The administration’s proposal to open the Mid- and South Atlantic to risky offshore drilling for the first time in 30 years doesn’t add up. For those who love the region our seafood, our stretches of white sand beaches, our close-knit coastal communities the risk is far too great for the questionable benefits given how little oil is estimated to be off the Southeastern coast.
So why is the proposal being pushed, especially now when oil prices are so low? It may be the oil and gas industry’s ties to Southern governors, who have been pushing for leasing off their states. Others suggest that opening the Atlantic may be a tradeoff for preserving the Arctic. Whatever the political calculus, it’s clear the formula was flawed.
It certainly doesn’t make environmental sense. Almost five years after the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill that devastated the Gulf Coast, many families and communities are still feeling its effects. Oil still lurks beneath the surface of the water, its effects lingering on the fish and dolphins struggling to live and reproduce in the Gulf of Mexico. Tar still washes up on the shore.
But it also doesn’t make economic sense given the billion-dollar coastal economies in the Southeast that depend on clean water and beaches. By the government’s own estimates, ocean-dependent tourism in the mid- and South Atlantic contributes $6.5 billion and $4.4 billion annually to coastal communities. Recreational fishing alone generates $3.5 billion in the Mid-Atlantic and $1.3 billion in the South Atlantic. A single spill would threaten the economic livelihood of thousands.
The administration stated that the Arctic is too special a place for offshore drilling. Those who live, work, and vacation on our Southern shores bristle at the suggestion that places like Charleston, the Outer Banks, Chesapeake Bay, and countless other coastal treasures are expendable.
Washington must not prioritize outside oil and gas interests over the health, safety, and well-being of life along the Atlantic coasts and in our communities.
2015 The New York Times Company