President Obama and Expanded Offshore Oil & Gas Drilling

President Obama called for expanded offshore oil and gas drilling in his State of the Union address. The Center opposes expanded offshore oil and gas drilling, particularly off of our East and West coasts. We also need to protect the Florda coasts, even from foreign drillers.

Assuming there is oil and gas in these offshore areas, they should be off limits until all other oil and gas reserves on Earth, including shale and oil sands, have been exhausted. We estimate that it could be hundreds of years, particularly if we adopt alternative transportation fuels and vehicles. And carbon dioxide can also be converted into gasoline.

Our ocean environments and our coasts are also simply too valuable to put at risk.