, like buses and trains. We need to build our communities so people have more transportation choices.

The biggest mistake we could make right now is to let dropping oil prices lull us into a false sense of security that causes us to backslide on our renewed commitment to cleaner energy sources. Despite what Exxon and other oil giants would have people believe, more drilling is simply not a viable option. Not only does America have too little oil off our shores to make a dent in supply, but drilling off our coastlines promises environmental and economic risks we cannot afford to take. (Be it tourism, commericial fishing or simply quality of life.)

Certainly, oil spills (like the recent one off Norway's coast) would be a clear and present danger to our beaches, coastal communities and marine life. As a native Virginian -- and long-time surfer -- I'm particularly peeved by renewed interest in exploring for oil off the state's shores. Earlier this week, at a conference in Williamsburg, industry officials, scientists and concerned citizens gathered to discuss the effects of allowing energy companies to again seek fossil fuels on Virginia's Outer Continental Shelf of the Atlantic Ocean after a two-decade hiatus.

According to the news coverage, government leases for exploration and drilling off the coast would be sold in 2011 at the earliest, and that it would likely take five to 10 years more to produce any oil or natural gas. (That's assuming that commercially viable reserves are found and that companies are willing to spend years and invest millions to go after them.)

Bear in mind that we're talking about an area that serves as a crossroads for endangered whales, including the humpback, sperm and North Atlantic right whale --which has a dangerous habit of colliding with ships. The waters there also teem with Bluefin tuna, lured by the menu of smaller fish in nearby waters. Dolphins -- which I've had the privilege of viewing up close from my surfboard on several occasions -- frolick in abundance there, along with sea turtles. And my favorite seafood, the scallop, are found there in great quanitities.

Some people wonder what the harm is in simply looking to see if there's enough offshore oil to bother drilling. Unfortunately, that would not be a benign activity. Consider that exploratory work relies on powerful (i.e., LOUD) air guns, which are fired underwater. The sound waves bounce off the ocean bottom, and listening devices aboard research ships then determine where "hydrocarbon traps" might be located. Imagine trying to live (let alone breed!) in your own home with ear-splitting seismic blasts barraging your senses at all hours of the day -- you can bet the whales and other creatures won't like that.

Aside from the destructive consequences for wildlife, there's the actual drilling platforms that would pollute the air and discharge oil, grease, drilling fluids, sanitary wastes and waste mud. And along with likely tanker spills (we're talking Hurricane Alley, after all), there's the often overlooked massive industrial development -- pipelines, floating production and storage facilities, shipping terminals, refineries and other infrastructure -- needed to handle raw petroleum products coming to shore. Don't know about you, but I don't want my favorite beach towns and surf spots to look like the industrialized oil-villes marking the western Gulf of Mexico.

(Photo credit: http://thepilotboat.blogspot.com/2007/01/fpso-brazil.html)

If your idea of beautiful scenery is the sun setting over a flaming oil rig or you long for the siren song of a tanker's horn, then perhaps Texas or Louisiana is calling for you. As for me, I'll take my beach with a side of sea-life, serenity and clean surf.

Offshore Drilling: All Trick, No Treat

2008-10-31T15:05:53Z

This Halloween the oil industry is enjoying all the treats while we endure their tricks.

Fueled by sky-high oil prices over the summer, Exxon Mobil broke its own eye-popping records by raking in nearly $15 billion in profits. Third quarter earnings for the oil giant rose 58% over the same period last year. Other oil companies also enjoyed their biggest profits ever due to the rise in gas prices.

Despite its goodies, Big Oil still craves more sweet crude. And the industry sees America's pristine shores as one big candy store.

As if this weren't scary enough, industry's favorite hobgoblin himself -- Newt Gingrich -- is coming to town today to promote his new book: Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less.

At a book forum sponsored by the right-wing "think" tank American Enterprise Institute here in D.C., Newt will shill for Shell...and Exxon...and Chevron...and BP...etc. This is how AEI is billing his pitch:

"Gingrich warns that the pinch at the pump felt by Americans today is not temporary but rather indicative of another looming crisis, which affects not only the price of gas, but the price of food, our economy, and our national security. He thus proposes to tap the talents of the country's scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs; to require Congress to unlock our oil reserves; and to remove all the disincentives and impediments to American energy independence created by unnecessary government regulation."

BOO!!

Despite the recent dip in gas prices, it's only a matter of time before they go up again -- oil, after all, is a finite resource that is rapidly running out. No amount of new offshore drilling is going to satisfy the world's growing demand for the fossil fuel. Moreover, it's a needless risk -- to our environment and coastal economies -- at a time when there are better solutions to provide efficient, clean energy for America.

Although few are falling for Big Oil's big lie that more drilling will reduce gas prices any time soon -- and everyone seems to agree that the U.S. needs to break its addiction to oil -- many people unfortunately still see drilling as a stop-gap measure while we transition the country to a clean, renewable energy future.

But the fact is that quitting oil is possible and it is possible now. More drilling will only prolong our addiction, because the longer we wait the harder and more expensive it will be to make the changes that are necessary.

Indeed, opening protected offshore areas to drilling would only make things worse. It offers risk without any real rewards. Offshore rigs have a history of oil spills; and if we let the big oil companies drill in new areas they can sell it to the highest bidder, anywhere in the world. We don't need to risk permanent damage to our beaches so the oil companies can make even more profit selling oil to China and India. This just prolongs our dependence on oil and will not lower gas prices.

Instead of trying to drill our way out of this problem, we need to act now to become less dependent on oil. We can move away from dependence on oil by making renewables and energy efficiency a reality now. The longer we wait the harder and more expensive it will be to make the changes that are necessary.

We need to improve energy efficiency as well as invest in renewable energy and new energy technology. We need more choices for energy efficient cars, and ways to make our houses and offices more energy efficient. Where it will work, we need more choices for ways to get around, like buses and trains. We need to build our communities so people have more transportation choices.

Can we do this? Yes, we can!

Americans are resourceful, innovative people, and we can do it together. Let's start today with energy policies that work for our families and communities.

So, this Halloween, ignore the scary tricks from Big Oil and its political chronies, and focus on the treats that are in store for all of us as we move America beyond oil.

Liquid Coal a Crude Substitue for Oil

2008-10-24T14:00:00Z

The coal industry has a dream -- that one day our cars and trucks will run on liquefied coal. They tout this as a way to free America from its addiction to oil -- 60% of which we export from foreign nations, many of which don't like us very much.

Ending our dependence on oil is a worthy goal. But replacing one fossil fuel with another is not the way to do it. Especially since liquid coal is a dirty fuel that would threaten our national security by worsening global warming.

In fact, a new study confirms that trying to achieve energy independence by replacing petroleum with coal for transportation would increase our country's carbon emissions, thereby exacerbating the climate crisis. Greenhouse gas emissions could DOUBLE if coal were to replace foreign oil, the researchers concluded.

As we work to move America beyond oil, we must guard against the reckless pursuit of unconventional alternative fuel sources that promise more pollution and more climate change. Certainly, liquid coal is one of the worst dirty fuels, along with tar sands from Canada and oil shale in the Rocky Mountain West.

Check out our movie to see why liquid coal is a crude substitute. And join NRDC in the effort to stop dirty fuels before they get started.

Now is the time to rally for an end to our nation's dangerous addiction to oil by investing in a new energy economy built on cleaner fuels, better cars, improved efficiency, and more livable communities.

Don't Believe the Offshore Drilling Hype

2008-10-23T15:19:45Z

Last month I blogged about Congress letting the federal moratorium on drilling the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) expire. This came in the face of political pressure triggered by high gas prices over the summer.

The economic troubles have sparked a precipitous drop in consumption over the past several weeks, resulting in lower prices at the pump. But our coasts remain vulnerable to a renewed push by the oil industry and its allies in Congress. So it's worth a reminder that "Drill, Baby, Drill" is a catchy slogan, but not a solution to our energy woes.

Take this recent article in Peak Oil Review, for example, which explains that all of America's good offshore oil prospects already have been tapped. The entire article is a must-read, but the closing paragraph does an excellent job stating the case:

"The bottom line is that the OCS is not a panacea for today's higher oil prices. The best prospects in US waters-including most of the Gulf of Mexico and a thousand miles of Alaskan shoreline--are already open for leasing. As for the moratoria areas, it's been decades since the East and West coasts were explored. There's probably some oil there, somewhere, but it is a decade or more from market. In short, hope is one thing, hype another, and both must be seasoned with a strong dose of reality."

Robert Kaufmann, director of the Center for Energy and Environmental Studies at Boston University said it best: "This whole 'Drill, baby, drill' mantra alludes to a future that's not possible. We are not ever going to be self-sufficient in oil."

Offshore drilling is a distraction and a needless risk. We need to break our oil addiction and that requires resisting the urge for another fix. Since more oil drilling off our fragile coasts will not secure our nation's energy independence, the only sensible and serious solution is to move America beyond oil. Fortunately, there are better solutions to provide efficient, clean energy for our future.

Tales of Texas Tar Balls and other Drilling Horrors

2008-10-15T16:44:59Z

Interesting article by a Texas college professor who points out that most Americans wouldn't recognize crude oil if it oozed onto their lap.

The author of the piece, Professor John Crisp, suggests that those people clamoring to drill offshore ought to visit the Gulf coast of Texas. There they can see a sample of real crude oil, the "gooey fluid" that's pumped out of the ground and shipped to refineries before it's distilled into gasoline, diesel and other hydrocarbon products.

Although I've never been, people who visit the shores of the Lone Star State can play beach blanket bingo with all of the sticky tarballs that collect on their feet and stain the sand toys. Tarballs are the gummy globules of petroleum residue, which range from pea-size to the circumference of a pancake. No day at the beach in Texas would be complete without the inevitable tarball removal process, which usually entails painstakingly scraping goop off the skin or even using turpentine to remove the gunk.

According to Prof. Crisp, "A beach littered with tar is an apt symbol of the pollution that's associated with our industrial life."

Apparently some tarballs occur naturally, but most result from leakage or discharge associated with the production process. So it's not just the oil spills from tanker accidents and storm damage we have to worry about; oil gets spilled at every stage of the process -- from crude moving from the oil field to the refinery to its transport through pipelines and pumping stations.

Just think about how dirty you get changing the oil in your car. Now magnify that by about a billion. Regardless of the technological advances that industry likes to tout, oil is and always will be a dirty business.

There's a reason that oil drilling is known as one of the ultimate Dirty Jobs.

All the same, I'll take my beach without the tarballs -- thank you very much.

When 'Drill, Baby, Drill' Leads to 'Spill, Baby, Spill'

2008-10-07T20:17:26Z

Last week I wrote about how Congress allowed the 26-year-old federal offshore drilling moratorium to expire, but I noted that the issue is not a done deal.

Lo and behold, Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV), chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, was quoted in a Greenwire story today that revisiting the lifting of the oil and gas bans will be the first order of business when Congress returns next year.

"We will be conducting extensive oversight hearings on the lifting of moratoria on offshore drilling," Congressman Rahall said.

That's good news and a smart move. It's a safe bet that many people who falsely believe that drilling will lower gas prices will think twice about the issue once they realize that, as it stands now, drill rigs could be located as close as 3 miles off their beloved beaches. That may be okay for folks in petrol-states like Texas and Louisiana, but not necessarily for people who enjoy the pristine beaches - and healthy tourism-based coastal economies - in places like California and up and down the Eastern Seaboard.

Indeed, I doubt that most of those chanting "drill, baby, drill" over the summer were even thinking of the potential consequences - "spill, baby, spill" - for their local shoreline.

Consider what happened during the most recent hurricane that ravaged the Gulf Coast. The Sarasota Herald Tribune reports tremendous spills and infrastructure damage in the wake of Hurricane Ike.

With a storm surge only about half the size that forecasters had predicted, Ike still managed to cripple nearly three dozen offshore platforms while completely destroying 52. (Recall that Hurricanes Katrina and Rita destroyed twice as many platforms, plus over 100 pipelines, in 2005.) Aside from the oil supply disruption and related pollution from the damaged and destroyed oil rigs, Ike spilled an estimated 500,000 gallons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico and the marshes, bayous and bays of Louisiana and Texas - primarily from onshore facilities, tanks and other oil industry infrastructure.

Just imagine how much worse it likely would have been had the storm surge been 20-feet, as anticipated, instead of 12-feet? Are people really willing to accept that risk off or on the coast of Florida, Virginia or New Jersey? And for so little gain, since expanded offshore drilling is not expected to make a dent in prices at the pump? Let's not forget that hurricanes are an annual occurrence - and they're likely to get bigger and more violent due to global warming - so it should give pause to anyone who wants new drilling to take place off America's shores.

Now I realize that pointing out the seemingly obvious threat of offshore drilling is not the preferred message when it comes to engaging the public in a discussion during this time of energy crisis. But I honestly believe that most people who now indicate stronger support for drilling are dealing in the abstract notion that spills are rare, that technology for extracting oil is safer, or that out of sight is out of mind. Reminding them what's at stake seems like a logical step.

Then again, others may disagree - and prefer that we avoid engaging in a debate over drilling when the conversation should focus on the bigger picture, namely the need to move beyond the role of dirty fossil fuels in favor of delivering on the promise of a clean energy future. My esteemed colleague and NRDC communications expert, Daniel Hinerfeld, certainly thinks so. And I take his point.

But as someone who lives in a coastal state, loves the ocean and abhors the idea of my favorite beach covered in black ooze, I admit that I'm having a hard time letting go of the drilling debate. What about you?

End of an Era: Offshore Drilling Ban to Expire

2008-09-29T16:43:42Z

At midnight on Tuesday, September 30th, the federal moratorium on drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) will be no more. The OCS drilling ban, renewed every year by Congress since its enactment in 1981, will be allowed to lapse. The action becomes final with the passage of a $600 billion continuing resolution, which President Bush is expected to sign, that for the first time in 27 years is missing language to extend the annual ban.

This important coastal protection had withstood every effort to repeal it over the years but withered for lack of political will in the face of high gas prices. The oil companies finally achieved success by pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into a PR-fueled lobby blitz that saw members of both parties in Congress exploiting the "drill, baby, drill" mantra. People fed up with $4/gallon gas wanted action - any action! - and so they were hoodwinked by snake-oil peddling and political pandering.

Sadly, many elected officials who get that drilling won't lower prices at the pump or put a dent in our country's oil dependence nevertheless were unable to stop Big Oil and its friends in Congress. And in this election year, President Bush's threatened veto of a federal spending bill authorizing renewal of the drilling ban made the risk of a government shutdown too great for the Democrats to ignore.

So what happens now? With the expiration of the OCS moratorium, new drill rigs could be placed only three miles from the shoreline anywhere on the entire Atlantic and Pacific coast, as well as a part of the eastern Gulf of Mexico. (However, leasing will remain banned within 125 miles or more of Florida's gulf shores until 2022, per a compromise law passed in 2006 that opened more than 8 million acres of the gulf acreage to new leasing in exchange for bigger shore buffer protection.)

The first question is whether any coastal states will let that happen. No doubt some, like Louisiana and Texas, would welcome more rigs but others, like Florida and New Jersey, would surely use any legal means at their disposal to protect their beaches and coastal economies.

Then there's the typical bureaucratic process for leasing federal areas for drilling, which realistically means that the first exploratory drilling rigs wouldn't be up until five years from now at the earliest. That is, unless the new president or a new Congress decided to reinstate either the executive or congressional OCS moratoriums - or both.

So the oil industry may have won the fight, but the war over offshore drilling is far from over. Stay tuned.

Drill, baby drill makes me ill, baby ill.

2008-09-15T18:24:09Z

This is the week that Democratic leaders in Congress are expected to bring their energy legislation to a vote. Although details have yet to emerge it’s a safe bet that opening some offshore areas to oil drilling will be a key part of the package, presumably along with measures meant to weaken our oil addiction through policies that promote more solar, wind and other clean, renewable energy.

Predictably, Republican leaders who purportedly support “all of the above” energy strategies are ready to reject the Democratic compromise proposal because it doesn’t go far enough on drilling. Their “drill, baby, drill” fixation calls for opening all coastal areas to more oil drilling, and as close to our beaches as possible.

It’s ridiculous that drilling has arisen as the linchpin of any energy legislation. In the face of high gas prices most people, it seems, have been hoodwinked by the false notion that drilling will ease their pain at the pump. Let me repeat: this is Big Oil’s big lie. It’s a hoax, a scam, a sham – and a shame.

Don’t bother trying to find the truth in newspapers, many of which have botched the reporting on this issue – pitting this as a simple “he said/she said” story with no clearly defined answer. On the contrary, the facts are very clear: Drilling here and now will NOT lower gas prices today, tomorrow or really ever. Drilling is not a solution, but a distraction being used by elected officials to score political points during an election year.

Don’t take my word for it. A little-noticed article by the well-respected independent journal Scientific American explains the situation quite well.

The article asks: Can offshore drilling really make the U.S. oil independent? In other words, can “drill, baby, drill” give us our fill so we won’t have to rely on oil imports from foreign nations?

Well, the article begins by recognizing that there remains quite a bit of oil lying untapped under America’s soil and off our coasts. However, our nation consumes roughly a quarter of the world’s total oil supply, yet we have less than 3% of the word’s supply. Even though oil companies have access to more than 80% of all available U.S. oil, drilling the last 20% would not make a dent in our available supply. The math just doesn’t add up. So our problem is not really one of supply, but demand. We need to use less oil – which is in fact happening now that the price of gas is so high that people are driving less.

As the article points out, there are many places where oil companies could be drilling right now in the U.S. but they don’t. For example, companies have yet to take advantage of the nearly 86 billion barrels of offshore in areas already available for leasing and development. Why not? More important, why the clamor to open up even more of our fragile coasts to drilling then?

Energy expert Robert Kaufman answers that question in the article, saying “Oil company stocks are valued in large part based on how much proven reserves they have.” Translation: just having more promising leases in hand would be worth billions of dollars.

So Shell (and others) are playing a cynical shell game with American consumers. They want more of our oil to increase their companies’ stock portfolios. Even if they never drill it, just having it on their books is profitable. And if they do ever decide to drill in those places, the sale of our “American” oil would not be restricted to America – it would be sold on the world market. And you can bet the price of that won’t be cheap.

Unfortunately, the distortions in the ongoing political debate are drown out by the truth. Congress is about to capitulate to the oil companies by giving them permission to further exploit our coasts and special places. Drilling for the truth is being pushed aside for…well…more drilling.

I, for one, feel ill, baby, ill.

Singing the Wrong Tune on Energy

2008-09-12T14:40:58Z

Confession: I’m don’t care much for country music.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big fan of Bluegrass and enjoy listening to legendary country artists like Johnny Cash, Charlie Daniels and Emmylou Harris. But today’s mainstream country music just doesn’t do it for me – most of the songs seem indistinguishable.

But this little country ditty grabbed my attention.

Evidently the song was commissioned by Newt Gingrich’s oil industry-funded front-group to help push its cynical “Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less” agenda.

The song speaks for itself: Somewhat catchy tune but jam-packed with misinformation. Check out these ridiculously lame lyrics:

Hello…..Is anybody out there listenin’ in Washington D.C.
This is the suffering voice of America crying out for relief
Now I don’t know what a gallon of gas costs up on Capitol Hill
But we sure know what it costs down here in Realityville
And the damage already done has been a mighty heavy toll
And if we’re gonna fix it we gotta start right here at home

CHORUS:
Drill here, drill now
How ‘bout some oil from our own soil that belongs to us anyhow
No more debatin’ we’re tired of waitin’ everybody shout out loud
Drill here, drill now

Every time a foreign tanker pulls up to our shore
They got us over a barrel while they bleed us a little more
And think how much it costs just to bring it all that way
And how many American jobs that’d make if we were drillin’ in the USA
Oh and God forbid if our oily friends should decide to cut us off

We’d be standin’ around with our britches down now listen to me ya’ll
You can tell the winds of change are blowin’
Yes and we recognize that need
But tractors, trucks, cars and planes can’t run on tomorrow’s dreams
So while we’re workin’ on the future we can’t ignore today
Cuz who knows how much time the alternative might take
Somethin’s gotta be done right now cuz friends it won’t be long
Before this great big country comes grinding to a halt

You can bet some tone-deaf, high-priced, scruples-challenged PR flunky cooked up this fact-free song. I suggest some musician out there help set the record straight by recording these alternative verses of my own:

Hello…..Everybody out there listen up to the lesson in this song
Don’t suffer fools named Gingrich, who’s getting paid by old Exxon
Now I know what a gallon of gas costs to give my car a fill
But don’t you dare be suckered by those who just wanna drill
We’ve got so little oil on our land and offshore
We could drill every beach and backyard and you know they’d just want more

CHORUS:
Drill here, spill now
It’s time for real energy that’s clean and green, instead of industry’s cash cow
No more debatin’ we’re tired of waitin’ everybody shout out loud
Clean energy, here and now

Think how every time you go to gas up your tank
Those oil company execs laugh all the way to the bank
If you remember how little oil is left anyway
You realize renewables will bring a much brighter day
Oh and God forbid if our oily friends should jack up the price
Oh, wait, they’re already doing that so don’t even think twice

You can tell the winds of change are blowin’
So get those turbines up to speed
Time to make the tractors, trucks, cars and planes go green
And why wait for tomorrow when the future starts today
Cuz addiction to oil is for fools who dwell on yesterday
Somethin’s gotta be done right now cuz friends it won’t be long
Before the wells run dry and we say goodbye to a path that’s all wrong

Take that all you polluter-friendly music hacks out there! Nashville, you know how to reach me. Have your people call my people. Thank you…goodnight!