Coast drilling ban is back

WASHINGTON

Pointing to the BP blowout and risks of a new environmental disaster, the Obama administration reversed itself yesterday and promised not to pursue offshore drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico or anywhere else along the nation’s East Coast.

Environmental groups in North Carolina cheered the decision.

The Southern Environmental Law Center in Chapel Hill has long opposed the ban, arguing that the waters off the Atlantic hold few oil reserves.

Geoff Gisler, a staff lawyer for the center, said that the BP oil spill made it clear that there are hazards involved in offshore drilling.

“It put a hole in the industry’s argument that this is safe and that there are no threats of a spill,” Gisler said. “This gave the administration pause to look at what environmental and worker-safety measures need to be put in place.”

Offshore drilling, he said, could have created a coastline dotted with oil refineries and rigs, which would ultimately hurt the tourism and fishing industries. “Even though these major spills are relatively rare, even one can be devastating to an area for years and years,” Gisler said.

U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., said in a statement that responsible offshore drilling should be part of the U.S. energy strategy.

“In order to address America’s energy needs, all of our nation’s resources need to be on the table, including alternative energy sources, nuclear power, and onshore and offshore production of natural gas,” Burr said. “If resources off the Atlantic coast can be produced responsibly, they should be part of the solution.”

The administration had backed a major expansion of offshore drilling earlier this year, in part to gain support for comprehensive climate legislation in Congress, one of President Obama’s top legislative goals.

With that bill now off the table, the president stands much to gain politically by saying no to powerful oil interests, particularly in Florida, which is expected to be a crucial swing state in the 2012 election campaign.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar denied that politics played any role, saying that the BP spill taught officials a number of lessons, “most importantly that we need to proceed with caution and focus on creating a more stringent regulatory regime.”

The new drilling focus would be on areas with leases that are currently active in the central and western Gulf of Mexico.

“In the Gulf and the Atlantic we are adjusting our strategy,” Salazar said. “We believe the most appropriate course of action is to focus development on areas with existing leases and not expand to new areas at this time.”

Under the revised plan, the Interior Department will not propose any new oil drilling in waters in the Atlantic Ocean and eastern Gulf for at least the next seven years. Already-planned lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico, expected in March and August, will be delayed until late 2011 or early 2012, Salazar said.

The administration’s previous plan — announced last March, three weeks before the BP spill — would have authorized officials to explore the potential for drilling from Delaware to central Florida, plus the northern waters of Alaska. The new plan allows potential drilling in Alaska, but officials said they will move cautiously before approving any leases.

The eastern Gulf — an area stretching from 125 to 300 miles off Florida’s coast — was singled out for protection by Congress in 2006 as part of a deal with Florida lawmakers that made available 8.3 million acres to oil and gas development in the east-central Gulf. Under that agreement, the protected region is to remain off limits to energy development until 2022.

But the administration had entertained the idea of expanded drilling until the BP spill that spewed an estimated 172 million gallons of oil into the Gulf. In order to open more of the eastern Gulf to drilling, the administration would have to ask Congress to lift the drilling moratorium.

The new plan does not affect the Pacific seaboard, which will remain off-limits to drilling in federal waters.

Florida legislators praised the decision. Drilling in state-controlled waters has long been banned because of fears that a major spill would damage beaches.

Gov. Charlie Crist called the decision “wonderful news” that would be favorably received by the tourist industry and residents.

But the head of a prominent industry group said the Obama administration was cramping domestic oil production and contradicting the will of recession-weary voters.

In last month’s midterm elections, “the voters said loud and clear we want economic recovery and good American jobs. The decision today shuts the door on new development off our nation’s coast and effectively makes sure those jobs will not be realized,” said Jack Gerard, the president and chief executive of the American Petroleum Institute.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce also criticized the decision, which she said comes on top of a “de facto moratorium” the administration has imposed on oil production in both deep and shallow waters in the Gulf and Alaska.

“By continuing to keep most of America’s abundant oil and natural gas resources under lock and key, the Obama administration is ensuring that we will continue to increase our dependence on foreign oil, which threatens our national security,” said Karen Harbert, the president and chief executive of the chamber’s Institute for 21st Century Energy.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said he was deeply disappointed. “I believe this makes us even more dependent on foreign countries for our energy,” said Jindal, a Republican.

But Florida’s Crist, who once considered opening the state’s waters to drilling, changed his mind after the BP spill. He said he was not surprised that the administration revised its offshore plan in response to one of the country’s largest environmental disasters.

“If that’s not a wake-up call, I don’t know what would be,” Crist said. “If that doesn’t have an impact on your thinking, you must not be thinking.”

Journal reporter Lisa O’Donnell contributed to this report.