Beni Wilson Off-Shore drilling Neg Page 1 of 6

Off-Shore Oil Drilling-Neg

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Ben Feller, Associated Press Writer “Recharging debate, Obama expands offshore drilling” Apr 1, 2010
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100401/ap_on_bi_ge/us_obama_drilling
Shaking up years of energy policy and his own environmental backers, President Barack Obama threw
open a huge swath of East Coast waters and other protected areas in Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico to
drilling Wednesday, widening the politically explosive hunt for more homegrown oil and gas.

Obama expands gas development on the OCS, (while protecting environmentally

fragile locations)
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
As part of the Administration’s comprehensive energy strategy President Barack Obama and Secretary of
the Interior Ken Salazar today announced more details of the Obama Administration’s efforts to strengthen
our energy security. President Obama and Secretary Salazar announced that the Administration will
expand oil and gas development and exploration on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) to enhance our
nation’s energy independence while protecting fisheries, tourism, and places off U.S. coasts that are not
appropriate for development. Also included in the announcement are landmark car and truck fuel
standards, key efforts being carried out by the Department of Defense to enhance energy security, and an
effort to green the federal vehicle fleet.

Succinct summary of where the ban was lifted

Ben Feller, Associated Press Writer “Recharging debate, Obama expands offshore drilling” Apr 1, 2010
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100401/ap_on_bi_ge/us_obama_drilling
Obama's move allows drilling from Delaware to central Florida, plus the northern waters of Alaska, and
exploration could begin 50 miles off the coast of Virginia by 2012. He also wants Congress to lift a drilling
ban in the oil-rich eastern Gulf of Mexico, 125 miles from Florida beaches.
Still off limits: the entire Pacific seaboard. And in a nod to conservation, Obama canceled oil exploration in
Alaska's Bristol Bay, deeming the area a national treasure.

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.”

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Timeframe: 2012-2017, if approved by DOI studies of the environment

Ben Feller, Associated Press Writer “Recharging debate, Obama expands offshore drilling” Apr 1, 2010
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100401/ap_on_bi_ge/us_obama_drilling
While the first lease sale for an area 50 miles off the Virginia coast could come as early as 2012,
development in other areas of the South Atlantic would still be years away, according to the Interior
Department's leasing plans released Wednesday. The department said it plans seismic studies,
environmental reviews and public meetings in the regions involved to determine if leases should be offered
in those areas between 2012 and 2017.

Obama’s rational: don’t drill it all at once

Ben Feller, Associated Press Writer “Recharging debate, Obama expands offshore drilling” Apr 1, 2010
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100401/ap_on_bi_ge/us_obama_drilling
For a president on a roll following a big health care win, Wednesday's drilling declaration was both
aggressive and pragmatic. Even with a push for cleaner energy sources and efficient cars — and with
promises of protection for ecosystems and coastal tourism — the nation still needs more oil, Obama said.
"The answer is not drilling everywhere all the time," Obama said in an event at Andrews Air Force Base.
"But the answer is not, also, for us to ignore the fact that we are going to need vital energy sources to
maintain our economic growth and our security."

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.

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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
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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

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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.

Oil rig explodes off Louisiana coast; 11 missing, 17 injured

KEVIN McGILL, Associated Press Writer “Oil rig explodes off Louisiana coast; 11 missing” Apr 21, 2010
Rescuers in helicopters and boats searched the Gulf of Mexico for 11 missing workers Wednesday after a
thunderous explosion rocked a huge oil drilling platform and lit up the night sky with a pillar of flame.
Seventeen people were injured, four critically.

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.

Oil spill growing in Gulf of Mexico

KEVIN McGILL, Associated Press Writer “Oil spill growing in Gulf of Mexico off La. coast” Apr 27, 2010
The Coast Guard says a sheen of oil that's been covering an area in the Gulf of Mexico since an oil rig
exploded off the Louisiana coast is growing.
Coast Guard Petty Officer Erik Swanson says that as of Tuesday morning, the sheen has grown to about 48
miles long and 80 miles wide at its widest.
At the moment, the wind has been blowing the oil away from the shore. But Swanson says the winds could
shift later in the week and there's concern about oil reaching the shore.
So far, skimming vessels have collected more than 48,000 gallons of oily water. Meanwhile, remote control
vehicles have been working around the clock underwater to try to stop the oil leak.
Eleven people have been missing since last week's explosion and are presumed dead.

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Oil spill threatens coastal and marine ecosystems

Associated Press “Deep Horizon Oil Well Gushing 42,000 Gallons Into Gulf Of Mexico Per Day” April
2010
George Crozier, oceanographer and executive director at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab in Alabama, said he
was studying wind and ocean currents driving the oil.
He said Pensacola, Fla., is probably the eastern edge of the threatened area, though no one really knows
what the effects will be.
"We've never seen anything like this magnitude," he said. "The problems are going to be on the beaches
themselves, that's where it will be really visible."
Aaron Viles, director for New Orleans-based Gulf Restoration Network, an environmental group, said he
flew over the spill Sunday and saw what was likely a sperm whale in the oil sheen.
"There are going to be significant marine impacts," he said.
Concern Monday focused on the Chandeleur and Breton barrier islands in Louisiana, where thousands of
birds are nesting.
"It's already a fragile system. It would be devastating to see anything happen to that system," said Mark
Kulp, a University of New Orleans geologist.
The spill also threatened oyster beds in Breton Sound on the eastern side of the Mississippi River.
Harvesters could only watch and wait.
"That's our main oyster-producing area," said John Tesvich, a fourth-generation oyster farmer with Port
Sulphur Fisheries Co. His company has about 4,000 acres of oyster grounds that could be affected if the
spill worsens.
"Trying to move crops would be totally speculative," Tesvich said. "You wouldn't know where to move a
crop. You might be moving a crop to a place that's even worse."
He said oil and oysters are not a good mix. If the oyster grounds are affected, thousands of fishermen,
packers, processors might have to curtail operations.
Worse, he said, it's spawning season, and contamination could affect young oysters. But even if the spill is
mostly contained, he said oil residue could get sucked in by the oysters.
"You will have off-flavors that would be a concern," Tesvich said.
If the oil continues oozing north, the white-sand beaches in Mississipi, Alabama and west Florida could be
fouled.

Explosion was unexpected

KEVIN McGILL, Associated Press Writer “Oil rig explodes off Louisiana coast; 11 missing” Apr 21, 2010
Adrian Rose, vice president of rig owner Transocean Ltd., said the explosion appeared to be a blowout, in
which natural gas or oil forces its way up a well pipe and smashes the equipment. But precisely what went
wrong was under investigation.
Crews were doing routine work before the explosion and there were no signs of trouble, [the rig’s owner
Adrian] Rose said.
A total of 126 workers were aboard the rig when it blew up. The Coast Guard said 17 were taken by air or
sea to hospitals. Four were reported in critical condition. Others suffered burns, broken legs and smoke
inhalation.
Nearly 100 other workers made it aboard a supply boat and were expected to reach the Louisiana shore by
evening.
[Later in the same article]
[The rig’s owner Adrian] Rose said the crew had drilled the well to its final depth, more than 18,000 feet,
and was cementing the steel casing at the time of the explosion.
"They did not have a lot of time to evacuate. This would have happened very rapidly," he said.