STATEMENT: CAP’s Michael Conathan on Obama Administration Barring Offshore Drilling in Atlantic
Washington, D.C. — Center for American Progress Director of Ocean Policy Michael Conathan issued the following statement in reaction to the release of the Obama administration’s offshore drilling plan. The proposed plan reverses previous efforts to open the Atlantic Ocean to offshore oil and gas drilling.
This plan clearly shows that the Obama administration heeded the voices of more than 100 coastal communities from New Jersey to Florida and dozens of bipartisan members of Congress who asserted that the risks of oil and gas drilling far outweigh the potential gains. Robust coastal economies require healthy beaches and clean water to create jobs; as we saw too plainly following the 2010 BP disaster, offshore oil development leads to neither. Rather than extracting more fossil fuels that drive the sea-level rise and extreme weather already threatening the region, these states can now focus on growing sustainable industries such as tourism and recreation, commercial fisheries, and offshore wind generation.
Related resources:
- Opposition to Atlantic Oil Drilling Mounts as Big Oil’s Case for It Falls Apart by Shiva Polefka
- Offshore Wind Energy Can Deliver Big Carbon Cuts for Coastal States by Shiva Polefka and Elise Shulman
- Federal Oil and Gas Royalty and Revenue Reform by Nicole Gentile
For more information on this topic or to speak with an expert, contact Tom Caiazza at tcaiazza@americanprogress.org or 202.481.7141.
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