Rivers of black goo (ink, not crude): Obama to open Arctic, east coast offshore to oil and gas rigs
Big splash of news today over the White House decision to ease US dependence on imported fossil fuels by, um, drilling, baby, drilling. And not just anywhere but via offshore oil and gas development – a topic that sends many environmental activist organizations and their members into conniptions.
Eventually we’ll get some smart reporting on this. Topics include the history of accidents and the long term damage to shorelines and marine ecoystems they leave behind, the possibilities of finding enough to matter, the possibility that big finds will, in the long run, boost carbon emissions even while easing imported gas and oil demand, and the subtle political calculus of this unexpected move.
Being of occasionally devious mind, The Tracker suspects that President Obama and his advisers are pulling a political fast one and it has little to do with expectation of (safely controlled) gushers off shore. It goes like this – first figure that, just as most big-picture analyses suggest, there’s not enough oil and gas offshore of the US, even in Alaska or along the southern Atlantic seaboard, to make much difference to ultimate CO2 levels or to American energy independence. Second, let the drillers explore anyway to show that the current administration, as with nuclear power, is closing off no options and making it more palatable to a bigger spectrum of the public and of members of the US Chamber of Commerce. Third, this is easy cash, better than raising taxes: those leases put money into federal coffers. It won’t balance the budget, but it can’t hurt. Fourth, if they do find oodles of oil and gas it will take decades to start production and it won’t be cheap to extract out there, helping renewables to compete. Fifth: There is always the carbon tax third rail to grab.
Those are some of the angles I’d check out, were I told to check this out at all.
A few stories already out there:
- AP – Chris Kahn : Offshore Drilling Could Tap Large Supplies ;
- NYTimes – John Broder: Obama’s Oil Drilling Plan Draws Critics From Both Sides ; Sober walk through the forest of disagreement and uncertainty – but not much analysis to help the reader sort them all out. It’s a start, and the analysis surely is to come.
- E&E Greenwire/NY Times – Noelle Straub: Obama Proposes Opening Vast Offshore Areas to Drilling ;
- Wall St. Journal – Matt Phillips: Drill Baby Drill (blog) : Obama’s Offshore Drilling Plan Lifts Explorers ;
- USA Today – David Jackson (blog): Obama’s energy pitch includes political fuel ; Obama, he writes, is drilling for votes.
- LA Times – Christi Parsons : Obama announces new offshore drilling: ‘There will be those who strongly disagree’ ; Yes, but for now the West Coast is not to be opened further.
- Houston Chronicle – Jennifer A. Dlouhy: Obama clears way for more oil and gas drilling off U.S. coasts ;
- Anchorage Daily News – Elizabeth Bluemink: New offshore drilling policy for Alaska prompts mixed reaction ;
- Miami Herald – Lesley Clark: Environmentalists attack Obama plan to allow oil drilling off Florida’s coasts ;
This news sits crossways on the usual political and technological divisions in the US. Reporters will need to stop and think hard about how to go at it – falling back on the usual tropes and bromides will not do. This will be fun to watch.
- Charlie Petit
