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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bearcatbob who wrote (357003)	4/1/2010 10:28:35 AM
From: Brumar89	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793782

The more I think about it, the more upset I get. The articles lead off with things like 'Obama proposes new drilling' .... as if thats not what he's SUPPOSED TO BE DOING. There hasn't been an OCS ban since 9/30/08 so there's no reason not to proceed with developing a new 5 yr leasing plan - (as required by law) or preferably moving forward with the one the Bush administration prepared late in 2008. What he's doing is proposing to defacto reinstate a leasing ban on most of the OCS, something there's no legislative authority for. Allowing leasing .... after lengthy delays that will postpone new leasing till after the next Presidential election which if he wins he can cancel ... really isn't that much compared to what he ought to be doing. From the front page of the Houston Chronicle this morning: Obama plan for more drilling wins few fans Environmental groups and GOP are critical, while oil patch is wary By JENNIFER A. DLOUHY Copyright 2010 Houston Chronicle April 1, 2010, 12:12AM Mary Altaffer AP The Chevron Genesis Oil Rig Platform is seen in the Gulf of Mexico near New Orleans. SEPARATION OF POWERS President Barack Obama can enact some of his offshore drilling plan administratively through the Interior Department after a public comment period, but several aspects will involve Congress as well. Executive branch • • Can influence drilling locations and timing by scheduling lease auctions • • Can authorize seismic research and environmental studies that may be prerequisite to drilling. • • Can overturn the previous administration's proposal for drilling leases off the northern Atlantic Seaboard and Pacific coasts. Congress • • Must lift a ban it imposed on drilling in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico before that area can open to leases, as Obama proposes. • • Can authorize sharing of lease revenue with states as an incentive for them to allow drilling in waters nearest their shores. • • Can influence drilling activity by imposing “use it or lose” rules as a stick to force companies to speed up production in areas where it's already permitted. WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama's plan to expand oil and natural gas drilling in untouched Atlantic waters while walling off parts of the Pacific and Alaskan coasts represents a bid to bridge the divide separating environmentalists and drilling advocates on the issue. But the middle-ground approach announced on Wednesday alienated environmental advocates who say new offshore production threatens marine life; drew quick criticism from Republican drilling advocates in Congress who said it doesn't go far enough; and received only muted enthusiasm from energy industry leaders who are wary about the administration's commitment to oil and gas development. In unveiling his proposal, Obama acknowledged the challenge of balancing conservation with America's thirst for domestic oil and gas. “The answer is not drilling everywhere all the time,” he said. “But the answer is also not for us to ignore the fact that we are going to need vital energy sources to maintain our economic growth and our security.” Obama announced the drilling blueprint as part of a broader array of federal energy and environmental initiatives, including new fuel economy standards, the purchase of a new fleet of more than 5,000 hybrid vehicles and a plan to boost biofuels. Daniel Yergin, chairman of the research firm IHS-CERA, said the announcement was designed to help build support for broad energy and climate change legislation being drafted in Congress. Senate negotiators have been meeting with industry leaders to write a bill that combines caps on greenhouse gas emissions with protections for coal-fired power plants, expanded offshore drilling and incentives for nuclear power. The administration's proposal was aimed at public concerns about energy security and congressional efforts to move forward on climate change, Yergin said. It also was “a sign to the industry that the Obama administration is serious about exploration.” Looking at Atlantic Coast Obama's outline for offshore exploration through 2017 allows previously scheduled lease sales in the central and western Gulf of Mexico and in 2.9 million acres off the Virginia Coast — though the latter likely would be delayed past the November 2011 sale date scheduled by George W. Bush's administration. The administration endorsed opening more of the eastern Gulf of Mexico for drilling — including areas at least 125 miles off the Florida coast that the Interior Department estimates could boost total Gulf production by 100 million barrels of oil in 2030. But that depends on reversing an existing statutory moratorium on drilling in the area. The administration also is planning for seismic studies along south- and mid-Atlantic state coastlines that would update decades-old geologic data and help guide future leasing decisions on the East Coast, said Interior Secretary Ken Salazar. “That fact that we're scoping in the south-Atlantic or the mid-Atlantic doesn't necessarily mean there will be developing there,” Salazar cautioned. “We're taking a look at it.” The administration officially scrapped a plan by Bush's administration that would have OK'd leases off the northeastern Atlantic coast and in the Pacific waters off California, Oregon and Washington, where drilling has been banned for decades. Those were ruled out because of environmental concerns and local community opposition, Salazar said. Reversing plans by Bush Some of the biggest changes are in Alaska, where the new proposal reversed Bush-era plans for drilling in Bristol Bay, an area inhabited by sockeye salmon and endangered whales. The Interior Department also canceled four pending lease sales in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas north of Alaska. Future decisions on whether to drill there would come only after additional scientific and environmental research. The changes do not interfere with existing leases held by ConocoPhillips, Royal Dutch Shell and other firms in the Chukchi Sea. ConocoPhillips said in a statement that it now can proceed with exploration and development of its $506 million leases in the region. Marvin Odum, president of Shell Oil Co., the Houston-based American arm of Royal Dutch Shell, also welcomed the Alaska news. At a news conference in Humble to announce the start of production at a major deep water Gulf facility, Odum said the green light on Alaska clears the way for Shell — the largest leaseholder in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas — to begin exploring there this year. He said Shell also is interested in exploring in new offshore U.S. areas that could open under the Obama plan. “I think this is a significant and important step forward, something that surely will help us as a country to produce more of our own energy,” Odum said. Sierra Club not swayed Most energy industry leaders offered measured responses to the drilling proposal. Barry Russell, president of the Independent Petroleum Association of America, welcomed the plan as a “first step to addressing the nation's future energy needs,” but cautioned that the seven-year drilling blueprint only kicks off “an extremely long and thorough process” governing offshore leasing. Jack Gerard, president of the American Petroleum Institute, said Obama has recognized “the importance of developing our nation's oil and natural gas resources.” But the head of the Sierra Club denounced the plan as a giveaway to Big Oil. “We don't need to hand over our last protected pristine coastal areas just so oil companies can break more profit records,” said Michael Brune, the environmental group's executive director. Drilling advocates in Congress blasted the plan as insufficient. Rep. Kevin Brady, R-The Woodlands, said the president's proposal “will delay more than drill,” and Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin, said he was disappointed that Atlantic regions will be open only for studies and not for actual production. chron.com ..... OhBamUh wrote: As usual the devil is in the details. Only in Washington, D.C., can you ban more areas to oil and gas exploration than you open up, delay the date of your new leases and claim you’re going to increase production. Obama's announcement today is a smokescreen. It will almost certainly delay any new offshore exploration until at least 2012 and include only a fraction of the offshore resources that the previous Administration included in its plan. Unfortunately, this is yet another feeble attempt to gain votes for Obama's national energy tax bill that is languishing in the Senate. At the end of the day this Administration’s energy plan is simple: increase the cost of energy on every family in America and trade American jobs oversees at a time when millions of Americans are looking for work. ....