Environmental Groups Oppose Bad Offshore Drilling Bills

Today Surfrider Foundation and 48 other environmental organizations submitted a letter to Chairman Doc Hastings and Member Edward Markey of the Natural Resources Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives, opposing H.R.1229, the Putting the Gulf of Mexico Back to Work Act; H.R.1230, the Restarting American Offshore Leasing Now Act; and H.R.1231, the Reversing President Obama's Offshore Moratorium Act. Here is the text of that letter:

Dear Chairman Hastings and Ranking Member Markey:

On behalf of our millions of members we are writing in opposition to H.R.1229, the Putting the Gulf of Mexico Back to Work Act; H.R.1230, the Restarting American Offshore Leasing Now Act; and H.R.1231, the Reversing President Obama's Offshore Moratorium Act. At a time when Congress should be addressing the systemic failures that led to the BP disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, these pieces of legislation irresponsibly accelerate the very processes that led to the largest environmental disaster in our nation’s history, short‐cutting environmental safeguards and putting workers and coastal communities at greater risk.

Oil spills like the BP Gulf oil disaster not only threaten ocean and coastal ecosystems, but the economies and communities that rely on them. Hundreds of thousands of jobs in fisheries, tourism, and recreation rely on healthy coastal and marine environments. In the Gulf alone, fishing and tourism bring $57 billion in sales and support over 830,000 jobs.

The bi‐partisan National Oil Spill Commission called for systemic reform in the oversight and environmental regulation of our oil and gas development process, saying that industry and political pressure had led to production being prioritized over protection of human health and the environment. Yet, each of these three bills irresponsibly prioritizes development and production at the cost of safety, science and the environment.

These pieces of legislation force decisions on drilling permits on arbitrary deadlines, and further undermine regulatory oversight. They eliminate meaningful analyses of potential environmental consequences, and force decisions based on production goals, rather than on science and the careful consideration of potential risks.

H.R. 1229 forces Secretarial consideration of drilling permits on a rushed and arbitrary timeline, and would automatically grant approval of permits if the Secretary fails to meet the deadline. H.R. 1230 denies the Department of the Interior the opportunity to conduct thorough and site specific environmental analyses and denies the public an opportunity to participate by forcing lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico and off the Coast of Virginia on a rushed timeline.

H.R. 1231 would force Interior to offer for lease sweeping areas of the outer continental shelf off the east and west coast, in the Arctic and Bristol Bay. It would require a doubling of current production without regard for other ocean values. This would not only open up vast new areas to oil and gas drilling without proper analysis of environmental risks, but again would incentivize production over safety. HR 1231 would also force taxpayers to foot half the bill for certain oil and gas exploration costs.

In our current fiscal climate, oil and gas companies, some of the richest corporations on the planet, do not need yet another subsidy. There are better ways to provide stability for consumers and cut our nation’s oil dependence. Despite claims to the contrary, more ocean drilling will not lead to lower gas prices. The only real solution to protect consumers from high and volatile gas prices is to reduce our oil dependency through more efficient cars and trucks, clean fuels, and transportation choices such as commuter rail.

By 2030, efficiency and other oil savings measures can save a total of 8 times more oil than opening new areas to drilling off America’s shores or in protected sensitive areas. Furthermore, ending tax loopholes and government handouts for Big Oil, and investing one cent per dollar of oil companies profit into ultraclean vehicle research and development, could help lower oil demand and reduce our nation’s dependence on foreign oil.

A year after the BP Gulf oil disaster, oil is still coming ashore. There is much work to do to restore the Gulf of Mexico and ensure that the jobs and economies that depend on a healthy ecosystem are sustained. These bills not only fail to address the lessons learned from the BP disaster, they double down on the strategies and flawed approach that led to the disaster in the first place. Instead, Congress should be working to implement the recommendations of the National Oil Spill Commission; ensure full restoration of the Gulf of Mexico; and promote a clean energy strategy to reduce oil demand.

Interior Suspends VA Lease Sale

Big News today as the Department of Interior has indefinitely suspended plans for an oil and gas lease sale off the Virginia coastline. The department postponed the comment period on the plan indefinitely and canceled a series of public meetings that had been scheduled for this month on the proposed lease sale.

In a notice to be published in the Federal Register tomorrow, the Minerals Management Service announces the suspension of the comment period on the proposed Virginia lease sale, known formally as Outer Continental Shelf Mid-Atlantic Oil and Gas Lease Sale 220. No further comments are being solicited, pending a decision by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, it says.

Could this be a prelude to reinstating the federal moratorium on new offshore oil drilling?

More details

Surfrider and Other Groups Tell Senators Offshore Oil Drilling is Not the Answer

Today Surfrider Foundation joined over 70 other environmental organizations in sending the following letter to members of the U.S. Senate.

Dear Senator:

On behalf of our organizations, and the millions of members they represent, we are writing you today to urge the United States Senate to reconsider any plans to include expanded offshore oil and gas exploration and drilling in any legislation. In light of the events surrounding the Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico, our organizations urge you to oppose efforts to expand offshore oil and gas exploration and drilling off of our coasts. Expanding exploration and drilling into previously protected and remote areas is unacceptable when it is clear that we are not capable of responding to oil spills in a timely manner. The Senate faces a choice between leading America forward in a new clean energy economy or holding America back by preserving the failed energy policies of the past. This human and environmental catastrophe is proof positive that we must end our addiction to oil, enact a firm limit on carbon pollution, and ensure this type of disaster never happens again.

What began with the apparent tragic loss of 11 lives on April 21, 2010 now has the potential to be one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history. The unfolding catastrophe clearly illustrates that offshore drilling is an inherently dangerous, risky, and dirty business. Furthermore, these events raise numerous questions about the safety and environmental safeguards that are intended to protect our coastlines. If we cannot contain an oil spill in the very temperate Gulf of Mexico, how can we have any faith that a similar disaster does not await the "exploratory" drilling currently planned for the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas in the extreme conditions of the Arctic Ocean where we already know technology does not exist to clean up a spill in icy water.

Currently, the oil slick resulting from the Deepwater Horizon disaster continues to grow, posing hazards to marine wildlife. The slick of toxic oil has made landfall on the coastline of Louisiana and threatens the coasts of Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. Exposure to the oil will likely have devastating impacts for coastal and marine wildlife and commercial and recreational fisheries.

Oil can persist in the environment long after a spill. This prolonged exposure to oil could result in major impacts on the coastal economies of the Gulf region. Gulf of Mexico fisheries are among the most productive in the world. In 2008, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service, the commercial fish and shellfish harvest from the five U.S. Gulf states was estimated to be 1.3 billion pounds valued at $661 million. The Gulf also contains four of the top seven fishing ports in the nation by landed weight. The Gulf of Mexico has eight of the top 20 fishing ports in the nation by dollar value of landings.

Accidents happen, and they will continue to happen in the future. Any expanded offshore exploration and drilling should be off the table. Instead, legislation should focus on emphasizing development of carbon-free energy technologies, including offshore and land-based wind power and solar power, consistent with the protection of wildlife and ecosystems, and the development of a meaningful national renewable electricity standard.

Provisions creating new incentives (such as state revenue sharing) or reduced safeguards for expanded offshore drilling are simply not acceptable. The energy bill reported by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, the American Clean Energy Leadership Act (ACELA) of 2009, reverses the bipartisan agreement reached in the 2006 Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act (GOMESA). The language would allow drilling within 10 miles of Pensacola, and shrink the current 125-mile-wide buffer elsewhere along Florida's West Coast to 45 miles. Clearly, an accident similar to the Deepwater Horizon would devastate Florida’s coast regardless of buffers provided in the bill. We oppose inclusion of any such provisions in legislation considered by this Congress.

The numbers don’t lie. There is not enough oil off of our shores to make America energy independent or to reduce gas prices. But, clearly there is enough to damage ocean and coastal ecosystems and billion-dollar coastal economies. Instead of expanding offshore oil drilling, responsible climate legislation needs to focus on innovation and investment in clean, renewable, carbon-free energy that creates jobs and protects our coastal economies and ecosystems.

The Senate has a profound responsibility to build a clean energy future for our nation without sacrificing our oceans and coasts in the process. Now is the time for strong clean energy and climate policy. It is up to you to ensure that we put the United States on the path to economic, environmental and national security.

Coast Guard: "We are dealing with a very serious spill"

The U.S. Coast Guard announced today that the agency has found not one, but two leaks in the line below the wreckage of the Deepwater Horizon rig, which sank 50 miles off the Louisiana coast this week. After using submersibles to survey the site, Coast Guard officials announced that the breaches were leaking approximately 42,000 gallons of oil per day into the Gulf.

"We thought what we were dealing with as of yesterday was a surface residual (oil) from the mobile offshore drilling unit," said Rear Admiral Mary Landry. "In addition to that is oil emanating from the well. It is a big change from yesterday ... This is a very serious spill, absolutely."

News agencies are reporting that the surface slick, which measured just a few miles yesterday, had grown 25 times that size overnight and was now nearly 20 miles long by 20 miles wide.

According to the Minerals Management Service fixing the leaks will not be easy given the depth (nearly 5,000 feet).

Both government officials and environmental organization are preparing for the worst. When asked about the situation, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal acknowledged that the spill could impact not just his state, but the Mississippi, Alabama and Texas coastlines as well.


"This type of accident is certainly one of the worst-case scenarios you can imagine," said Jindal.

According to a Coast guard spokes person, high winds and 10 foot seas are hampering clean-up efforts.

Obama: "Not the last time there will be a spill"

Even as a foul mix of crude and marine fuel continues to spew forth from the wreckage site of the Deepwater Horizons, the Obama Administration remains unrepentant about their recent decision to allow new offshore drilling and exploration off the East, Gulf and Alaskan coastlines.

Robert Gibbs, Mr Obama’s White House spokesman, told reporters that the accident didn’t change Mr Obama’s commitment to offshore drilling and exploration. “I don’t think it opens up a new series of questions” on the process, Mr Gibbs said, predicting that it “won’t be the last time” there would be a spill.

One can't help but wonder, what the threshold will be for both the Obama Administration and the Drill Baby, Drill crowd to realize that offshore drilling is not an acceptable answer to our nation's energy woes.

Will it take a spill along the Florida coastline, effectively killing tourism, the state's principle economic driver?

Will it take another event like the Exxon Valdez in Alaska's environmentally sensitive north slope to make us realize the cost for our foolishness?

We've seen the loss of two major drilling platforms in less then six months.

If not now, when?

What will it take?

High Risks, Florida Steps Back From the Brink, and Tourists Covered With Oil

NATIONAL

No Return To Offshore Oil
http://www.easthamptonstar.com/dnn/Commentary/NoReturnToOffshoreOil/tabid/11884/Default.aspx
“The U.S. Minerals Management Service’s somewhat outdated estimate is that untapped offshore reserves could hold 18 billion barrels of oil — about two and a half years’ worth at the current rate of domestic consumption. […] Offshore oil is a bad bargain with high risks and only limited rewards.”

Offshore Drilling Is No Joke: Environmental Risks Of Obama's Plan
http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/5614744-offshore-drilling-is-no-joke-environmental-risks-of-obamas-plan

No Offshore Oil Drilling: Committee Against Oil Exploration (CAOE)
http://www.culturechange.org/cms/content/view/637/1/

FLORIDA

Fla. House Panel To Consider Offshore Drilling
http://cbs4.com/local/House.panel.bill.2.1637108.html
“Friday, a House committee will consider a bill that would allow exploration and drilling within 3 miles of the coast, possibly close enough to see the rigs from shore. The proposal would require that rigs and platforms stay at least six miles from shore although could slant their drills three miles closer, to bring oil to the surface from within 3 miles of the shoreline.”

Sponsor drops Fla. offshore drilling plan for now (this is an update on the story above)
http://www.onn.tv/news-feed/associated-press/sponsor-drops-fla-offshore-drilling-plan-for-now/

Save Florida’s Coasts from State and Federal Oil Impacts (Surfrider Suncoast Chapter Action Alert)
http://suncoastsurfrider.org/2010/04/take-action-today-and-wednesday/

NORTH CAROLINA

N.C. Dems debate Jimmy Buffett lyrics
http://washingtonscene.thehill.com/in-the-know/36-news/3451-nc-dems-debate-what-it-means-to-be-covered-in-oil
When the topic of offshore oil drilling came up, Cunningham said: "If you go swimming in the Gulf of Mexico, you come out covered in oil."

Former Offshore Driller Buys 7.2% of Quiksilver

This little nugget just popped up on our radar...

Boardistan is reporting that Texas-based oil man William Kallop dba Offshore Exploration and Production LLC, has purchased 9,081,590 shares of Quiksilver common stock (garnering him 7.2% of the company).


Just to be clear - this is in no way an indictment of our friends at Quiksilver. They've been one of our greatest supporters over the years. It's just that seeing an offshore drilling company buy into a surf brand seems like a bit of a conflict of interest to us; sort of like Jesse James or Tiger Woods hosting the "Husband of the Year" awards.

Welcome to the world of publicly traded companies...

Click here to read the article on Boardistan.

Oil and Climate/Energy Legislation Don't Mix!

Surfrider Foundation was one of 28 organizations that signed on to the following letter sent today to Senators Kerry, Graham and Lieberman:

Dear Senators:

On behalf of the millions of members of our organizations, thank you for your efforts to draft climate change legislation that promotes clean, renewable energy.

We are writing to urge you to exclude revenue sharing from new offshore oil and gas drilling from your climate bill. Instead, we ask that you focus on increasing opportunities for renewable energy development consistent with the protection of wildlife and ecosystems; promoting energy efficiency and conservation; and prioritizing for scientific research that ensures offshore energy development decisions are based on sound science and protect marine ecosystem health.

Additionally, the inclusions of proposals to encourage states to accept new offshore drilling through federal revenue sharing would be counterproductive. Taking resources from the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) – which is owned by all Americans and is not part of any state – via state revenue sharing, and dedicating the revenue to just a handful of states, is unfair. To make additional OCS revenue sharing budget-neutral, Congress would have to either raise taxes on all Americans or cut worthwhile programs.

We also urge you not to include language that would limit National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review for seismic surveys or other oil and gas activities on the Outer Continental Shelf. Allowing massive projects, such as seismic surveying of the OCS, without even considering the potential impacts of those actions could lead to a host of unforeseen and irreversible consequences to the human and marine environment.

The United States should envision a future with affordable, carbon-free energy, a healthy environment and freedom from our unsustainable dependence on fossil fuels. Part of this effort must include an emphasis on development of carbon-free technologies, including offshore and land-based wind power and solar power, consistent with the protection of wildlife and ecosystems, and the development of a meaningful national renewable electricity standard.

There is not enough oil off of our shores to make America energy independent or reduce gas prices. But new offshore drilling could pollute and damage coastal ecosystems and billion dollar coastal economies. Instead of expanding offshore oil drilling, responsible climate legislation should focus on innovation and investment in clean, renewable, carbon-free energy that creates jobs and protects our coastal economies and ecosystems.

Thank you for your leadership on this issue. We look forward to working with you to build a clean energy future for our nation.

How Does an Oil Platform Accommodate Tons of Flaming Debris Falling on it?

The Eastern Shore Defense Alliance, a group of business and civic leaders from Virginia and Maryland who lobby on behalf of Wallops Flight Facility have serious concerns about the 2.9 million acre proposed drilling area off the coast of Virginia that falls within naval training grounds and the rocket launch range of NASA's Wallops Island.

"It's just not a prudent idea," to drill, said Steve Habeger, president of the alliance. "How does an oil platform accommodate tons of flaming debris falling on it?"

Read more

Show Me the Money; What's Next in Alaska; Revised Deal in California

NATIONAL

Obama’s offshore oil drilling plan spurs push for billions in royalties
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/04/08/obamas_offshore_oil_drilling_plan_spurs_push_for_billions_in_royalties/
“President Obama’s pledge last week to open huge areas for offshore drilling does more than expand potential oil and gas production. It creates an opportunity to pressure oil companies to pay billions of dollars for past deep-water oil production if they want to drill in the new areas.
At issue is a hotly contested law that, as read by the court, has allowed companies to avoid paying royalties on oil drilled in the Gulf of Mexico. Critics, including Representative Edward J. Markey of Malden — who plans to introduce legislation next week — now seek to force companies such as ExxonMobil and Shell to begin paying on those existing leases as a condition of obtaining new ones. The payments could add up to $50 billion for federal coffers.”

Al Gore Expresses Disapproval Of Obama's Offshore Drilling Plan
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/08/al-gore-expresses-disappro_n_530632.html

ALASKA

Agency faulted over handling of Alaska offshore oil drilling
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-alaska-drilling8-2010apr08,0,6269729.story

What's next for oil in the Alaskan Arctic?
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2010/04/arctic-oil-drilling-chukchi-anwr-minerals-management.html

CALIFORNIA

Effort to reach California offshore oil drilling deal revived
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-oil-drilling8-2010apr08,0,1014179.story
“Environmental groups say a previous failed pact with a Texas firm has been retooled to make it more acceptable, allowing new platforms but setting an end date for drilling. Not everyone is convinced.”

NEW JERSEY

Offshore drilling plan opposition runs deep
http://www.shorenewstoday.com/news.php?id=8322

Hidden Data, Deals and Drilling Opposition

NATIONAL

Offshore oil won’t reduce prices
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/bs-ed-0408-readers-respond-offshore-oil-20100407,0,7772245.story

ALASKA

MMS Withheld Offshore Drilling Data, Hindered Risk Analyses in Alaska
http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/04/07/07greenwire-gao-audit-mms-withheld-offshore-drilling-data-h-3483.html

CALIFORNIA – multiple articles on the “new” PXP T-ridge project

Anti-drilling groups set to announce agreement on Santa Barbara County's offshore oil
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2010/04/06/1094000/anti-drilling-groups-santa-barbara.html

New Oil Drilling Plan
http://www.edhat.com/site/tidbit.cfm?nid=29257

Oil Drilling Deal, Act III
http://blogs.kqed.org/capitalnotes/2010/04/07/oil-drilling-deal-act-iii/
A PDF of the 28-page agreement is here. You can also check out the T-Ridge page on EDC's website

Calif. conservationists, oil company strike deal
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100407/ap_on_bi_ge/us_well_oiled_environmentalists

FLORIDA

Florida's U.S. Reps oppose Obama's offshore oil drilling plan
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/04/07/1567138/florida-reps-oppose-obamas-offshore.html

GEORGIA

Locals see need for offshore oil production
http://www.bryancountynews.net/news/article/5588/
“However, some experts have expressed concern drilling off the East Coast and Gulf Coast could impact marine life or the Floridan aquifer, a source of fresh drinking water for large areas of the Southeast. The aquifer lies underneath 100,000 square miles of land stretching from South Carolina and Georgia across Florida to Alabama and Mississippi.”

NORTH CAROLINA

NC Senate hopefuls diverge from Obama on drilling
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9ETNM6O1.htm

More Reaction to Obama's Offshore Drilling Plan and What You Can Do

Drilling for support by Obama

Obama's misguided plan to expand offshore oil exploration is as much about politics as energy.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-oil2-2010apr02,0,2812481.story

“The real trouble with offshore drilling is that it threatens more than just the shores off which it occurs. Conservation, cleaner fuels and more efficient technologies are the core elements of a sound energy policy. Offshore drilling, wherever it occurs, merely deepens American dependence on a limited resource and thus perpetuates the nation's environmental difficulties.”

Another year of U.S. gas-guzzlers

http://www.wnewsj.com/main.asp?SectionID=42&SubSectionID=201&ArticleID=183253

“Our nation should have been achieving an average of 35.5 miles per gallon years ago, not six years from now. Today, the nation should be transitioning to vehicles powered by alternative fuels. While [Obama’s] order on fuel efficiency does not go far enough, his decision to increase domestic oil drilling is only delaying the inevitable. Our nation’s unquenchable thirst for oil is not only harmful to the environment, but a threat to national security.”

Is President Obama’s decision to allow offshore drilling in the Atlantic a sensible one?

http://www.dailytitan.com/2010/04/05/the-devils-advocate-is-president-obamas-decision-to-allow-offshore-drilling-in-the-atlantic-a-sensible-one/

“The August 2009 oil spill in Australia reiterated the catastrophic effects of offshore oil drilling gone wrong, yet our president still believes it’s a good idea. For 10 weeks, the crippled deep-water oil rig leaked millions of gallons into the ocean between Australia’s northwest coast and islands of Indonesia, claiming the lives of sea snakes, birds and dolphins. According to the Committee Against Oil Exploration (CAOE), an oil rig can dump up to 90,000 tons of drilling fluid and metal cuttings over its lifetime, including produced water, which is excess water from well drilling or production consisting of oil, drilling fluid, and other chemicals used in or resulting from oil production. Sound yummy? Yet, there is a simple and passable solution to offshore drilling. If our cars and trucks got an average of just a couple more miles per gallon, we’d save more oil that exists off the entire coast of Florida. Still, federal gas mileage standards leave much room for improvement. Now, doesn’t that seem like a more logical alternative than spewing oil into the ocean, killing wildlife for a few cents off per trip to the pump? It won’t be long before Obama’s latest slogan “drill, baby, drill” will turn into “drill, baby, oops.”

Tell Obama: Don’t Expand Offshore Drilling

http://www.renewable-energy-news.info/obama-dont-expand-offshore-drilling/

Oceana Action Alert

http://takeaction.oceana.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=42&utm_source=facebook%2Bthank%20you&utm_medium=oceana&utm_campaign=offshore%2Bdrilling

Surfrider Action Alert

http://action.surfrider.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=1515

Reaction to Offshore Drilling Plan

The reactions are coming in on the Obama administration's announcement yesterday of plans to increase offshore oil drilling along the Atlantic Coast, in the eastern Gulf of Mexico and in Alaska. As you can see by clicking on the links below, the reactions are overwhelmingly.............negative.

NATIONAL

Risk Is Clear in Drilling; Payoff Isn’t

Obama goes offshore

Obama's Compromise on Drilling Pleases No One

Oil drilling -- a nasty national habit

Obama and offshore drilling: a crude move
“President Obama tried to make a skillful political decision by permitting some offshore drilling for oil and natural gas. But he's obscured a more important message: The US must leave oil behind.”

NOAA Concerns Brushed Aside in Obama Offshore Drilling Plan

CALIFORNIA

No California offshore drilling for now

DELAWARE

DE Senators decry drilling decision
“Senators Ted Kaufman and Tom Carper say they share the President's commitment to lessen our dependence on foreign oil, but lifting the ban on offshore oil drilling is not the answer.”

A Dark Day for Our Coasts

The Obama administration is proposing to open vast expanses of water along the Atlantic coastline, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and the north coast of Alaska to oil and natural gas drilling, much of it for the first time, officials said Tuesday. There is an existing 2007-2012 lease sale plan, originally proposed by the Bush administration and now slightly modified by the Obama administration, and a 2012-2017 lease sale plan.

Neither the 2007-2012 five-year plan nor the 2012-2017 plan will include any oil and gas lease sales off the West Coast.

Current Five-Year Plan (2007-2012):

• The Gulf of Mexico: Four proposed lease sales there will continue to go forward. Details on one of these sales will be announced tomorrow.
• Virginia: A proposed lease sale there will continue to go forward if warranted by environmental review, which will take about a year to complete.
• Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, Alaska: Leases for the drilling of five exploratory wells will continue to go forward. Three production leases will not go forward at this time. President Obama has asked the U.S. Geological Survey to undertake a special analysis of the sensitivity of drilling in the Arctic, which will inform future drilling decisions there.
• Cook Inlet, Alaska: Proposed lease sales there will continue to go forward.
• Bristol Bay, Alaska: Proposed lease sales there will not go forward, and President Obama will sign a formal withdrawal of any leasing authority in this area.

Revised Five-Year Plan (2012-2017):

• Mid and South Atlantic: The new five-year plan includes seismic testing and environmental review of areas south of Delaware to determine if drilling is appropriate. If this information supports going forward with drilling, there will also be another lease sale-specific environmental review before any final decisions are made about whether or not to offer leases in this area.
• Gulf Coast of Florida: The new five-year plan includes environmental review of an area in the eastern Gulf of Mexico close to 125 miles off the Gulf Coast of Florida. About 2/3 of the oil and gas in the eastern Gulf of Mexico is believed to be located in this area. Drilling in this area could not proceed without a Congressional amendment to GOMESA. The Department of the Interior said that the Department of Defense was consulted in selecting this area, but didn't say whether or not the DOD was now comfortable with the possibility of drilling occurring there.
• Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, Alaska: Additional lease sales will be proposed in these areas.

More details on the Minerals Management Service offshore oil drilling plans can be found on the MMS website.

Oil Drilling - Dependence and Dangers

NATIONAL

Oil drilling encourages dependence, enemies

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/mar/29/oil-drilling-encourages-dependence-enemies/

FLORIDA

Oil drilling dangers in Florida waters

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/os-offshore-disaster-lessons,0,3334917,full.story