The Obama administration’s recent decision not to allow offshore drilling off the Carolina Coast for at least five years was rightly applauded and celebrated.
It was unquestionably good news for everyone who cares about the beauty of our beaches. We can all breathe a little easier now that the specter of offshore oil platforms and catastrophic spills no longer lingers.
A well-deserved pat on the back goes out to the unlikely coalition of environmentalists, politicians from both sides of the aisle, businesses, regular people and tourism boards that came together and made their voices heard.
But let’s not get too carried away. It was not, as one environmental group classified it, “a courageous decision that begins the shift to a new energy paradigm, where clean energy replaces fossil fuels, and where we can avoid the worst impacts of decades of our carbon dioxide emissions.” Or “a victory for people over politics” that “will help promote the clean energy solutions that we so desperately need.”
And while it’s a victory for the environment, it’s not true that as another said, “coastal communities have won a ‘David vs. Goliath’ fight against the richest companies on the planet, and that is a cause for tremendous optimism for the well-being of future generations.”
In 1992, political operative James Carville helped propel Bill Clinton to the White House by popularizing the adage, “It’s the economy, stupid.” In this case, it’s all about the economics.
It’s doubtful the Obama administration felt any political pressure from “Big Oil” on this one, because there currently is no economic incentive for companies to invest in new offshore projects.
It’s a simple matter of supply and demand. The world is awash in crude, creating a supply glut. Storage levels in the U.S. are at record highs, hitting 523 million barrels for the week ending on March 11. Oil prices bottomed out at $26.05 a barrel on Feb. 11, a 13-year low.
Prices have rebounded sharply since, topping $40 per barrel and causing motorists a little more pain at the pump, but experts expect the rally to top out soon.
The spike in prices came after Saudi Arabia, Russia and other OPEC countries agreed to a tentative deal to freeze output. But to be effective a freeze would require full participation, and Iran is proceeding with plans to increase its oil output.
The prospect of new shale production also should cap any further potential price increase.
There are thousands of drilled but uncompleted wells in the United States Shale companies don’t have any incentive to complete them while oil prices are low, but are ready to ramp up production if prices rise.
Those wells could be completed in weeks or months. Offshore projects can take several years. So again, without the economic incentive there is no political pressure to drill in the ocean.
At the same time the offshore drilling ban is going into effect, there is increasing chatter about wind farms in our waters.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has identified three potential areas off North Carolina’s coast for constructing offshore wind farms, one near Kitty Hawk and two off Brunswick County, and is in the process of meetings and revisions that could result in leases being sold.
It would be a moment of sublime serendipity if waters that once might have surrounded oil platforms extracting fossil fuels from the ocean floor instead embraced wind turbines producing renewable energy, but it’s not likely to happen for years. If at all.
For one thing, some of the same groups that fought against the oilrigs also oppose the wind farms.
The two sites near us are known as Wilmington West and Wilmington East. The turbines in the west zone would be less than 12 miles from the Sunset Beach Pier. The ones in the east zone would be 18.5 miles from the Bald Head Island Lighthouse, Old Baldy. The turbines would be 460 feet high, and blink with red hazard lights.
During a meeting in Wilmington last fall, the N.C. Renewable Energy Task Force heard objections from residents and representatives from the tourism industry.
Even if plans proceed and the leases are purchased, for the foreseeable future wind is simply not cost effective enough to make it worthwhile.
The push toward renewable energy is understandable and should be embraced. We are merely stewards of this planet, and we need to take care of our home. We should look toward the day when renewable energy is economically viable and can replace fossil fuels.
In the meantime, we can celebrate the victory over offshore drilling. It is a win for the environment, no matter how it came to be.
