Posted on 07/18/2014 1:53:57 PM PDT by PoloSec
The Obama administration announced Friday that it would allow exploration for oil and gas off some portions of the Atlantic Coast using sonic testing devices that environmentalists say harm marine life.
The Interior Department's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management gave the OK for seismic airgun testing, which are boat-towed cannons that shoot sonar blasts off the ocean floor to scan for oil-and-gas deposits, in the mid- and south-Atlantic areas that stretch from the Delaware Bay to just south of Cape Canaveral, Fla. The approval is a prelude to potential offshore drilling there, though that is blocked through 2017 under President Obama's five-year offshore drilling plan.
"The bureau has identified a path forward that addresses the need to update the nearly four-decade-old data in the region while protecting marine life and cultural sites,” said Acting BOEM Director Walter D. Cruickshank, who noted the agency has several permits on hand to conduct the seismic tests. “The bureau's decision reflects a carefully analyzed and balanced approach that will allow us to increase our understanding of potential offshore resources while protecting the human, marine and coastal environments.”
It's a big victory for the oil-and-gas industry, which is nearing its first chance to drill in the Atlantic Ocean in more than 30 years. It comes as BOEM recently raised its estimates for technically recoverable oil in the region to 4.72 billion barrels of oil and 37.51 trillion cubic feet of natural gas -- 43 percent and 20 percent higher, respectively, than agency estimates in 2011.
Obama intended to open the Atlantic Coast to drilling in 2010, but reversed course following the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico that April. The incident resulted in 11 deaths and about 4 million barrels of oil spewing into the Gulf, the largest spill in U.S. history.
Some restrictions do exist under the plan, Cruickshank said. Companies conducting the seismic tests will be subject to scrutiny by protected species observers, multiple seismic surveys can't occur in the same space simultaneously, and some critical migratory areas for the endangered north Atlantic right whale will be off limits.
Jeff Vorberger, vice president of policy and government affairs with the offshore drilling group National Ocean Industries Association, said those conditions could hamstring U.S. companies compared with their offshore competitors.
“While NOIA welcomes this decision to finally move forward on new Atlantic seismic data collection, we remain concerned this process will be hindered by unnecessary hurdles lacking scientific justification," Vorberger said.
The move comes over the objection of environmental groups that said seismic airguns deafen and scatter marine life, eventually leading to death from fleeing habitats or injury. The groups, with some East Coast Democrats, argue allowing the activity would threaten tourism and commercial fishing operations.
"According to the government’s own estimates, these dynamite-like blasts could injure and possibly kill up to 138,200 marine mammals, while disrupting the necessary activities of millions more," said Claire Douglass, campaign director with conservation group Oceana, who noted 730,000 tourism, fishing and other jobs would be at risk.
Michael Jasny, director of the Natural Resources Defense Council's marine mammal protection project, said the decision would put marine life at risk and accelerate development of fossil fuels that exacerbate climate change.
“Not only is seismic exploration a gateway drug to offshore drilling, it is a major assault on our ocean itself, with far-reaching impacts on marine mammals and fish," he said.
They just want to soak the oil companies for the exploration fees they’ll charge, then turn around in a year or so and say, “Nope. We’ve changed our minds. You gotta pull out.”
Could this be to help Mark Warner with his senate race?
This is the first time in my recollection that he has gone against the lily whites.
Marine life is always at risk. I believe it's called survival of the fittest.
Do these kooks think the natural world is Candyland? Every environmentalist needs to spend a month in the wild without any convenience of modern civilization. It would be like what happens when urban liberals get mugged.
Isn’t oil black?
Just in time for the November elections. Politics is all about money. Big money.
Just in time for the November elections. Politics is all about money. Big money.
By Dec. 1 Obama will call it off because “this needs further study”.
There is always the chance — and it should be the default presumption — that there is nothing there.
Explore all you want. If there’s nothing there, there’s nothing there.
I don’t know that it would. I see nothing stating he had anything to do with the decision. But who knows what brought this on?
Just looking for cover from the negative publicity about the pipeline holdup. Basically BS.
Looks like the Senate’s in worse shape for the Dems than the media is telling us.
The anti-energy crowd isn't exactly "diverse." People listen to democrats talk about diversity, but they themselves are a very loose coalition of disconnected or even competing interests. And in the food chain of the democrat coalition, the people absolutely and permanently on top of that food chain are who I call "lily whites."
While conservatives somewhat rightly complain about welfare and EBT cards, and people who should be taking care of themselves at the bottom of society, the welfare people are really just a drop in the bucket, and we should have bigger targets. Welfare is much worse at the top of society, and that is the funding source of the lily whites.
Good analysis and true. Remember when there was a push to end government funding for PBS and NPR?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.