Federal government can’t solve alone

Biodiversity Turns – Need Impacts

Uniqueness – Regulations Working Now

Regulations sufficient now - BP spill response resolved major issues

Eric Smith, professor at UC Santa Barbar 8-30-2010 (Foreign Policy, "Think Again: Offshore Drilling", http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/08/30/think_again_offshore_drilling)

A retooling of the U.S. Minerals Management Service (MMS), which oversees offshore drilling, is certainly in order, but waiting for a perfect world makes no sense. The regulatory problems are well on their way to being solved. The blitz of publicity given to oil-industry regulation after the spill and the first round of bureaucratic reforms announced by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar in May are already having a huge impact. The people in charge of safety and environmental protection are now in a separate agency, which no longer reports to the administrators who are under pressure to increase oil revenues. They are also getting more money for inspections and more time to conduct them. Their work is also being monitored by reporters looking for a sensational story. Together, these changes will make offshore oil a lot safer.¶ Before the blowout, MMS actually seemed to be doing a pretty good job. There had been no major oil spill from an offshore platform in U.S. waters since 1969. Both the number of spills and the amount of oil spilled into the ocean had been declining decade by decade since the 1970s. Offshore drilling was getting safer even as more oil was being produced. The result was that both government regulators and oil companies let complacency and overconfidence set in. MMS became a captured agency.

Internal Link - Birds

Spills kill biodiversity

Sierra Club ’09 (Sierra Club, America's largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, 8-09, “Don’t Rig Our Coastal Economy,” www.sierraclub.org/habitat/downloads/2009-08-coasts.pdf)

America’s coasts make up a mosaic of sea grasses,¶ wetlands, estuaries, beaches, and dunes. Offshore¶ drilling is simply not compatible with this fragile ecosystem. ¶ Take the Gulf of Mexico, for example. It is home to more than twenty species of marine¶ mammals, four species of shark, seven species of tuna and five species of sea turtle. All¶ five turtle species found in the Gulf are either endangered or threatened, and are more¶ vulnerable to the adverse impacts of drilling in their habitat. The Gulf is the heart of one¶ of the most important bird migration corridors in the world, and is traveled by hundreds¶ of species of birds each year¶ 7¶ . Offshore oil rigs interfere with migratory routes, spawning,¶ and feeding areas. The pollution and routine spills associated with drilling also destroy¶ critical nesting areas and make fishing more difficult for birds.¶ 8¶ In addition to migratory¶ birds, the eastern Gulf of Mexico supports large populations of brown pelicans and bald¶ eagles. ¶ When oil reaches shallow waters, it picks up sand, and sinks as a result. On the sea floor,¶ the oil persists for a long time, threatening the filter feeders such as shellfish and mussels¶ and everything that eats them, including humans. Additionally, every time a storm¶ churns up the water oil is released out of the sand again.¶ 9¶ Many refuges, national¶ seashores and protected areas around our country have been put in place to protect some¶ of our most endangered species. Even these areas, however, are threatened by drilling as¶ spills and pollutions are not localized events, but rather travel far and wide in ocean¶ currents.

Internal Link - Ocean Life

offshore drilling is bad for the ocean ecosystem

Wangsness ’08 (Lisa Wangsness, a Reporter with Globe Newspaper Company, 6-20-08, “New offshore drilling not a quick fix, analysts say,” Boston Globe, Factiva)

Environmentalists argue that the pollution caused by drilling could compromise fragile ecosystems for very little economic benefit when the United States should be focusing on conservation - the cheapest barrel of oil, they like to say, is the one we don't have to buy - and developing better renewable energy sources.¶ They point to a number of environmental risks. Drilling fluids contain toxic chemicals. If oil is found, one of the waste products is briny water that also contains toxic chemicals. The noise from drilling could harm some sea animals, such as whales. And the oil would also have to be transported by pipeline or ship, creating its own environmental impacts. Then there is a risk of spills.¶ "Today we think offshore oil drilling could be the final straw in the unfolding collapse of New England fisheries," said Priscilla Brooks, director of the Ocean Conservation Project at the Conservation Law Foundation, which successfully fought a proposed drilling lease on Georges Bank in the late 1970s.

offshore drilling is horrible for ocean ecosystems

Danson ’09 (TED DANSON, a longtime ocean activist and a member of the Board of Directors of Oceana, 2-11-09, “OFFSHORE DRILLING:¶ ENVIRONMENTAL AND¶ COMMERCIAL PERSPECTIVES¶ OVERSIGHT HEARING¶ before the¶ COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES¶ U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,” http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-111hhrg47302/html/CHRG-111hhrg47302.htm)

I. Moratoria in the OCS areas and Bristol Bay are Needed to Protect ¶ our Oceans¶ Our oceans and coasts are now at greater risk than at any time ¶ since the early 1980's. Since 1982, Congress has protected Outer ¶ Continental Shelf water in the ``Lower-48'' with a moratorium on oil ¶ and gas activities. Congress also has enacted a moratorium to protect ¶ the sensitive areas of Bristol Bay, Alaska. In addition, Executive ¶ moratoria have been issued by two Presidents. In 1990, responding to ¶ the 11 million gallon Exxon Valdez oil spill, President George H. W. ¶ Bush used his executive authority to place a moratorium on any leasing ¶ or pre-leasing activity in Lower-48 offshore areas, including a small ¶ portion of the Eastern Gulf of Mexico. In a separate action President ¶ Clinton limited new drilling in the rich Bristol Bay fishing grounds in ¶ Alaska until 2012. Unfortunately, Congressional protections for Bristol ¶ Bay lapsed in 2004 and President George W. Bush lifted the Executive ¶ moratorium in 2007. The broader Congressional moratorium for the Lower-¶ 48 offshore areas was allowed to expire in 2008, and the Executive ¶ moratorium was lifted by President George W. Bush that same year. ¶ Reinstating both of the Congressional moratoria, including valuable ¶ habitat areas that were previously removed, such as Bristol Bay, must ¶ be a top priority. The Executive moratoria also should be reinstated to ¶ provide an added layer of protection for our marine life and coasts.¶ Offshore oil and gas activities create a myriad of threats to ¶ marine life including accidents, routine spills, disposal of wastes ¶ such as drilling muds and produced water, and noise pollution. The ¶ dramatic increase in shipping activity associated with platform ¶ maintenance, and increased risks of marine mammal collisions, also ¶ imperil marine species, many of which are already threatened or ¶ endangered.¶ Accidents inevitably accompany all stages of offshore production. ¶ The most typical causes of accidents include equipment failure, ¶ personnel mistakes, and extreme natural impacts from seismic activity, ¶ ice movements, hurricanes, and so on.¶ According to the National Academy of Sciences, ``No current cleanup ¶ methods remove more than a small fraction of oil spilled in marine ¶ waters, especially in the presence of broken ice.'' Discharges ¶ associated with oil platforms, marine transportation, vessel discharges ¶ and accidents add around 120 million gallons of oil to the world's ¶ ocean every year, about a third of all inputs combined, including ¶ natural oil seeps.¶ The impacts of oil on wildlife are numerous. Wildlife can become ¶ coated in or ingest oil, which will often lead to a quick death. ¶ However, oil in the environment can also result in non-lethal impacts, ¶ such as reduced reproduction and liver damage. These impacts are a ¶ death sentence for most animals in the wild, crippling their ability to ¶ avoid predators, find food and shelter and reproduce, all of which are ¶ essential to healthy functioning populations.¶ Toxic compounds in oil have a similarly varied set of effects. ¶ These can include reduced reproductive success due to interruption in ¶ breeding behaviors and damage to the reproductive and immune systems. ¶ Oil's toxic constituents can also damage a long list of organs in ¶ marine animals including the eyes, mouths, skin, nasal cavities, ¶ nervous system, red blood cells, liver, lungs and stomach. It can also ¶ cause damage to turtle and fish eggs, larvae and young, all leading to ¶ varied impacts on survival and reproductive success.¶ Oil can also affect the habitat of marine species, for example, by ¶ contaminating breeding beaches, estuaries, coral reefs, and seagrass ¶ and mangrove communities that are important feeding, breeding and ¶ resting grounds for a variety of species.¶ Finally, these impacts can linger for extremely long time periods ¶ creating continuous low-level exposure to oil in the form of tarballs, ¶ slicks, or elevated levels of chemicals that can cause cancer, ¶ developmental and reproductive impairments.¶ Besides accidents, daily offshore drilling operations also create ¶ other forms of pollution that affect marine and other wildlife. ¶ Offshore rigs can dump tons of drilling fluids, metal cuttings, ¶ including toxic metals (lead, chromium and mercury) and carcinogens ¶ (such as benzene, xylene and toluene and especially polycyclic aromatic ¶ hydrocarbons) into the ocean. Drilling muds are used to lubricate and ¶ cool the drill bit and pipe. One drilling platform normally drills ¶ between seventy and one-hundred wells and discharges more than 90,000 ¶ metric tons of drilling fluids and metal cuttings into the ocean. One ¶ well can potentially affect an area of 1000 meters when it comes to the ¶ discharge of these materials. Some studies suggest that drilling-¶ related chemicals can stunt fish growth and affect breeding patterns. ¶ For example, cod exposed to this waste water had smaller eggs and ¶ delayed spawning time.

Offshore drilling catastrophic for marine and other wildlife

Oceana 12. The Three Myths of Offshore Drilling. Oceana – Protecting the World’s Oceans – leading international organization for ocean conservation, Senate Committee. http://oceana.org/es/our-work/climate-energy/offshore-drilling/learn-act/the-three-myths-of-offshore-drilling //NM

Offshore drilling operations create various forms of pollution that have considerable negative effects on marine and other wildlife.¶ These include drilling muds, brine wastes, deck runoff water and flowline and pipeline leaks. Catastrophic spills and blowouts are also a threat from offshore drilling operations. These operations also pose a threat to human health, especially to oil platform workers themselves.¶ Drilling muds and produced water are disposed of daily by offshore rigs. Offshore rigs can dump tons of drilling fluid, metal cuttings, including toxic metals, such as lead chromium and mercury, as well as carcinogens, such as benzene, into the ocean.¶ Effects of Drilling Muds¶ Drilling muds are used for the lubrication and cooling of the drill bit and pipe. The muds also remove the cuttings that come from the bottom of the oil well and help prevent blowouts by acting as a sealant. There are different types of drilling muds used in oil drilling operations, but all release toxic chemicals that can affect marine life. One drilling platform normally drills between seventy and one hundred wells and discharges more than 90,000 metric tons of drilling fluids and metal cuttings into the ocean.¶ Effects of Produced Water¶ Produced water is fluid trapped underground and brought up with oil and gas. It makes up about 20 percent of the waste associated with offshore drilling. Produced waters usually have an oil content of 30 to 40 parts per million. As a result, the nearly 2 billion gallons of produced water released into the Cook Inlet in Alaska each year contain about 70,000 gallons of oil.¶ Effects of Exploration¶ Factors other than pollutants can affect marine wildlife as well. Exploration for offshore oil involves firing air guns which send a strong shock across the seabed that can decrease fish catch, damage the hearing capacity of various marine species and may lead to marine mammal strandings.¶ More drilling muds and fluids are discharged into the ocean during exploratory drilling than in developmental drilling because exploratory wells are generally deeper, drilled slower and are larger in diameter. The drilling waste, including metal cuttings, from exploratory drilling are generally dumped in the ocean, rather than being brought back up to the platform.¶ Effects of Offshore Oil Rigs¶ Offshore oil rigs may also attract seabirds at night due to their lighting and flaring and because fish aggregate near them. Bird mortality has been associated with physical collisions with the rigs, as well as incineration by the flare and oil from leaks. This process of flaring involves the burning off of fossil fuels which produces black carbon.¶ Black carbon contributes to climate change as it is a potent warmer both in the atmosphere and when deposited on snow and ice. Drilling activity around oil rigs is suspected of contributing to elevated levels of mercury in Gulf of Mexico fish.