Offshore oil drilling in the US: what’s at stake?

Last week, Senator Barack Obama said he was open to considering a “careful, well thought-out [offshore] drilling strategy that was carefully circumscribed to avoid significant environmental damage”. The move was seen as a U-turn from the presidential candidate who had previously been opposed to George W. Bush and John McCain’s support for offshore drilling. All three have presented this as a way of bringing prices down at US gas pumps.

Whenever offshore drilling or drilling in nature reserves is mentioned, environmentalists are rattled. In 2000, Bush made oil drilling in the Arctic Wildlife National Refuge part of his presidential campaign. With US voters hit hard by soaring oil prices, drilling looks like it could be a hot topic in this year’s election as well. But what is at stake?

We review the US offshore drilling bans, and what lifting them would mean, in terms of energy and the environment.

New Scientist