OPEN Act by Sens. Warner and Webb closes the door on more beneficial sources of energy

It’s a topsy-turvy world for Virginia’s Democrats, and there’s no better example of this than the announcement of The Offshore Petroleum Expansion Act of 2012 (i.e. the OPEN Act), on Wednesday, by Sens. Jim Webb and Mark Warner. Not only does the act have a catchy acronym (i.e. OPEN), it also distinctly shows that environmental advocates in Virginia have few friends in the U.S. Congress, let alone the state’s General Assembly.#

In the case of Webb, the act doesn’t come as much of a surprise. Webb noted, “I have long advocated opening up more of the nation’s outer continental shelf resources to responsible natural gas and oil exploration.”# Indeed, but where has responsible oil and natural gas exploration been found in the U.S.?#

Warner’s part in the OPEN Act doesn’t come as too much of a shocker either. Warner has always been a politician who makes political decisions like the businessman that he is. According to Warner, “Our economy and national security will be strengthened by an ‘all-of-the-above’ approach to energy, including the expanded production of our own domestic energy resources.”#

So, as usual, we have the national security and economic lines of argument being lined up in favor of drilling off of Virginia’s coast. But here’s a big wrench that has yet to be removed from the idea of drilling off Virginia’s coast: the 2011 estimates used by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to determine how much oil and natural gas is under the Atlantic Ocean and consequently how much annual revenue Virginia can hope to receive are based on 40 to 50 year old surveys!#

Furthermore, it is going to take more than 10 years for production to “ramp up.”# Thus, national security will have to wait at least a decade!


Most Americans, including myself, want to see a secure America with continuing economic growth. But there are short-term policy roads that shouldn’t be taken. Drilling off the coast of Virginia is one of them. What may be politically convenient now may not prove to be a resounding policy success in the future.

Let’s turn Virginia away from “drill, baby, drill,” with energy policies that look towards the future. Let’s reinvest our time and our energy in renewable and high-technology forms of energy, even though it may not be the politically easy road.


#  http://augustafreepress.com/2012/07/25/webb-warner-cosponsor-legislation-to-expand-offshore-leasing/
#  http://augustafreepress.com/2012/07/25/webb-warner-cosponsor-legislation-to-expand-offshore-leasing/
#  http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/o/offshore_drilling_and_exploration/index.html
#  http://augustafreepress.com/2012/07/25/webb-warner-cosponsor-legislation-to-expand-offshore-leasing/
#  http://www.politifact.com/virginia/statements/2012/mar/23/jim-moran/moran-says-dilling-virginias-coast-will-net-4-mill/#
#  http://www.politifact.com/virginia/statements/2012/mar/23/jim-moran/moran-says-dilling-virginias-coast-will-net-4-mill/