US Still Processing Atlantic Seismic Permits
Oceanic and Atmoshperic Administration issued permits that would allow for the incidental harassment of marine mammals with air gun blasts in a region of the Atlantic from Delaware to Cape Canaveral, Florida.The last time seismic surveys were completed in the Atlantic was in the 1980s. The Obama administration banned seismic testing permits there in 2016 after it removed the Atlantic coasts from drilling in its five-year OCS proposal.Gail Adams-Jackson, spokeswoman for the International Association of Geophysical Contractors, a trade group representing seismic testing companies, said its members
US States Slow Trump Offshore Oil Drilling Expansion Plan
slowly due to opposition from coastal states and indifference from oil companies that have turned their focus to other opportunities. The administration hopes encouraging U.S. energy development outside of shale oilfields will further its goal of "energy dominance." But existing Obama administration lease rules remain in place through 2022 unless the new rules gain approval. The Department of the Interior this year proposed opening vast new acreage in the U.S. outer continental shelf to drilling. The comment period wrapped up March 9. Still, Secretary Ryan Zinke said last week
U.S. Navy Assesses Fleet Structure
Strategy. There’s a series of events that have to happen before we do the FSA, starting with the combatant commanders all the way down to the defense planning guidance that leads us to the scenarios we need to plan for,” Merz said. The last FSA, issued in the last days of the Obama administration by Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus, set the goal for active Navy ships at 355 from a 308 total from the previous 2014 FSA. The 2016 FSA expressed a desire for higher-end ships like attack submarine and guided-missile destroyers and cruisers to the total. It added 16 large surface
Trump Aims to Open Nearly All US Offshore to Oil Drilling
Ryan Zinke said on Thursday the department's draft National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2019 to 2024 would make over 90 percent of the outer continental shelf’s total acreage available for leasing to drillers, a national record. That would reverse the Obama administration order placing 94 percent of the Outer Continental Shelf off limits to drillers. Obama's 2017-2022 plan would be replaced by the new program when it is finalized. "We want to grow our nation’s offshore energy industry, instead of slowly surrendering it to foreign shores
Op/Ed: A Nail in the Coffin for US Offshore Exploration
conflict with BOEM’s own scientific conclusion that seismic surveys are environmentally safe, it is self-fulfilling rhetoric, basing its reasoning on President Obama’s recent withdrawal of 3.8 million acres in the north and mid-Atlantic Ocean. This decision continues the Obama administration’s dismissal of scientifically-backed offshore policies and ignores the fact that seismic and other geophysical surveys have been safely conducted offshore in the U.S. and around the world for more than 50 years. What’s more, the decision dismisses BOEM’s own finding that
Obama Bans New Drilling off Alaska, Part of Atlantic Shore
and would fight the Trump administration's attempts to open it up. "The people of the Atlantic coast have refused to allow their way of life to be compromised," said Jacqueline Savitz, senior vice president of Florida-based ocean conservancy group Oceana. She said the Obama administration move to protect the Atlantic coast was a "smart business decision" since it would protect the lucrative tourism and fishing industries of East Coast communities. (Reporting by Timothy Gardner and Valerie Volcovici; Additional reporting by Andrea Hopkins; Editing
Obama Administration Bars New Oil, Gas Exploration off Alaska
The Obama administration on Friday blocked new exploration for oil and gas in Arctic waters, in a win for environmental groups that had fought development of the ecologically fragile region. The Department of the Interior released a 2017 to 2022 leasing plan that blocked drilling in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas off northern Alaska. It also limited petroleum development in the Cook Inlet off south-central Alaska. Environmental activists have battled drilling in Alaska to protect whales, walruses and seals, and as part of a broader movement to keep remaining fossil fuels in the ground.
US to Auction Leasing Rights Offshore NY for Wind Energy Development
The U.S. government on Thursday announced a Dec. 15 auction for the leasing rights to develop wind energy off the coast of New York as part of the Obama administration's push to create jobs through renewable energy. The Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will auction the rights to 79,350 acres or about 125 square miles (325 square kilometers) in federal waters. Fourteen companies are eligible to participate in the lease sale, the agencies said. The New York Wind Energy Area starts about 11.5 nautical miles from Jones Beach, a state park on a barrier
New Task Force for California Offshore Renewables
Shelf (OCS), offshore California. California Governor Jerry Brown requested formation of the task force in a May 12, 2016 letter to Interior Secretary Sally Jewell. “Today’s inaugural meeting of the California Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Task Force underscores the Obama Administration’s commitment to combating the effects of climate change and marks an important step in California’s role as a leader in renewable energy development,” said Janice Schneider, Interior Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management. “California, with its track record
February 2024
