Want To Save the Environment? Support Offshore Drilling

The Daily Caller | Bethany Marcum | May 3, 2018

Several states are preparing to sue the federal government. They’re trying to halt Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s planned expansion of offshore oil and natural gas drilling. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, the most vocal opponent of Sec. Zinke’s plan, claims the drilling “threatens our environment and our economy.”

He’s wrong on both counts. The proposal would create jobs for Americans and boost our economy while posing minimal risk to the environment. In fact, the plan would reduce overall carbon emissions by increasing production of natural gas, which burns cleaner than coal.

Under the plan, more than 90 percent of the U.S. outer continental shelf and 98 percent of resource-rich federal offshore areas would become available for new energy exploration projects. These areas are currently off limits.

From an economic standpoint, the plan is a no-brainer. Oil and natural gas production already supports 10.3 million jobs and adds $1.3 trillion to America’s economy, or about 8 percent of total GDP.

Read the full op-ed here.

Bethany Marcum is the executive director of the Alaska Policy Forum.