Obama Reverses Course on Drilling Off Southeast Coast
By Coral Davenport
The New York Times
March 14, 2016
The decision to withdraw a plan to permit oil and gas drilling off the southeast Atlantic coast, represents a reversal of President Obama’s previous offshore drilling plans, and comes as he is trying to build an ambitious environmental legacy.
The Obama administration is expected to withdraw its plan to permit oil and gas drilling off the southeast Atlantic coast, yielding to an outpouring of opposition from coastal communities from Virginia to Georgia but dashing the hopes and expectations of many of those states’ top leaders.
The announcement by the Interior Department, which is seen as surprising, could come as soon as Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the decision who was not authorized to speak on the record because the plan had not been publicly disclosed.
The decision represents a reversal of President Obama’s previous offshore drilling plans, and comes as he is trying to build an ambitious environmental legacy. It could also inject the issue into the 2016 presidential campaigns, as Republican candidates vow to expand drilling.
In January 2015, Mr. Obama drew the wrath of environmentalists and high praise from the oil industry and Southeastern governors after the Interior Department put forth a proposal that would have opened much of the southeastern Atlantic coast to offshore drilling for the first time.
The proposal came after governors, state legislators and senators from Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia all expressed support for the drilling. Lawmakers in the state capitals saw new drilling as creating jobs and bolstering state revenue.
But the offshore drilling proposal, which was still in draft form and was not to be finalized until later this year, provoked a backlash from coastal communities including Norfolk, Va., which supports the world’s largest naval base; Charleston, S.C.; and tiny tourist towns around Myrtle Beach, S.C., and on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Over 106 of those coastal cities and towns signed resolutions asking Mr. Obama to shut down plans for new drilling.
In addition, more than 80 East Coast state legislators and the owners of about 1,000 coastal businesses have signed letters to Mr. Obama opposing the drilling.
Both environmental groups and the oil industry have spent the last several months lobbying in town halls and statehouses throughout the Southeast.
Environmental groups and many coastal residents fear that opening the Atlantic to drilling could lead to a repeat of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion in the Gulf of Mexico, which killed 11 people and sent millions of gallons of oil to the shores of nearby coastal states.
“If this is true, it’s a great day for the Atlantic coast, our beaches and the coastal economy that depends on it,” said Rachel Richardson, program director for the drilling program at Environment America. “This moment has come because Atlantic coast communities, businesses and citizens have all spoken up to protect their beaches, treasured marine life and President Obama listened.”
The oil and gas industry saw the drilling as a potential bonanza for new oil supply and pledged that the exploration would be done safely, mindful of the lessons from the 2010 disaster.
“If the Atlantic is taken out, that means there’s less of an opportunity to invest in the U.S., and those dollars will flow overseas, and we’ll hear more and more of that in the presidential election,” said Randall Luthi, president of the National Ocean Industries Association.
The Interior Department estimates there are 3.3 billion barrels of recoverable oil on the Atlantic’s outer continental shelf and 31.3 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Energy industry experts say the reserves may be far greater.
A version of this article appears in print on March 15, 2016, on page A14 of the New York edition with the headline: In Reversal, U.S. Plan on Drilling to Be Pulled.
The Obama administration withdrew its plan on Tuesday to permit oil and gas drilling off the southeast Atlantic coast, yielding to an outpouring of opposition from coastal communities from Virginia to Georgia but dashing the hopes and expectations of many of those states’ top leaders.
The announcement by the Interior Department surprised many. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said the move was chiefly driven by the widespread concerns of coastal communities, as well as the military’s reservations about permitting drilling near some of its largest installations. The move also comes as oil prices have plunged to near record lows, which could ease some of the political backlash.
“We heard from many corners that now is not the time to offer oil and gas leasing off the Atlantic coast,” Ms. Jewell said. “When you factor in conflicts with national defense, economic activities such as fishing and tourism, and opposition from many local communities, it simply doesn’t make sense to move forward with any lease sales in the coming five years.”
The decision represents a reversal of President Obama’s previous offshore drilling plans, and comes as he is trying to build an ambitious environmental legacy. It could also inject the issue into the 2016 presidential campaigns, as Republican candidates vow to expand drilling.
The Obama drilling plan, once completed, would be in place from 2017 to 2022, but a future administration could draft a plan to allow Atlantic drilling after that.
In January 2015, Mr. Obama drew the wrath of environmentalists and high praise from the oil industry and Southeastern governors after the Interior Department put forth a proposal that would have opened much of the southeastern Atlantic coast to offshore drilling for the first time.
The proposal came after governors, state legislators and senators from Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia all expressed support for the drilling. Lawmakers in the state capitals saw new drilling as creating jobs and bolstering state revenue.
But the offshore drilling proposal, which was still in draft form and was not to be finalized until later this year, provoked a backlash from coastal communities including Norfolk, Va., which supports the world’s largest naval base; Charleston, S.C.; and tiny tourist towns around Myrtle Beach, S.C., and on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Over 106 of those coastal cities and towns signed resolutions asking Mr. Obama to shut down plans for new drilling.
In addition, more than 80 East Coast state legislators and the owners of about 1,000 coastal businesses have signed letters to Mr. Obama opposing the drilling.
Interior Department officials said Tuesday that the Pentagon had expressed reservations about allowing drilling in the vicinity of the naval base.
The coastal opposition and inland support of the drilling was regional, rather than partisan. In prominent coastal communities such as Charleston, S.C., conservative Republicans such as Representative Mark Sanford, a former governor, helped lead the vocal opposition to the drilling. But inland in state capitals, Democrats such as Gov. Terry McAuliffe of Virginia have supported it.
Environmental groups and the oil industry have spent the last several months lobbying in town halls and statehouses throughout the Southeast. Officials from environmental groups such as Oceana also met with top White House energy and environment officials to press their case.
Environmental groups and many coastal residents fear that opening the Atlantic to drilling could lead to a repeat of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion in the Gulf of Mexico, which killed 11 people and sent millions of gallons of oil to the shores of nearby states.
“It’s a great day for the Atlantic coast, our beaches and the coastal economy that depends on it,” said Rachel Richardson, director for the drilling program at Environment America. “This moment has come because Atlantic coast communities, businesses and citizens have all spoken up to protect their beaches, treasured marine life, and President Obama listened.”
Mr. Sanford, the conservative congressman from South Carolina, echoed those sentiments and praised the local advocates. “This is fantastic news for the coast of South Carolina,” he said in a statement, adding: “It’s a decision that speaks volumes to the importance of voicing one’s opinion and local input in the political process.”
The oil and gas industry saw the drilling as a potential bonanza for new energy supplies, and they pledged that the exploration would be done safely, mindful of the lessons from the 2010 disaster. The Interior Department estimates that there are 3.3 billion barrels of recoverable oil on the Atlantic’s outer continental shelf and 31.3 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Energy-industry experts say the reserves may be far greater.
The industry vowed that opponents of the drilling would pay a political price for the move.
“If the Atlantic is taken out, that means there’s less of an opportunity to invest in the U.S., and those dollars will flow overseas, and we’ll hear more and more of that in the presidential election,” said Randall Luthi, president of the National Ocean Industries Association.
In a statement, the House speaker, Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin, said: “President Obama is so intent on solidifying his radical climate legacy that he has backed out of his commitment to a large, bipartisan coalition of state leaders. These states simply want to explore their own energy potential, but the president’s reversal has disenfranchised them of this chance. This is a lost opportunity for new jobs and economic growth in these coastal states, not to mention much-needed revenues for the federal Treasury.”
However, administration officials noted that the move to block drilling comes as oil and gasoline prices have plunged to near record lows, and as onshore oil and gas development has rapidly expanded.
Ms. Jewell said that the low cost of oil was not a direct factor in the administration’s decision. But Abigail Ross Hopper, the director of the Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, said that, according to the agency’s studies, the halting of an offshore oil lease sale would lower domestic oil production only by about one-tenth of 1 percent. “We are ensuring that the United States still has energy security,” she said.
Democratic officials who had supported the drilling were subdued in their response. Mr. McAuliffe, the Virginia governor, suggested that there would be a way to move forward with the drilling after addressing the Navy’s concerns. “Today’s announcement is an opportunity to work with the Department of Defense to address the concerns they have raised, and to ensure that any offshore energy exploration is coupled with a revenue sharing agreement that benefits our commonwealth,” he said in a statement.
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