President Obama wants to open vast expanses of ocean along the Atlantic coastline, eastern Gulf of Mexico and north coast of Alaska to offshore oil and gas drilling — but concerns are being raised about how the plan would impact coastal ecosystems as well as local economies.
The proposal would end a long-standing moratorium on oil exploration along the East Coast from Delaware to the central coast of Florida, though it would reportedly protect the entire Pacific Coast as well as the Atlantic coast from New Jersey northward.
It’s apparently an effort to win support for a climate bill from reluctant Republicans — but there’s no word on how the President will reconcile efforts to curb climate pollution with a plan to expand production of the very fuels that worsen it.
“We are deeply disappointed that the Obama administration has chosen to open up new areas that have long stood protected from the dirty, risky business of offshore drilling,” said Glen Besa, Virginia chapter director with the Sierra Club. “Our beloved clean Virginia beaches are the backbone of our coastal economy, generating billions of dollars in revenues from tourism, recreation and commercial fishing.”
Environmental advocates point out that policymakers lack critical information about how drilling would affect protected and endangered species in Virginia’s offshore ocean canyons and coral reefs. Among the missing data is current and wind information for an oil spill risk analysis.
“Not only are there huge gaps in the scientific information needed to evaluate the impact of drilling off Virginia’s coast, but its offshore zone is a vital piece of a much larger and interconnected coastal and oceanic ecosystem,” said Eileen Levandoski, Hampton Roads (Va.) coordinator with the Sierra Club. “Rather than singling out a small area off a single state for environmental study — as Virginia is right now — the Atlantic coast as a whole needs to be thoroughly studied. That study is painfully absent from the drilling plan currently being proposed.”
The Sierra Club points out that a federal appeals court tossed out Virginia’s 2007-2012 drilling program for shortcomings in its scientific analysis. “The legal ramifications of proceeding with drilling Virginia’s offshore zone, which was proposed in this flawed program, should instead be giving our policymakers great pause,” Besa said.
The Navy and NASA have also raised objections to expanded drilling plans because of the potential for offshore oil and gas operations to interfere with coastal training sites. If the Navy were to move its forces away from the Virginia coast, it could result in a loss of 11,000 jobs, $773 million in annual payroll and $452 million in annual local contracting, according to the Sierra Club.
“The loss of jobs dwarfs even the most speculative of job creation estimates from Virginia drilling,” said Levandoski.
Obama and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar are expected to make a formal announcement of the drilling plan today — the same day as a scheduled speech in St. Petersburg, Fla. by former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), who’s now with a pro-drilling advocacy group called American Solutions. People attending Gingrich’s speech will get a bumper sticker that says “Drill Here Drill Now Pay Less,” though analysts say expanded offshore drilling would have little impact on gas and oil prices over the next decade.
The Suncoast chapter of the Florida Sierra Club is holding a protest at the Gingrich event and asking participants to wear black to signify an oil slick.
UPDATE: The Southern Environmental Law Center has also weighed in against Obama’s plan, which the White House formally announced today as part of a “comprehensive strategy for energy security.”
The nonprofit legal group — which has offices in Alabama, Georgia, the Carolinas, Tennessee and Virginia — said the plan “risks too much for the South.”
“Opening the South Atlantic Coast to oil and gas drilling will do
nothing to address climate change, provide only about six months worth
of oil, and put at risk multi-billion dollar tourism and fisheries
industries,” stated Derb Carter,
director of SELC’s Carolinas office.”One oil spill could devastate a coast.”
He called instead for reducing U.S. dependence on polluting energy sources by “bringing America’s innovative talent to bear on fully exploiting energy
efficiency and clean renewable energy sources.”
(Photo of offshore oil drilling platform from the National Energy Technology Laboratory.)