Opposition to Offshore Drilling - East and West

NATIONAL

Offshore Drilling Will Not Wean Us Off Foreign Oil http://oceanswavesbeaches.blogspot.com/2010/02/offshore-drilling-will-not-wean-us-off.html

Offshore Oil Drilling Environmental Facts (eHow.com)
http://www.ehow.com/facts_5928010_offshore-oil-drilling-environmental.html

CALIFORNIA

Eco groups withdraw support of Calif. oil drilling
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/business/6851425.html

Three articles on the announcement by Lt. Governor nominee Maldonado that he will vote no on the PXP project if it comes back to the State Lands Commission:

Lieutenant governor nominee to vote against offshore oil drilling plan
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2010/feb/02/lt-gov-nominee-says-hell-vote-against-new-oil/
Maldo: No On Oil Drilling Plan
http://blogs.kqed.org/capitalnotes/2010/02/02/maldo-no-on-oil-drilling-plan/
Lt. Gov. nominee could cast vote on new oil-drilling off Calif. coast
http://www.scpr.org/news/2010/02/03/Lt-Gov-Hearing/

A system in peril: Budget cutters again target the state parks
http://www.capitolweekly.net/article.php?_c=yltualr2mo113c&xid=yltb8biuctdlee&done=.yltualr2mol13c
“This year, rather than proposing deep, painful cuts as he has for the last two years– only to have them rejected by popular outcry – the Governor has tried a different game of political “chicken.” His latest budget proposes to eliminate all General Fund support for state parks and replace it with uncertain funding from a highly controversial oil-drilling project that has been rejected twice. The Administration proposes to cut $140 million allocated to state parks and offset it with future revenues from oil drilling off the Santa Barbara coast. So, the “fortune” of California’s state parks would be inextricably linked to an oil drilling proposal that already failed to get approval – not once, but twice in 2009.”

FLORIDA

Oil drilling could hurt offshore game fishing, researchers say
http://www.nwfdailynews.com/news/oil-25385-drilling-researchers.html

Statewide event opposes offshore drilling
http://www.tbnweekly.com/front_page/content_articles/020310_fpg-01.txt

Protesters oppose offshore drilling
http://sealitsoc.blogspot.com/2010/02/protesters-oppose-offshore-drilling.html

End Big Oil's Royalty Boondoggle!

On Tuesday the NY Times published an editorial about a 1995 incentive that was given to the oil companies to encourage them to explore for new oil. It's questionable whether they ever needed it, but they certainly don't need it now in this era of much higher oil prices. What is clear is that the sweet deal for Big Oil is leaving a sour taste in the mouths of taxpayers that could cost the government (and us) $54 billion in lost revenues.

Representative Edward Markey of Massachusetts is attempting to right this 15-year-old wrong with a bill that would clarify the law and prevent companies from signing new leases in the gulf until they renegotiate the old ones and pay royalties that are due. Many of these leases are now beginning to yield oil, which will remain free of royalties as long as Congress fails to provide the kind of remedy proposed by Mr. Markey. Make Big Oil pay their fair share!

Enviros Lobbying for Oil Drilling in CA? Oil for Roads in VA?

CALIFORNIA

Environmental groups battle over oil drilling
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2010/feb/01/environmental-groups-battle-each-other-over-oil/
“Critics question whether the terms of the agreement can be adequately enforced. They argue if California were to allow the first new drilling in state waters since 1968 to go forward, it would send a message to the federal government that the state is now receptive to opening new oil leases off its coast.”

FLORIDA

Off Shore Oil Drilling Symposium
http://www.wctv.tv/home/headlines/83312167.html
In a symposium held Monday a panel of eight experts from all over the nation gave their two cents. "Any time a resource is taken out of the sea bed, it has to be transported in some way and it's by pipelines. There could be a significant disruption of territorial displays," says Felicia Coleman, Director of FSU's Coastal and Marine Lab.

VIRGINIA

Offshore drilling-royalties plan advances
http://hamptonroads.com/2010/02/offshore-drillingroyalties-plan-advances

How much are you paying Exxon Mobil?

Source: Environmental Law Institute (.pdf)

Last night while heading home from work I heard on the radio that America's biggest company Exxon Mobil's 4th quarter profits were down 23% to a measly $6 billion. Before you start feeling too bad for them remember that in 2008 when oil prices rose to $100 barrel, Exxon Mobil became the world’s most profitable corporation with earnings over $45 billion.

What's amazing to me is that despite these incredible profits, we continue to subsidize these hugely profitable and highly polluting companies.

The graph above makes is pretty clear that part of the transition from carbon-based fossil fuels to renewables will require that we stop subsidizing the most profitable and polluting companies and move that support to renewable energy sector.

Oil Versus Seafood in Alaska; Protecting Beaches and a Marine Sanctuary in Florida

Alaska

Oil Versus Your Seafood: Breaking the bounty of Bristol Bay
http://news.discovery.com/earth/oil-versus-your-seafood-breaking-the-bounty-of-bristol-bay.html
"The U.S. Mineral Management Service predicts oil drilling is expected to generate $7 billion over 25 to 40 years. Yet sustainable fisheries in the bay and the southeast Bering Sea that could be affected by drilling are valued at more than $2 billion every year, according to the Alaska Marine Conservation Council. The potential for environmental disaster is real. The Interior Department’s own environmental assessment predicts one large oil spill and numerous smaller spills during the undetermined amount of time that oil projects would continue. A large spill could contaminate Bristol Bay’s shores, inter-tidal waters and fish habitat for many years. Bristol Bay is too valuable to risk harming. Let’s not sacrifice our seafood and an ecological treasure for oil."

Florida

Marine sanctuary advisors to hear drilling report
http://www.keysnet.com/news/story/183481.html
“The sanctuary council has a history of opposing any gulf drilling. A 2007 resolution declares, "We support the strongest possible protection for Florida and other fragile marine environments from the impacts of offshore oil and gas exploration and development." The council reaffirmed that position in 2009.”

Protect state's beaches, economy

http://jacksonville.com/opinion/letters_from_readers/2010-01-30/story/oil_drilling_protect_states_beaches_economy

Oil drilling bill must balance our interests
http://www.news-press.com/article/20100130/OPINION/100129044/1015/Oil-drilling-bill-must-balance-our-interests

Candidates Cold to Near-Shore Drilling http://www.theledger.com/article/20100131/COLUMNISTS/1315017/1342/SPORTS?Title=Candidates-Cold-to-Near-Shore-Drilling

Gulf Oil Spill History

Here's a summary of the major oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico in the last 30 years or so. These are from drilling, shipping and on-shore infrastructure. You lay down with dogs, you get fleas. You invite the oil industry in, you get..................oil.

1979
· June 3, Gulf of Mexico: Exploratory well Ixtoc 1 blows out, spilling some 140 million gallons of crude into the open sea.

1990
· June 8, off Galveston: Mega Borg releases 5.1 million gallons of oil some 60 nautical miles south-southeast of Galveston after a pump room explosion and fire.

2000
· Nov. 28, Mississippi River south of New Orleans: Tanker Westchester loses power and runs aground, dumping 567,000 gallons of crude oil. The spill was largest in U.S. waters since Exxon Valdez in 1989.

2005
· August-September, New Orleans: The Coast Guard estimates that more than 7 million gallons of oil spilled from various sources during Hurricane Katrina.

2006
· June 19, Calcasieu River, La.: Some 71,000 barrels of waste oil are released from the CITGO refinery during a violent storm.

2008
· July 25, New Orleans: A 61-foot barge, carrying 419,000 gallons of heavy fuel, collides with a 600-foot tanker in the Mississippi River. Hundreds of thousands of gallons of fuel leak from the barge, halting all river traffic.

2009
· September, Houston Ship Channel: An oil spill prompted a three-day closure to accommodate cleanup efforts. A 458-foot vessel was trying to turn around when it struck a barge, gouging a hole in the vessel's fuel tank and leaking 10,500 gallons of oil.
· October, 40 miles offshore of Galveston, Texas: a supply vessel crashed against a Liberian-flagged oil tanker, resulting in an 18,000 gallon oil spill.

2010
· January 23, Port Arthur, Texas: About 462,000 gallons of oil spilled when an 800-foot tanker headed for an Exxon Mobil Corp. refinery in Beaumont collided with a vessel pushing two barges.
Sources:

http://www.infoplease.com/

http://blogs.chron.com/newswatchenergy/archives/2010/01/the_port_arthur.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+houstonchronicle%2Fnewswatchenergy+%28NewsWatch%3A+Energy%29

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6833095.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704562504575021540843701582.html?mod=rss_Today%27s_Most_Popular

Green Light for Offshore Drilling..........or Not?

This is from President Obama's State of the Union address last night:

“But to create more of these clean energy jobs, we need more production, more efficiency, more incentives. And that means building a new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants in this country. It means making tough decisions about opening new offshore areas for oil and gas development. It means continued investment in advanced biofuels and clean coal technologies. And yes, it means passing a comprehensive energy and climate bill with incentives that will finally make clean energy the profitable kind of energy in America.”

So the question is, what does "It means making tough decisions about opening new offshore areas for oil and gas development" mean? Is it a tough decision when you say yes, or when you say no?

Stay tuned.