BARACK OBAMA took the Republican slogan “drill, baby, drill” as his own yesterday, opening up more than 805,000sq km (500,000 square miles) of US coastal waters to oil and gas exploitation for the first time in more than 20 years.
The move, a reversal of his early campaign promise to retain a ban on offshore exploration, appeared aimed at winning support from Republicans in Congress for new laws to tackle global warming. Sarah Palin’s “Drill, baby, drill” slogan was a prominent battle cry in the 2008 elections.
The areas opened up are off the Atlantic coast, the northern coast of Alaska and in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. However, in a concession to his environmentalist base, Mr Obama did retain protection for Alaska’s Bristol Bay, the single largest source of seafood in America and home to endangered species of whale. The Pacific Coast from Mexico to Canada is also off-limits.
Mr Obama said the decision to allow oil rigs off the Atlantic coast was a painful one, but that it would help reduce US dependence on imported oil.
“This is not a decision that I’ve made lightly,” the president said. “But the bottom line is this: given our energy needs, in order to sustain economic growth, produce jobs, and keep our businesses competitive, we’re going to need to harness traditional sources of fuel even as we ramp up production of new sources of renewable, home- grown energy.”
He said the administration would take steps to protect the environment and areas important to tourism off the Atlantic, as well as sensitive areas in the Arctic, and added: “Drilling alone cannot come close to meeting our long-term energy needs, and for the sake of the planet and our energy independence, we need to begin the transition to cleaner fuels now.”
Interior department officials said the areas opened up are thought to contain the equivalent of three years’ annual US usage of recoverable oil and two years’ worth of natural gas.
Under the proposals, a vast swath of Atlantic coast from northern Delaware to central Florida would be open to drilling. An additional 52 million hectares of ocean in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas north of Alaska could also open up for drilling following environmental assessment studies. About two-thirds of the eastern Gulf of Mexico would be open for exploration, though the plan would bar rigs within 200km of the Florida coast.
The state of Virginia could see drilling within 80km of its coast, and could issue its first licences as early as next year. However, actual drilling would probably not get under way for years.
The president’s speech was widely seen as an attempt to use last week’s epic victory on health reform as a springboard for other items on his agenda. He combined the announcement with a renewed appeal to Democrats and Republicans in Congress to pass climate change legislation. The laws have encountered fierce domestic opposition. – (Guardian service)