Energy in America: EPA Rules Force Shell to Abandon Oil Drilling Plans

[Argyle58]

FoxNews.com:

Energy in America: EPA Rules Force Shell to Abandon Oil Drilling PlansBy Dan Springer

Published April 25, 2011
| FoxNews.com
Shell Oil Company has announced it must scrap efforts to drill for oil this summer in the Arctic Ocean off the northern coast of Alaska. The decision comes following a ruling by the EPA’s Environmental Appeals Board to withhold critical air permits. The move has angered some in Congress and triggered a flurry of legislation aimed at stripping the EPA of its oil drilling oversight.

Shell has spent five years and nearly $4 billion dollars on plans to explore for oil in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas. The leases alone cost $2.2 billion. Shell Vice President Pete Slaiby says obtaining similar air permits for a drilling operation in the Gulf of Mexico would take about 45 days. He’s especially frustrated over the appeal board’s suggestion that the Arctic drill would somehow be hazardous for the people who live in the area. “We think the issues were really not major,” Slaiby said, “and clearly not impactful for the communities we work in.”

The closest village to where Shell proposed to drill is Kaktovik, Alaska. It is one of the most remote places in the United States. According to the latest census, the population is 245 and nearly all of the residents are Alaska natives. The village, which is 1 square mile, sits right along the shores of the Beaufort Sea, 70 miles away from the proposed off-shore drill site.

The EPA’s appeals board ruled that Shell had not taken into consideration emissions from an ice-breaking vessel when calculating overall greenhouse gas emissions from the project. Environmental groups were thrilled by the ruling.

Production on the North Slope of Alaska is declining at a rate of about 7 percent a year. If the volume gets much lower, pipeline officials say they will have to shut it down. Alaska officials are blasting the Environmental Protection Agency.

“It’s driving investment and production overseas,” said Alaska’s DNR Commissioner Dan Sullivan. “That doesn’t help the United States in any way, shape or form.”

The EPA did not return repeated calls and e-mails. The Environmental Appeals Board has four members: Edward Reich, Charles Sheehan, Kathie Stein and Anna Wolgast. All are registered Democrats and Kathie Stein was an activist attorney for the Environmental Defense Fund. Members are appointed by the EPA administrator. Alaska’s Republican senator thinks it’s time to make some changes.

[NCTexan]

The ObamaNation's deceptive words and tactics:

Oh course, we'll allow drilling to meet our nation's critical need for energy independence.

 

But nobody will get past our dragnet of carefully crafted rules.... Ha ha ha ha ha!!!!!

[AceRimmer]

The ObamaNation's deceptive words and tactics:

Oh course, we'll allow drilling to meet our nation's critical need for energy independence.

 

But nobody will get past our dragnet of carefully crafted rules.... Ha ha ha ha ha!!!!!

 

The first thing our new GOP President needs to do when he takes office in 2013 is abolish the EPA and fire all the tree huggers who tie everything up in red tape. He/she should also get rid of the department of education, since it's another money hog that doesn't do anything worthy of the phrase "Common sense".

[Casino67]

“@Michael_Haz: Judging by the news - gas prices are so high because the rich don't pay enough taxes and the cure is golf and fund-raising.”