RICHMOND (AP) – While supported by Virginia’s political establishment, the Obama administration’s decision to open waters off the state’s coast and elsewhere along the Atlantic is being condemned by environmental groups.
Groups like the Sierra Club and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation reacted Tuesday after the administration floated the idea of opening for the first time vast areas off Virginia, North and South Carolina and Georgia to oil companies in 2021.
The Virginia chapter of the Sierra Club says offshore oil exploration threatens the state’s coastal tourism economy, as well as the fishing industry.
“It also risks our climate. The Obama administration has done more than any other to tackle the climate crisis. However, these efforts must extend to keeping dirty fuels in the ground, especially in undeveloped and environmentally fragile areas like those off Virginia’s beaches,” said Sierra Club’s Virginia Director Glen Besa.
The CBF contends offshore drilling creates a new pollution source in waters off the mouth of the bay.
“The Chesapeake Bay is a national treasure, and drilling offshore poses unjustifiable risks to the Bay, its living resources, the tourism economy, and the many jobs dependent on clean water,” remaked Vice President Kim Coble. “A significant portion of the blue crab population utilizes these very waters during the early life cycle stages. The crab larvae can float miles out into the ocean on the water’s surface after they are spawned at the mouth of the Bay. An oil spill could destroy an entire year class of blue crabs. The economic impact from any spill could be huge, hurting commercial watermen, recreational fishing, and tourism.”
Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D-VA) has led the bipartisan support for what he calls responsible oil and gas exploration off the state’s coast. He called the decision a positive step toward responsible offshore energy development that will create jobs and economic activity, while helping our Commonwealth diversify its energy resources.
“If we proceed in a smart and safe way, we can unlock gas, oil, and wind assets offshore while protecting our environment and Virginia’s close relationship with the Department of Defense and other key stakeholders. I will continue to work with the Obama administration on this important issue to move our energy economy forward,” he said.
North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory (R-NC) applauded the decision as well.
“Responsible exploration and development of oil and gas reserves off our coast would create thousands of good paying jobs, spur activity in a host of associated industries, generate billions of dollars in tax revenue and move America closer to energy independence.”
McCrory expressed concern over the 50-mile coastal buffer in the Mid- and South Atlantic lease sale that he believes unnecessarily limits the opportunity for further examination of the resource potential and identification of environmentally sensitive areas.
The Chesapeake Climate Action Network said the Obama administration is turning its back on the lessons of the BP disaster and opening Virginia’s coast to unacceptable and unnecessary risks. Officials adde3d that offshore wind power has far more upside, and none of the same downsides as drilling.
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