We can find places to drill offshore: Rep. Ed Markey.
Markey open to some offshore drilling
The chair of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming said he thought drilling was appropriate in some parts of the outer continental shelf but not all of it, and he declined to specify what areas could see a drill bit in the coming years.
US Representative Ed Markey, told reporters during a briefing at the Cambridge Energy Research Associates Week in Houston today that drilling the outer continental shelf could be one part the nation’s comprehensive energy policy.
“We can find areas of the outer continental shelf that are appropriate for drilling,” Markey said.
When pressed about where those areas may be, Markey deflected, saying they would have “to emerge as part of a comprehensive reevaluation of all the areas off our coasts.”
The only spot Markey singled out by name was Georges Bank, which he said should be off limits to exploration.
When asked about a possible timeline to address a plan for the outer continental shelf, Markey cautioned that it could be a lengthy process, saying the US Department of the Interior needed to hire personnel and do “site characterisation” before potential leasing could move forward.
Despite his endorsement of some offshore access, Markey repeatedly pointed out that the US imports 13 million barrels of oil per day, and stressed that offshore drilling needed to be part of a bigger energy plan for the nation.
“We can’t drill ourselves out of this crisis,” he said.
Markey did not give a timetable for Congress or the Obama administration to present a new energy plan for consideration but said it was at the top of the list of priorities for both President Barack Obama and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.
“Over the next several months you will see an evolving dynamic energy policy unfold,” he said.
In addition to heading the select committee, Markey sits on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, chairing that committee’s Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment and the House Natural Resources Committee.
Last week, Republican lawmakers, led by House Republican Leader Representative John Boehner, asked Obama to move forward a 5-year plan proposed by the Bush administration that would have led to leasing on the OCS.
The preliminary plan would authorise 31 energy exploration lease sales between 2010 and 2015 for tracts along the Atlantic coast and off the coasts of Alaska and California.
New Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar echoed many of Markey’s words at a press conference last week after members of the administration received the Republicans’ letter, saying that there were areas that may be appropriate for drilling, but promising changes to the Bush plan.