With the fight to pry open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge having stalled out, the oil and gas industry and some members of Congress are now focused on parts of the outer continental shelf (OCS) that have been off-limits to drilling for nearly 25 years. This change comes at a time of escalating energy prices, an ever-louder drumbeat for energy independence, and a presidential declaration only month ago that the time had come to break America's addiction to oil. [1]
Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle have released a battery of initiatives in recent weeks that would green-light new offshore oil and natural-gas drilling projects on the OCS, which extends off the U.S. coastline from three to 200 miles. The Bush administration and some state lawmakers are lending a hand, too.
Pro-drilling forces are "more aggressive than ever," says Melinda Pierce, offshore drilling specialist for the Sierra Club. "I have never seen the kind of multi-directional assaults on OCS protections that we're seeing today."
Adds Richard Charter, co-chair of the National OCS Coalition, which seeks continued protection from offshore drilling, "Coastal treasures like Maine's Acadia National Park, California's Mendocino Coast and Santa Monica Bay, and North Carolina's Outer Banks are now more vulnerable to fossil-fuel development than they have been in decades."
There are currently two layers of federal protection that prevent drilling on many portions of the OCS. The first is a moratorium that's been renewed annually by Congress, with bipartisan support, since 1981. The second is a presidential directive originally issued by George Bush Sr. in 1990, then extended by Clinton to last through 2012. The current Bush administration could undo this directive with the stroke of a pen, but has made no move to do so -- thus far.
That may soon change. Last month, Bush's Interior Department announced a draft five-year offshore drilling plan that proposes opening up at least 2 million new acres in the Gulf of Mexico, plus tracts in Alaska's Bristol Bay and off the coast of Virginia that are currently off-limits. [2]
"The Interior plan clearly anticipates that both the congressional moratorium and presidential protection will soon be lifted," says Charter.
The proposal is open to public comment through April 10. If ultimately adopted, it would go into effect in 2007.
But certain members of Congress are taking matters into their own hands. Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) introduced a bill, cosponsored by Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), a month ago that would open up about 3 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico to oil and gas development, essentially putting into effect the first stage of the Bush administration's five-year plan.
Another bill proposing to open new lease areas in the Gulf of Mexico was introduced on Feb. 15 by Sens. John Warner (R-Va.) and Mark Pryor (D-Ark.). Their measure would also let governors individually petition the federal government to waive the offshore drilling ban in waters off their coasts.
The Warner-Pryor bill is modeled after the Ocean States Options Act being pushed by House Resources Committee Chair Richard Pombo (R-Calif.), which likewise would let governors ask for a waiver from drilling moratoriums.
Says Pierce of the Sierra Club, "What concerns us most is that once one area is exempted from protections, there will be a domino effect, and the whole OCS safeguard mechanism falls apart."
This sudden raft of legislation also has the senators from Florida and California very nervous.
On Feb. 1, Florida Sens. Bill Nelson (D) and Mel Martinez (R) made a "preemptive strike," as Nelson aide Bridget Walsh describes it, in the form of a bill that would open up a segment of the eastern Gulf of Mexico to new drilling while putting in place more rigid anti-drilling protections for the rest of the OCS around Florida. "We knew what Interior and Domenici and Pombo were up to," Walsh told Grist Magazine, "so we devised a compromise proposal to head off these threats, offering permanent protection for Florida's coasts and broader safeguards for the rest of the moratorium areas."
Similarly, California's two Democratic senators, Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, and one representative, Lois Capps (D), introduced bills last month that would permanently block new drilling off the coast of their state.
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This story was jointly produced by BushGreenwatch and Grist
Magazine. For more on this story, visit Grist Magazine.
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SOURCES:
[1] "Might as Well Face It, You're Addicted to Oil," Grist Magazine, Feb. 1, 2006.
[2] "US Government Proposes Drilling Off Virginia, Florida Coasts," Planet Ark, Feb. 9, 2006.
