EDITORIAL: Extend Offshore Drilling Ban
By The Hartford Courant, Conn.
May 16–Does anyone believe that the best way to cure an addict is to give him greater access to what he craves? Why, then, would the United States expand offshore oil and gas drilling off Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay and Alaska’s Bristol Bay? After all, President Bush, in his State of the Union address last year, correctly characterized Americans as addicted to oil.
The Virginia shore along the southern tip of the Delmarva peninsula boasts a stunning network of barrier islands and lagoons that are still largely unspoiled. Its silt-laden waters and wetlands provide nourishment and protection for blue crabs and rockfish — two of the area’s signature marine species. The United Nations has designated that coastline as a World Biosphere Reserve; the Interior Department has dubbed it a National Natural Landmark. Bristol Bay, just above the Aleutian Islands in southwest Alaska, is home to one of the world’s largest salmon runs.
On May 1, the Interior Department proposed expanded drilling for oil and natural gas in both offshore areas, including a 2.9 million-acre triangle 50 miles off the Virginia coast. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne said expanding offshore drilling will mean more jobs, lower oil and gas prices, and reduced dependence on oil and gas imports.
We’re skeptical. Gas and oil are internationally traded commodities, and their prices are subject to worldwide demand. It’s hard to believe the prices from these areas will be significantly lower.
A better way to reduce dependence on foreign oil would be to improve the fuel efficiency of U.S. cars and trucks. By investing more in the development of new, cleaner energy technologies, the federal government would also be generating more jobs — the kinds of jobs and growth that will ensure the United States’ continued pre-eminence among the world’s economies.
The United States won’t cure its addiction to oil by pumping more oil. What the Interior Department’s new proposal does threaten to do, however, is to sacrifice important natural treasures to satisfy a short-term craving. Congress should ban offshore drilling in Bristol Bay and renew the ban along the Atlantic Coast.
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Copyright (c) 2007, The Hartford Courant, Conn.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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