There are currently 32 drilling platforms off the California coast. Before leaving office, President Obama did his best to make sure that number would not increase.
Working to lock in environmental protections as the clock runs out on his presidency, President Barack Obama on Friday released a plan for offshore oil drilling in federal waters that bans until 2022 any new drilling off the coasts of California, Oregon or Washington.
But naturally, Donald Trump views the fact that President Obama set it up as sufficient reason to knock it down. However, in this case, Trump seems to be going beyond simply reversing the protections set up by Obama. Indications are that Trump plans to announce the opening of all federal waters to drilling. This would include areas off Florida and California that have been blocked since the 1960s.
The expansion is likely to trigger huge political backlash, particularly on the West Coast and in Florida, where offshore drilling has generated sharp opposition from residents, environmental groups and businesses who fear a spill like BP’s in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 could devastate beaches and destroy the tourist industry that is vital to the regional economies.
Thursday, Jan 4, 2018 · 9:52:09 PM +00:00
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Mark Sumner
The Washington Post has the details of which areas are going to be opened to drilling.
The Trump administration unveiled a controversial proposal Thursday to permit drilling in most U.S. continental-shelf waters, including protected areas of the Arctic and the Atlantic, where oil and gas exploration is opposed by governors from New Jersey to Florida, nearly a dozen attorneys general, more than 100 U.S. lawmakers and the Defense Department.
As expected, it’s everywhere.
In 1969, a Union Oil drilling platform blew out in the Santa Barbara Channel. Before it was brought under control, 100,000 barrels of oil coated the beaches from Morro Bay to Mexico. The oil spill was the largest in history at the time (it’s since been passed by the Exxon Valdez grounding and BP’s Deepwater Horizon failure) and the scenes of oil-drenched beaches and devastated wildlife became iconic. The entire nation looked on as Richard Nixon visited the area and news cameras delivered a view of blackened sands, oil-smothered waves, and heat-breaking scenes of dying animals.
Following that event, Nixon declared a moratorium on drilling in the area. The California State Lands Commission has not issued a new permit for offshore drilling since the Santa Barbara spill. The Deepwater Horizon spill is still affecting wildlife in the Gulf and had a long-term impact on both tourism and fisheries in the region.
Considering past experience, citizens of both regions have very good reasons to be upset over the idea of new drill rigs going up near the coasts. But at least they can know that there’s one “ugly” thing they won’t see off their coasts.
The Republican president -- who champions fossil fuels and called climate change a hoax -- has mocked wind farms as ugly, overpriced and deadly to birds. His most virulent criticism targeted an 11-turbine offshore project planned near his Scottish golf resort that he derided as “monstrous.”
Details of the new drilling policy are to be presented in a call on Thursday afternoon.