Offshore Energy Development Requires Delicate Balance
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NEW ORLEANS — As the Obama administration formulates its energy policy, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Wednesday he would take a broad look at exploiting the waters off U.S. shores, advancing both renewable energy and traditional drilling.
Salazar spoke at a public meeting as he draws up a plan for development in federal waters, or the Outer Continental Shelf. Federal waters extend 200 miles offshore and cover about 1.7 billion acres.
In keeping with Obama's pledge to be more environmentally conscious than the Bush administration, Salazar also emphasized the need to balance environmental and economic interests.
"It seems to me that we may be at the point of time to bring those two things together," Salazar said.
"We will find the right balance," he added. "I would think that most people in America would want us to address the economic security, the national security and the environmental security issues that confront our country."
In February, Salazar said his agency would develop a comprehensive plan for offshore development by identifying available resources and issuing rules for offshore windmills and deep-sea turbines.
In 2007, the Outer Continental Shelf accounted for 14 percent of the nation's natural gas production and 27 percent of its oil production. Salazar said the waters off the coast could produce much more of the nation's energy needs.
Wednesday's meeting was held at Tulane University in New Orleans.
As oil and environmental interests spoke during a comment period, Salazar repeatedly said he was open to listening to both sides.
Several officials from Gulf states, including Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., and Rep. Gene Taylor, D-Miss., stressed the importance of oil and gas in the region.
Salazar has been reviewing whether offshore drilling should be expanded. Earlier this year, he scrapped a Bush administration drilling plan that included energy development along both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts.
On Wednesday, he said he understands the importance of oil and gas drilling, but said there were legitimate concerns about its expansion into the eastern portion of the Gulf, closer to the shores of Florida, where drilling has been off-limits.
He also noted that oil and gas companies already have plenty of places to drill. "I also would remind all of us there is extensive acreage that we are making available for lease in the Gulf of Mexico," he said.
Oil companies see it differently.
"All areas of the Outer Continental Shelf should be open without delays for oil and natural gas development," said Sara Banaszak, senior economist of the American Petroleum Institute. "This would mean more jobs, more revenues for cash-strapped local, state and federal governments, and greater energy security."
Public meetings will be held Tuesday in Anchorage, Alaska, and April 16 in San Francisco. On Monday, the Interior Department held the first meeting in Atlantic City, N.J.
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CAIN BURDEAU 04/ 8/09 07:16 PM ET Associated Press