Comment & Debate
Frances Beinecke is president of the Natural Resources Defense Council. “More Drilling, More Risk.” New York Times: “Here’s how we utilize our oceans today: In the U.S. alone, commercial fishing generates more than $103 billion in sales. Ocean-related tourism and recreation are responsible for more than 2 million jobs. In 2000, the U.S. ocean economy created two and a half times the economic output of the farm sector. […] This economic vitality depends upon clean, healthy seas. Despite technological advances, drilling off our coasts still poses grave risks, including accidental and hurricane-related oil spills. The Exxon Valdez spill stretched over 600 miles of Alaskan coastline — a stretch that would cover the eastern coastline from South Carolina to the tip of Florida. That’s a lot of beaches and fishing communities devastated.”
“Why offshore drilling is not the answer.” Not the Answer. January 20, 2010: “Would there also likely be impacts to marine resources and recreational fishing?
Yes, very likely. It is an understatement to say that salt water fishing is popular in Florida’s gulf coast waters. As I have said, the Gulf of Mexico off Florida is pristine. This could all be polluted with one good hurricane breaking pipelines and dumping rig chemicals into the marine environment. Once an area has been polluted, it takes years to recover. Once a reef has been destroyed, it may never come back. Offshore drilling is as much a threat to the gulf’s ecosystem as over-fishing.”
“Offshore Drilling Threatens Our Fish Stocks and Ocean Resources.” Natural Resources Defense Council on Opposing Views: “Offshore drilling endangers wildlife in some of our nation’s most productive fishing areas. With food prices at an all time high, we can not afford to jeopardize these vital and finite resources.
Offshore oil and gas operations require serious infrastructure that can damage beaches, wetlands, and other areas that coastal communities rely on for tourism, recreation and fishing. Since we know drilling can’t produce enough oil to make a real difference in meeting America ’s demand, why risk endangering the fishing industry and our fish stocks?
According to the federal government, offshore drilling operations result in thousands of gallons of oil being spilled. As storms and hurricanes intensify, the number of spills is also likely to increase. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita alone resulted in 125 oil spills of petroleum products, totaling 685,000 gallons. Oil is toxic for most fish and marine species. For places like Louisiana and other states with robust fishing economies, a spill impacts not only the things living in the water, but the people relying on the coasts to make their living.
From a practical standpoint, the opportunity costs of offshore drilling are too great when we consider the impacts on our fishing industry. Endangering our food supply is not worth the 2 or 3 cents in savings offshore drilling would generate ten to twenty years from now. So instead of putting our coasts and our precious food supply in harms way, let’s instead invest in safe, renewable technology that will create jobs and reduce our dependence on foreign oil.”