Salazar, at a news conference Tuesday, criticized "the midnight timetable" for new oil and gas development on the country's Outer Continental Shelf proposed by the Bush administration four days before President Barack Obama took office on January 20.
The secretary said the [image-nocss] previous administration's plan did not take into consideration the views of states and coastal communities, nor a need to better understand what energy resources are at stake, especially off the Atlantic coast where oil and gas estimates are more than three decades old.
"We need to...restore an orderly process to our offshore energy planning program," said Salazar, criticizing "foot dragging" by the Bush administration in pushing for renewable energy development in coastal waters.
Salazar did not rule out expanded offshore drilling, but criticized "the enormous sweep" of the Bush proposal, which envisioned energy development from New England to Alaska including lease sales in areas off California and in the North Atlantic that have been off-limits for a quarter century.
Congress last fall ended the broad drilling ban, dating back to 1981, that has kept energy companies from even exploring or conducting seismic studies across 85% of the offshore federal waters.
But it remains up to the Interior Department to issue specific plans for drilling leases. And Salazar indicated Tuesday he is in no rush to open vast expanses of long-protected waters, promising "to create our own timetable."
Salazar directed Interior Department scientists to produce new reports on how much oil and gas might be found off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and extended the public comment period on a new five-year leasing plan to September. He said he will hold regional meetings to get comments from the public before continuing with an offshore energy plan.
Offshore drilling became a contentious issue during the presidential campaign as Republican John McCain made it a pivotal part of his energy agenda. Obama has said he is not opposed to drilling in some waters that have been off limits, but insisted it should be part of a broader energy plan.
Salazar said any offshore energy plan must include a push for more renewable energy, principally wind power. "The Bush administration was so intent on opening new areas for oil and gas offshore that it torpedoed offshore renewable energy efforts," maintained Salazar. "It was not their priority."
He promised to move aggressively to complete a new regulation on offshore renewable energy programs including wind, solar and wave energy projects. But Salazar did not rule out an expansion off offshore oil and gas drilling. Some issues such as revenue sharing from offshore energy development must still be worked out in Congress, which also is likely to have a say on what specific waters might again be put off limits.
Salazar, however, has not abandoned a proposal for oil and gas leasing off Virginia, which is included in the current drilling plan scheduled to expire in 2012, nor has he indicated a desire to cancel leasing plans off Alaska including in the Chukchi Sea and Bristol Bay were drilling leases are facing court challenges.
The announcement was hailed by environmentalists and some drilling opponents in Congress as a new direction in U.S. offshore energy development. It's "a new way of doing business" at the Interior Department, said Wesley Warren at the Natural Resources Defense Council, citing Salazar's emphasis on renewable energy development.
U.S. Representative Edward Markey (D-Mass.) said Salazar was "bringing...regulatory sanity back into our energy policy."
But Jack Gerard, president of the American Petroleum Institute (API), which represents the large oil companies, said Salazar's announcement "means that development of our offshore resources could be stalled indefinitely."
At an energy conference in Houston on Tuesday, BP chief executive Tony Hayward and Royal Dutch Shell CEO Jeroen van der Veer urged the government to open more offshore regions to exploration and production. "We have the know-how and technology to tap these resources safely and with minimal impact to the environment," Hayward said.
The Interior Department estimates-using 30-year-old studies-that offshore waters recently lifted from drilling bans contain at least 18 billion barrels of oil, about half of it off California.
Environmental advocates urged Congress on Wednesday to reinstate the broad moratorium on offshore oil drilling, but a key congressman said on that issue, "The ship may have already sailed."
Rep. Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.), chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, said the political reality is that the broad moratorium across 85% of the country's Outer Continental Shelf lifted by Congress last fall is unlikely to be reimposed.
But Rahall, who opened the first of three hearings on offshore drilling, said Congress may need to establish protective buffer areas and place certain regions, including some waters off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, off limits. "If we are going to start drilling in new areas offshore we're going to have to be aware of what the trade-offs are...that it can be done safely," said Rahall. He argued that the "vast majority" of Outer Continental Shelf oil resources are already in federal waters available for leasing.
At a House hearing, Philippe Cousteau, grandson of legendary ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau, urged Congress to reinstate the offshore drilling bans that until last fall had been in effect for 25 years in Atlantic and Pacific coastal waters. "It's absolutely critical for the health of the oceans," said Cousteau, a board member of the advocacy group Ocean Conservancy. "Oil spills still occur."
Actor Ted Danson, founder of the American Oceans Campaign and leader of the advocacy group Oceana, said offshore drilling is "flirting with disaster" because of potential oil spills not only at drilling rigs, but in transporting the oil produced. Danson said the country should be moving away from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources such as offshore wind and energy from tidal waves because of the threats of climate change, which he said is another threat to ocean health.
In response to Danson, API released the following statement:
"Renewable energy sources will be a growing part of America's energy future. But it is wrong to suggest that re-imposing the federal moratoria on offshore exploration and development is a step toward that goal. In fact, oil and natural gas stand as the logical bridge to that future, and even with a significant increase in the use of alternatives, are expected to be dominant fuel sources in 2030 and beyond. Americans have clearly said in public opinion polls that they want to develop their energy resources and reduce our nation's dependence on imported oil.
"The oil and natural gas industry has established itself as a good steward of the oceans and is now sharing its best practices with other sectors of the marine transportation industry. Through improved technology and training the industry has operated in the Gulf of Mexico without a significant oil spill, even in the face of powerful hurricanes. Leases on the Outer Continental Shelf produce about 1.4 million barrels of oil per day. And the Minerals Management Service estimates that since 1980 less than 0.001 percent of the oil produced there has spilled. That is significantly less than the volume of natural seeps from the Gulf of Mexico.
"We welcome the development of green jobs. But in seeking to create new jobs, we must not adopt policies that could destroy oil and natural gas industry jobs; exploration and production jobs typically pay more than double the average American wage and already are helping to support families and communities. The development of onshore and offshore resources that Congress has kept off limits for decades could create 160,000 new jobs, $1.7 trillion in revenues to federal, state and local governments and greater energy security.
"Our companies are eager to safely develop the oil and natural gas resources that belong to the American people, create jobs and help fuel an economic recovery and future growth."
Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.), the House Resources Committee's top Republican, said that expanded offshore drilling is "about creating good American jobs" and reducing the nation's dependence on foreign oil and the OPEC oil cartel. Hastings argued that new drilling will create thousands of jobs, seeking to link the issue with today's soaring unemployment rate and congressional efforts to revive the economy.
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