In hopes of extracting oil and gas from the Atlantic coast to gain more independence in energy, the federal government have moved to allow off-shore drilling leases between 2017-2022 from Virginia to Georgia, excluding Florida’s coast.
Oceana, an ocean conservation organization that lobbies for clean ocean and energy policies concluded in a report that development of the Atlantic coast would risk the industries that rely on a healthy ocean ecosystem, which amounts to roughly $36.6 billion yearly. That primarily consists of tourism, recreation and fishing.
Groups like Oceana do have a genuine concern. The 2010 BP oil spill off of the Gulf of Mexico, still etched into the national consciousness, left an ecosystem destitute along with the fishing industry in the area. Marine biologists have found that more than 900 bottle-nosed dolphins and 500 sea turtles died since the spill.
It may be one thing if oil spills were an irregularity but that’s not the case. In 2014 alone, 73 domestic pipeline-related spills occurred according to the Associated Press.
It brings into question the sustainability for an energy source that is hazardous to economies in coastal areas as well as the marine animals that inhabit it.
The exclusion of Florida is good news for opponents of off-shore drilling but there are still concerns over what may come next. This exclusion may have little effect on pending permit requests of more than half a dozen companies who wish to do seismic testing to search for oil and gas deposits. They are being reviewed by the Federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and could be granted as early as next year.
Seismic testing is conducted with towing equipment behind large ships by geology companies that are used to send blasts of compressed air. The sound has been comparable to a jet taking off. The sound hits the sea floor and scientists examine the data to confirm if geological formations are likely to have deposits.
But the problem is that the air-guns used in seismic testing are known to cause hearing loss, distort mating calls, disrupt feedings and other important sounds for whales, fish and other marine animals.
The federal government’s impact statement estimated that as many as 138,000 whales and dolphins could be deafened or killed for conducting surveys off the coast of Florida. They would be conducted at least 3 miles from the coast. But in the report by Oceana, they state that the surveys could disrupt the behavior of marine animals as far as 100 miles from the coast because of the way sound travels through water.
A number of city governments on the coast have also passed resolutions opposing seismic testing such as New Smyrna, St. Augustine, Cocoa Beach, Indian Harbour Beach, Jacksonville, Melbourne, Satellite Beach among others.
Energy policy makers are surely walking down a slippery slope. As much scientific research that’s available, it’s surely time to abandon processes that are largely unsustainable and look towards developing cleaner forms of energy.