Fishing Can be a Blast. So Can Looking for Oil. Can Both Coexist Peacefully?

The Surge | June 9, 2016 | Jeff Miller

Generally, when I see an article online, hear a news story on TV, or get one sent to me by my editor at The Surge, I form an immediate opinion and know right off the bat which way the ensuing article or opinion piece will go.

Not this time.

True enough, I have worked in the energy industry most of my adult life, and I owe it a lot. But I also live on the second largest lake in Texas, and have a great appreciation for aquatic life and the surrounding environment.

But it was the oil industry that gave me the means to buy this home on the lake. And the resident aquatic life that lets me enjoy it.

So when I see a story about something that could have the potential of generating lifelong supplies of oil and gas for America, but may be dangerous to marine life, I’m in a quandary.

Let me give you both sides of the issue and maybe after that, I’ll be able to take a side in this matter.

Four companies have applied for permits with the National Marine Fisheries Service to conduct seismic surveying of the ocean floor in the Atlantic between Delaware and Florida. That’s a pretty big expanse of water.

The surveying would be done to discover any oil and gas deposits that reside beneath the ocean. But in order to survey, the companies involved use a technique that involves blasting the ocean floor with sound waves which bounce off and are subsequently recorded by ships on the surface.

Read the full story here.