Is offshore drilling the right direction for the United States?
Written by: Admin
President Obama announced plans for offshore drilling expansion on March 31, 2010 at Andrews Air Force Base. Mr. Obama said that harnessing traditional source of fuel is necessary while the country increases production of alternative sources of renewable and homegrown energy. Mr. Obama said, “So today we’re announcing the expansion of offshore oil and gas exploration, but in ways that balance the need to harness domestic energy resources and the need to protect America’s natural resources. Under the leadership of Secretary Salazar, we’ll employ new technologies that reduce the impact of oil exploration. We’ll protect areas that are vital to tourism, the environment, and our national security. And we’ll be guided not by political ideology, but by scientific evidence.” The decision he said will help meet current energy needs and maintain sustainable economic growth. The complete transcript of Mr. Obama’s announcement can be found at WhiteHouse.gov.
Energy magnate T. Boone Pickens welcomed U.S. plans to expand offshore drilling and said, “the Obama announcement was “an important step” to help the U.S. energy market decrease its reliance on foreign oil.” (Source: UPI.com)
While the big oil companies are probably happy with the announcement, environmentalists have widely criticized the plan to expand offshore drilling. Tommy Landers, policy advocate for Environment Maryland said that “At a time when we need to tackle both our dependence on oil and the threat of global warming pollution, this proposal takes us backward,”. (Source: hometownannapolis.com)
Some environmentalists in Alaska say Obama’s new offshore drilling plan is a disaster for wildlife and climate (Source: ktva.com). Doug O’Malley, field director for Environment New Jersey said, “Environment New Jersey is outraged by President Obama’s announcement today on offshore drilling. It makes no sense to threaten the east coast of America, including the Jersey Shore, with spills and other drilling disasters when we’re about to unleash the real solutions to oil dependence — cleaner cars, cleaner fuels and clean energy,”. According to the Environment New Jersey, the new offshore drilling could meet at best a tiny fraction of U.S. daily consumption.
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