“Question: Does the Administration’s announcement regarding the current 5-year program mean that the area off Virginia in the Mid-Atlantic OCS planning area will be opened for oil and gas development?
Not necessarily. Offering the sale off of Virginia is only the first step in an orderly process that includes environmental reviews and analyses, regulatory compliance, exploration, testing and other considerations. The announcement does not guarantee that that area will be leased, evaluated, explored and developed for oil and gas.
Question: Does the Administration’s announcement for the new 5-year program (2012 -2017) mean the Mid Atlantic, South Atlantic, and Eastern Gulf of Mexico OCS planning areas will be open to oil and gas development in the next 5-year program?
Not necessarily. Scoping in an area or inclusion in an Environmental Impact Statement does not mean that an area will ultimately be made available for leasing. However, an area must be analyzed in the EIS in order to be considered for leasing. Decisions as to whether to schedule lease sales in these areas, and if so, whether to remove from leasing consideration those parts of the planning areas with conflicting uses (e.g., military training requirements; shipping lands) or particular sensitivity, will come later in the process of developing the new 5-year program and the pre-sale process.”
And what is the most important detail of all? Much of the plan cannot even go into place until 2022 at the earliest because of a drilling moratorium in the eastern Gulf of Mexico.
In other words, nothing really changes.
Rather than offering false hope, as this plan does, Congress and the President should be straightforward with the American people.
The truth is that we are energy dependent by choice. We are blessed with vast sources of traditional and renewable resources that can be accessed safely and responsibly. Yet, by law and by regulation, we have marginalized both at great cost to our nation. The 2009 trade deficit of $517 billion included $204 billion in petroleum imports.
Congress should end its moratorium in the eastern Gulf now, allowing energy producers to apply for leases through the normal process. It should end non-sense regulations that are designed expressly to frustrate and prevent exploration. And it should stop placing barriers in the way of renewable energy development on the more than 650 millions acres of federally owned land.
In other words, nothing really changes.
Rather than offering false hope, as this plan does, Congress and the President should be straightforward with the American people.
The truth is that we are energy dependent by choice. We are blessed with vast sources of traditional and renewable resources that can be accessed safely and responsibly. Yet, by law and by regulation, we have marginalized both at great cost to our nation. The 2009 trade deficit of $517 billion included $204 billion in petroleum imports.
Congress should end its moratorium in the eastern Gulf now, allowing energy producers to apply for leases through the normal process. It should end non-sense regulations that are designed expressly to frustrate and prevent exploration. And it should stop placing barriers in the way of renewable energy development on the more than 650 millions acres of federally owned land.
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