Castor on McCain’s energy plan
June 18, 2008 at 4:24 pm by Wayne GarciaCongresswoman Kathy Castor, who has helped lead the fight in Congress against oil drilling off Florida’s Gulf coast, released this statement today, which I present in full:
“The Bush/McCain proposal to severely expand drilling for oil in the coastal waters of the State of Florida is a political gimmick that will not lower gas prices for consumers but will have real and tragic consequences for Florida’s economy and natural environment.”
First, let us examine the fallacy of the argument that this policy would lower gas prices. Currently, 68 million acres of leased federal lands and waters are currently open to drilling but are not being tapped. Most offshore oil and gas reserves are already available. Since President Bush took office in 2000, the number of wells in federally-leased areas has increased exponentially, but gas prices have risen just the same. In fact, gas prices have more than doubled since President Bush took office in 2000.
“Instead of calling for drilling just off the beaches of Florida, I urge President Bush and Senator McCain to join me and other congressional members in support of our ‘Use It or Lose It’ legislation, which directs oil companies to target the 68 million open acres before they build rigs just off our coastline,” said Castor. Oil companies have had every incentive to drill in these locations because they are not paying the royalties to American taxpayers as they should. “I am calling President Bush’s and Senator McCain’s bluff and the oil companies bluff that opening new areas to drilling will lower prices,” said Castor.Castor explained, “Indeed, just two years ago, the Administration successfully pressed to open 8.3 million new acres for drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico off of Florida’s west coast. Oil executives promised that relief at the pump would follow, but production in that area has not even begun and gas prices have skyrocketed. Therefore, if according to the Mineral Management Service (“MMS”), 80 percent of recoverable oil and natural gas reserves are concentrated in areas already available for drilling and millions of acres off the coast of Florida were recently opened to drilling, why would Florida families believe President Bush and the oil companies again?”
“Second, expanding drilling just off the coast of Florida is a risk that Florida families cannot afford especially in this painful Bush economy. While President Bush, Senator McCain and Big Oil are willing to put Florida’s vital tourism and fishing economies at risk for a small amount of oil and gas, we are not willing to do so. We cannot sacrifice Florida’s billion-dollar tourism and fishing industries, our beaches, coastal environment and marine resources due to the Administration’s wholesale failure in energy policy. Trying to convince the American people that this proposal is the answer to high gas prices insults our intelligence,” said Castor.
How can you ignore the fact that over 3 million gallons of oil spilled from OCS oil and gas operations in 73 incidents between 1980 and 1999? Current cleanup methods are incapable of removing more than a small fraction of the oil spilled in marine waters.
How can you ignore the threat of hurricanes off the coast of Florida? Storms along the Gulf Coast in 2005 caused 124 oil spills in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. During Hurricane Katrina alone 233,000 gallons of oil were spilled. There were 508,000 gallons spilled during Hurricane Rita. The U.S. Coast Guard estimates that 7 million gallons of oil and petroleum product was released into the Gulf by damaged infrastructure of one kind or another.
It would only take 24 hours after a petroleum spill in the Eastern Gulf for the oil to sully Florida’s panhandle beaches. If the spill was swept up in the Gulf’s powerful loop current, the spill would pollute the Florida Keys and contaminate estuaries and beaches from the Everglades to Cape Canaveral. Even without a hurricane, the MMS estimates that each platform discharges hundreds of thousands of gallons of contaminated water every day, typically containing a variety of toxic pollutants, including benzene, arsenic, lead, naphthalene, zinc and toluene, and can contain varying amounts of radioactive pollutants.
“Consumers have every right to be concerned about the middle class squeeze and energy prices brought on by the White House economic policies of the last eight years. However, Administration efforts would be better spent on long-term solutions that reduce our dependence on petroleum. This has been the fundamental failure of the petrocentric energy policies of the Bush Administration,” said Castor.
“Big Oil has had a stranglehold over our country’s energy policy and now Americans are paying the price. I urge President Bush and Senator McCain not to reward Big Oil’s latest attempt to grab even more. I call on President Bush to provide real leadership to reduce our dependence on oil and gas (as the United States continues to consume 25 percent of oil produced worldwide). Speak out for conservation and new renewable technologies. Join us in fighting harmful speculation in petroleum markets. And by all means join our efforts to end the massive, wasteful taxpayer subsidies to the Big Oil companies. Mr. President, short term political gimmicks are no substitute for real leadership,” said Castor.
Bonus cuts: download .pdf’s of a House Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources chart on energy prices and oil drilling and a report from the House Committee on Natural Resources.
