Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
Obama’s drilling plan will help Economy, decrease energy dependence, while
protecting the environment
The White House, Office of the Press Secretary, “Obama Administration Announces Comprehensive
Strategy for Energy Security” http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/obama-administration-
announces-comprehensive-strategy-energy-security March 31, 2010
Over the last year, under the leadership of Secretary [of Interior Ken] Salazar, the Administration has
worked to reevaluate previous decisions in an effort to set oil and gas drilling policies on the Outer
Continental Shelf (OCS) that will help reduce our dependence on foreign oil, create jobs, and take
environmental risks and responsibilities into account.
“By responsibly expanding conventional energy development and exploration here at home we can
strengthen our energy security, create jobs, and help rebuild our economy,” said Salazar. “Our strategy calls
for developing new areas offshore, exploring frontier areas, and protecting places that are too special to
drill. By providing order and certainty to offshore exploration and development and ensuring we are
drilling in the right ways and the right places, we are opening a new chapter for balanced and responsible
oil and gas development here at home.”
1
Beni Wilson Off-Shore drilling Neg Page 2 of 6
Obama and DOI are pursuing a balanced strategy for OCS drilling
DOI [Department of Interior] News, “Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Strategy” March 31, 2010
http://www.doi.gov/news/doinews/2010_03_31_news.cfm
As part of President Obama’s comprehensive energy plan for the country, the Department of the Interior is
pursuing a balanced, science-based strategy for exploring and developing oil and gas resources on the
Outer Continental Shelf.
Under this strategy, Interior is expanding offshore oil and gas exploration and development in the right
ways and in the right places, providing order and certainty to industry and investors, and delivering a fair
return to American taxpayers for the use of their resources. The Obama Administration’s strategy uses
science and new technologies to expand oil and gas production on the Outer Continental Shelf, while
protecting fisheries, tourism, and places off our coasts that are too special to drill. The Administration is
working to expand development and production in new areas, such as the Eastern Gulf of Mexico;
significantly increase oil and gas exploration in frontier areas, such as the Arctic Ocean and areas in the
Atlantic Ocean; and protect areas that are simply too special to drill, such as Alaska’s Bristol Bay.
• DEVELOP: We are opening new areas for offshore oil and gas development as part of a
comprehensive energy plan for the country.
• EXPLORE: We are expanding offshore oil and gas exploration and scientific analysis to gather
the information we need to develop resources in the right places and the right ways.
• PROTECT: We are protecting special places that are simply not appropriate for oil and gas
drilling.
2
Beni Wilson Off-Shore drilling Neg Page 3 of 6
DOI [Department of Interior] News, “Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Strategy” March 31, 2010
http://www.doi.gov/whatwedo/energy/ocs/lower48-strategy.cfm
8-
3
Beni Wilson Off-Shore drilling Neg Page 4 of 6
Alaska strategy
DOI [Department of Interior] News, “Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Strategy” March 31, 2010
http://www.doi.gov/whatwedo/energy/ocs/AlaskaRegion.cfm
Bristol Bay
Fisheries, tourism, and environmental values in Alaska’s Bristol Bay make the area a national treasure and
inappropriate for oil and gas drilling – it should be removed from future consideration for development.
Together with the State and local communities, Secretary Salazar will look at what long-term protections
might be appropriate.
Chuckchi and Beaufort Seas
Although the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas in the Arctic Ocean may hold significant oil and gas reserves,
these frontier areas need additional exploration and scientific, environmental, and spill risk analysis before
new areas are offered for leasing. Exploratory drilling in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas that may begin as
early as this summer, and which will help develop critical information about this frontier area. We will
gather scientific information, conduct environmental scoping, and hold public meetings on potential leasing
in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas in the Arctic Ocean under the 2012-2017 plan. Secretary Salazar has also
requested that the United States Geological Survey (USGS) conduct an initial, independent evaluation of
science needs to understand the resilience of Arctic coastal and marine ecosystems to OCS resource
extraction activities. The study will summarize what information is available, where knowledge gaps exist,
and what research is needed to mitigate risks.
Cook Inlet
We plan to hold one lease sale before 2012 in the Cook Inlet, which has existing oil and gas infrastructure
and about which we have several decades of information.
SHAPE \* MERGEFORMAT
4
Beni Wilson Off-Shore drilling Neg Page 5 of 6
Drilling is dangerous to humans: Over 9 years, offshore oil drilling has killed 69 and
injured 1349 people
KEVIN McGILL, Associated Press Writer “Oil rig explodes off Louisiana coast; 11 missing” Apr 21, 2010
Since 2001, there have been 69 offshore deaths, 1,349 injuries and 858 fires and explosions in the Gulf,
according to the federal Minerals Management Service.
There are 42 rigs either drilling or doing upgrades and maintenance in depths of 1,000 feet or greater in the
Gulf of Mexico, according to the agency. They employ an estimated 35,000 people. Transocean has 14 rigs
in the Gulf and 140 worldwide.
In 1964, a catamaran-type drilling barge operated by Pan American Petroleum Corp. near Eugene Island,
about 80 miles off Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico, suffered a blowout and explosion while drilling a well.
Twenty-one crew members died.
The deadliest offshore drilling accident took place in 1988, when an Occidental Petroleum platform about
120 miles off Aberdeen, Scotland, was rocked by explosions and fire. A total of 167 men were killed.
42,000 Gallons of Oil Gushing Into Gulf of Mexico Per Day threatening coastlines
Associated Press “Deep Horizon Oil Well Gushing 42,000 Gallons Into Gulf Of Mexico Per Day” April
2010
Coast Guard crews raced to protect the Gulf of Mexico coastline Monday as a remote sub tried to shut off
an underwater oil well that's gushing 42,000 gallons a day from the site of a wrecked drilling platform.
If crews cannot stop the leak quickly, they might need to drill another well to redirect the oil, a laborious
process that could take weeks while oil washes up along a broad stretch of shore, from the white-sand
beaches of Florida's Panhandle to the swamps of Louisiana. The oil spill already stretches across more than
1,800 square miles of water in the Gulf Of Mexico, according to the Coast Guard.
The oil is escaping from two leaks in a drilling pipe about 5,000 feet below the surface. The leaks threaten
hundreds of miles of coastline in four states, with waters that are home to dolphins, sea birds, and prime
fishing and tourism areas.
The oil began gushing out of the sea floor after the rig Deepwater Horizon exploded April 20 and sank two
days later about 40 miles off the Mississippi River delta. Eleven of the 126 workers aboard at the time are
missing and presumed dead; the rest escaped. The cause of the explosion has not been determined.
5
Beni Wilson Off-Shore drilling Neg Page 6 of 6