New Offshore Plan First Step to Putting U.S. on Path to Economic, Energy Security

New Offshore Plan First Step to Putting U.S. on Path to Economic, Energy Security
Institute for Energy Research, January 16, 2009

Washington, DC –The Institute for Energy Research (IER) today applauded the outlines of a new plan for delivering affordable, secure energy resources to the American people, part of a “draft proposed program” prepared by the federal Mineral Management Service (MMS) and designed to set the course for future domestic energy exploration offshore. The new five-year plan contemplates the future exploration of areas previously locked away under layers of outdated, largely duplicative moratoria. The complete plan, according to MMS, will be published in the Federal Register on Jan. 21.

IER president Thomas J. Pyle issued the following statement:

“With the release of this outline today, the federal government is actively positioning itself to confront the failures of the past and take its first meaningful steps toward delivering our country and its people a secure, affordable energy future. As lawmakers on Capitol Hill continue to work on a government-directed, ‘green jobs’ plan to stimulate our economy, today’s announcement presents our country with two very different choices: either we can spend massive amounts of taxpayer money on energy that’s less reliable, less affordable, and less powerful, or we can generate massive new revenues for the taxpayer by producing energy that’s more reliable, much more affordable, and significantly more powerful.

“Today’s news is long overdue, but it hardly could have come at a better time for an economy that’s hemorrhaging jobs, searching for revenue, and in desperate need of a long-term energy strategy. Each one of these crises could be confronted and neutralized if we were to put in motion a serious plan to develop even a portion of America’s abundant offshore energy resources. Today, the outlines of such a plan were finally revealed. It’s now up to the new Congress and incoming administration to see this plan through completion.”

More from IER on the right way to stimulate our economy:

Fact Sheet: The Outer Continental Shelf (OCS): Supplies, Bans, and Natural Seeps
ICF International Study: New Report Finds Producing Off-Limits Energy Would Generate $1.7 Trillion Stimulus and 160,000 New Jobs
IER Study: Green Jobs: Fact or Fiction?