Letter to the Editor: Offshore Drilling

By Tara Lafemina

To the Editor,

A letter in response to the article, “Obama to Open Offshore Areas to Oil Drilling for First Time,” in the New York Times on March 30th.

President Obama is making a big mistake by opening up a vast area offshore to drill. Our time and energy should be spent developing new technology, so we are not dependent upon oil.

The new offshore drilling is an attempt to not rely on foreign imports. I believe that our reliance on foreign oil imports is very bad, but we should not be sacrificing our oceans.

Obama says the drilling will generate revenue and lead to climate and energy legislation. Both of these ‘pros’ will be short lived.

Drilling off of our coast may hold us over for a while. Eventually it is going to run out. Then what are we going to do?

Officials have made it clear they are not sure how much oil can be generated from drilling. They estimate a three-year supply of recoverable oil and two years worth of natural gas. This is not going to do much to help us. This minimal amount of resources is not worth the risk. Drilling over 300 million acres for just this small amount does not make any sense.

New ways to access oil should not be a priority for this country. We should be advancing and looking for alternatives. We cannot carry on and assume resources such as oil will never fail us.

Offshore drilling will not only negatively affect the environment, it will affect the people living in these coastal areas. The coastal area of drilling is vast, ranging from New Jersey to Florida and along the Gulf Coast. Governors and senators are already not happy with this proposal. Of course, environmental advocates believe offshore drilling will be a big mistake.

At least Obama does not plan to drill off the Alaska coast. Since Bristol Bay is home to endangered species and fisheries, it is important to at least save this area.

Obama had a hard decision to make about offshore drilling. Perhaps this is a compromise to appeal to Republicans, who generally are for drilling. Hopefully, before drilling starts the administration comes up with a plan to scale back on drilling. We can only hope that not much of the environment is destroyed.