Between 1976 and 1982, ten oil exploration wells were drilled in the Georges Bank, off the coast of Cape Cod. This area is home to the most accessible commercial fishery in the world, and one of the most productive. Although the past decade has been a battle to maintain economic activity without overfishing, it still produces enormous fish for the dinner tables of America.
In 1988, Canada put a moratorium on oil exploration, and U.S. operated under a series of one-year moratoriums until Clinton enacted (1998) one which expires in 2012.
An oil spill in the Bank, on the caliber of BP's latest creation, (visualized here) would generate a slick certain capable of covering New York harbor to Portland, Maine. If we consider tides and the Gulf Stream, it would likely take out Westerly, RI to Halifax, Canada... for starters. No more kids throwing seaweed at Misquamicut. No quahogging off Middletown for years. No summer renters in Newport and Matunuck.
I would much rather deal with a big turbine falling over, looking like a sunken pirate ship, and creating a coral reef a few miles off shore. When 2012 comes, this decision to increase the moratorium should be simple.