Meanwhile, In New Orleans

Here's a preliminary report on the Department of Interior hearing today in New Orleans from Jill Witkowski of our Central Gulf Coast Chapter:

"The auditorium was filled with approximately 90% oil and gas executives. All of the local representatives commented on behalf of the project. At the portion where Salazar opened it up for comments, he only heard from two or three environmentalists--the rest were oil and gas lobbyists. I have not had a chance to speak my piece on behalf of the Surfrider Foundation, but I plan to go back to the hearing after work today."

So, DOI heard from the oil and gas industry, but what about from the people?

Media from the NJ hearing

John Weber reported in that Secretary Salazar actively participated in the hearings, listened intently to public comments, engaged speakers and even asked questions. Take advantage of this unique opportunity to tell the Secretary of the Interior what your coast means to you!

Here's some coverage from Monday's hearing in Atlantic City, New Jersey.


From EXPN: Coastal Controversey: The Government, Offshore Energy and Your Surf Spots

Who's your hero?

We all have heroes — some are lifelong heroes like Occy, Bono, or Sean Penn (there's a road trip crew for ya.) Maybe your current hero is Wayne Ellington, or Parko, or Barack Obama.

Yesterday, I attended the Department of the Interior's Public Meeting on Offshore Energy Resources at the Atlantic City Convention Center and my new hero is a 12-year-old.

Read more....

Press of Atlantic City: Governor holds firm on opposition to offshore drilling

When it comes to exploring the Outer Continental Shelf, New Jersey continues to say no to the prospect of drilling for oil.
U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar was in Atlantic City on Monday to hold the first of four national forums on potential energy resources, both alternative and conventional, derived from the Outer Continental Shelf, to determine what issues the Obama administration needs to focus on before developing a comprehensive five-year energy plan for the country.

Read more...

From NorthJersey.com: Feds keeping door opening for offshore drilling

The waters off New Jersey should be off limits to oil and gas drilling, and only wind and wave energy should be tapped, top state officials told U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar at a public hearing in Atlantic City on Monday.

Salazar refused to rule out new drilling, however, until he completes four hearings around the country on developing the 1.7 billion acres of United States territory beneath the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and the Gulf of Mexico known as the Outer Continental Shelf.

"Whether we open other areas around the OCS is something that will be decided based on these hearings."

Read more...

Wall Street Journal: Salazar Gets Earful on Drilling

A contentious public hearing Monday highlighted the Obama administration's challenge to craft an energy policy that emphasizes alternative fuels but also recognizes the dominance of traditional sources.

Opponents of offshore drilling dominated the hearing, convened by the White House to gauge public opinion on whether the government should expand oil and natural-gas production in federal waters.

Read more...

American Public Media- Marketplace: Debate on offshore drilling rages on

The Department of the Interior is holding a public hearing today on offshore drilling. Hearings will focus on a controversial plan to open up the Outer Continental Shelf for more oil and gas exploration.

Read more...

Attend the hearings!

Interior Hearing in NJ - focus moves away from oil and towards wind

Reporting from today's public hearing on the Interior MMS 5-year leasing program in Atlantic City, NJ, Surfing Magazine's Matt Walker describes NJ's stance against new drilling and shift in the conversation from new drilling to wind energy.

Read here.

Of course, as we describe in our Energy and the Ocean series in Making Waves, most alternative ocean energy (wind, wave, tidal) generates electricity used to power the grid whereas petroleum is used for transportation, so getting off oil will require a change in how we power transportation.

More on the NJ hearing soon.

NJ Congressmen Show Bipartisan Unity Against New Drilling!

"We don't want oil rigs along the coast and we can't accept the risk of oil spills in the ocean tides or on our beaches," said Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-N.J., who was there with Rep. Frank LoBiondo, R-N.J. and Sens. Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez, both D-N.J.

Read more...

Kudo's to these leaders for saying that new oil drilling is Not the Answer. Click below to thank them!

Representative Frank Pallone Jr.

Representative Frank LoBiondo

Senator Frank Lautenberg

Senator Robert Menendez

Richard Charter Explains Why the MMS Hearings Are So Important

Thanks for Defenders of Wildlife for producing this video. Learn more at: http://defenders.org/offshoredrillingvideo

As East and West Coast public hearings loom, ocean-based activists sound off on offshore oil drilling

Don't let this happen to your beach! Read the Surfline article that describes the threat and what you can do about it - attend the MMS hearings!

Don't let Ships of Fools sink the environment

Asbury Park Press Op-Ed:

By JOHN WEBER
and MATT WALKER

There is an additional day this April to act like a fool — depending on where you live in the U.S. For us, it is April 6, the day of the public hearing on offshore oil and gas exploration at the Atlantic City Convention Center Additional hearings will be held in Louisiana, Alaska and California.

We suspect entire shiploads of fools will demonstrate their foolishness by supporting offshore drilling, which puts our entire coastal economy and environment at risk.

This Ship of Fools set sail back on Jan. 19, the last day in office for fossil fool No. 1, former President George W. Bush. He instructed his Mineral Management Service to create a new five-year leasing plan for oil and gas exploration which includes the entire East Coast. The new Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar, wisely decided to extend the public comment period for six months, and he added the four hearings.

The reasons against offshore drilling are so compelling and so many; it is more like a fleet of fools than just one ship. Here are a few:

The S.S. Drill Baby Drill. Some believe expanding production will somehow lower gas prices, make us more energy independent and show all those OPEC nations we mean business. First, we cannot meet our own domestic needs by increasing production. Government estimates say only 229 days of oil and 562 days of gas lies offshore based on 2030 consumption rates, the year this fuel would be available to consumers.

Second, even if we put more fuel in the market, the big producers can just refine less to keep the price up. This is happening right now, pushing the price of gas up again. Furthermore, these companies are free to ship as much domestic oil as they want to other markets. Shockingly, we export 1.8 million gallons a day right now. Finding it here doesn't mean it stays here.

The S.S Show Me the Money. State budgets are already upside down thanks to lower tax revenues and increased unemployment. Oil drilling will not help this situation. From 1954 to 2004, the federal government received roughly $156 billion in oil revenues from the outer continental shelf, about $3 billion a year. Coastal states like Louisiana, Texas and California got $40 million, $29 million and $15 million of that in 2004 respectively.

How much revenue does a clean beach generate? Coastal tourism comprises more than half of New Jersey's $27.7 billion tourism industry and supports nearly 500,000 jobs while indirectly generating $16.6 billion in wages and $5.5 billion in state tax revenue. California beaches contributed $73 billion to the national economy in 1995. This does not include income from residents who chose to live there year-round or property taxes. These are revenue streams that will shrink drastically if the beaches start losing quality.

The S.S. We Can Do it Safely. There is a myth, often repeated never supported, that we have learned to drill without harm to the environment. The claim was made that no oil spills or oil problems resulted from hurricanes Katrina and Rita. In fact, U.S. Minerals Management Service found that as a result of both hurricanes, 457 pipelines were damaged, 113 offshore platforms were destroyed and a total of 146 oil spills released nearly three-quarters of a million gallons into the Gulf and surrounding environment.

But the worst ship of all is the S.S. Let Someone Else Fight It. This ship carries the folks who realize this is a terrible idea, a bad gamble financially, ecologically and ethically, but are still too lazy to do anything about it. These may be the biggest fools of all, since they have the power to turn this ship around and help us set a course for more renewable energy, conservation and energy efficiency, which are the real answers to our energy needs.

We hope no one boards this ship and instead they come out to the public hearings and tell their government what a truly foolish idea it is to drill offshore.

Many thanks to Matt Walker of Surfing Magazine for the original concept, metaphors, and general brilliance of this piece. It was just too good to leave it on a blog that would most likely only be read by surfers. http://surf-first.blogspot.com/ With his permission, we wordsmithed it into Op-Ed form. Unfortunately, the newspaper didn’t accept the cool photo of Mr. T!