Fun, Ocean-Friendly Gifts for you and yours! (Happy Cyber Monday!)

  

Check out our new and improved ONLINE STORE.  Treat your family and friends to organic cotton totes, stainless-steel water bottles, bandanas, and more while supporting our ocean protection work!  Gift memberships are also a great fit for those on your list who have everything.  Call Emily at COA's office, 732-872-0111 if you would like to order by phone.

This Thanksgiving Spread the Word, Not the Fertilizer

With so much to give thanks for this November 24th, Clean Ocean Action is making sure to highlight one of this year's  great victories.  We are "Spreading the Word, Not the Fertilizer!"  Here's a note from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection:

The NJ Department of Environmental Protection reminds everyone that as of November 15, residents cannot apply fertilizer to their lawns until next spring. 

Likewise, commercial applicators of fertilizer have until December 1 to complete their customer service cycle of late Fall fertilization.

Fertilizer cannot be applied onto lawns again until March 1st.

New Jersey's Fertilizer Law is a statewide initiative that was established as part of the Governor's 10-point action plan to protect and restore Barnegat Bay. It is  one of the most stringent fertilizer laws in the country and is designed to reduce the nitrogen and phosphorus loadings that can drain into New Jersey's surface and groundwater resources.

For more information about the new law and what you can do to help, go to www.nj.gov/dep/healthylawnshealthywater.

To learn more about the Governor's 10-point action plan to protect and restore Barnegat Bay, go to www.barnegatbay.nj.gov.

New Jersey's fertilizer law is just one of many things we have to be thankful for this year, not least of which is the  deep blue sea we all enjoy so much.  Wishing you and all of your friends and family a happy and healthy Thanksgiving.

Exporting our Energy Future: Could 20% of the Domestic Natural Gas We Use Be Sold Overseas?

Following up on our Series on Ocean Energy, we now turn to LNG – and the problem of LNG Exports…

In case you missed them, check out the first two parts of this series of posts:

1. Victory for the Atlantic – Obama Cancels Plans to Drill for Oil in the Atlantic Ocean

2. Victory for the Atlantic – The Catch: Obama Will Expedite Seismic Surveys

Last week, while the President was announcing his plans on offshore oil drilling for the next 5 years, the Senate held a hearing on one of the ugliest turns in US energy history – the rapid, unchecked, and unfortunate export of domestically-produced natural gas to overseas markets via LNG tankers and terminals.  (watch the webcast replay here)

The way the export of natural gas works is that a company must apply to the Department of Energy for permission to export, and they must say where that LNG would go – to a nation we have a free-trade agreement (“FTA”) with or to one we don’t (we have “FTAs” with about 15 nations). 

Right from the outset of the application phase, the current laws on exporting gas are stacked against the average American consumer.  If a company applies to the DOE to export gas to a country with which we have a free-trade agreement, the federal government automatically must grant the request.  There can be no analysis into whether this might be bad for the public.

If a company applies to export to a nation the US does not have a free-trade agreement with, the DOE must presume that exports are in the best interests of the public, and it’s up to the DOE to “rebut” this presumption if they have a ton of evidence.  There does not seem to be a good mechanism to test whether the DOE is performing its due diligence in reviewing this presumption.

Under the harsh lights of a Senate Hearing Room, a Department of Energy representative testified that the federal government DOE is “presently” considering four applications to export domestically produced LNG to nations that the US does not have a free-trade agreement with.  A fifth application has already been approved.  Taken together, if approved, these export licenses would authorize the export of up to 6.6 Billion cubic feet of domestically-produced gas every day – which, according to the DOE export, “represents 10 percent of total current domestic natural gas daily consumption in the United States.” 

To make matters worse, the DOE has already authorized exports from 5 LNG facilities for trade with Free-Trade-Agreement nations, at the same bulk quantity of 6.6 Billion cubic feet per day.  (monitor the DOE export/import applications here)

Thus, within a few months (when these four pending applications are approved), the DOE will have allowed the export of up to 20% of our daily US consumption overseas – without having studied whether or not this will affect the price of gas for US consumers, businesses, and industries.  

That’s right, according to the testimony from the DOE, “In order to address the potential cumulative impact of a grant of the pending applications, DOE has [just recently!] commissioned two studies…to address the impacts of additional natural gas exports on domestic energy consumption, production, and prices, as well as the cumulative impact on the U.S. economy, including the effect on gross domestic product, jobs creation, and balance of trade, among other factors.  We anticipate that these studies will be completed in the first quarter of calendar year 2012.” (see the testimony here)

Put another way, two out of every ten units of gas used in the USA could be diverted to overseas markets soon, and the DOE is just now starting to look to see whether that’s a good thing or not. 

It is patently NOT good governance to blindly approve energy export applications without seeing whether it will be detrimental to the US economy.  In an era where the goal of becoming energy independent is at the fore of our national psyche, exports should be banned, or at the least questioned thoroughly (and only allowed if a substantial need is shown), not automatically approved. 

Instead of using plentiful and cheap gas produced in the US to wean us off of oil, or to help us transition to cleaner energy futures, gas is being sold to the highest bidder (usually European and Asian markets), to the detriment of the US. 

Finally, in another ugly tidbit of information, energy experts at the Senate Hearing testified that most of the companies that own our burgeoning “shale gas” reserves are foreign-based corporations.  Additionally, these are some of the same companies leading the charge to export our US-produced natural gas.  Thus, we have a system in place right now that has allowed foreign companies to come into American backyards, buy land and gas, and get authorizations to export it from the US.  And while these companies are pushing for LNG export applications, they admit that it will drive US gas prices higher (see here, toward end). 

Clean Ocean Action has been working on LNG issues for years – from imports and import facilities to this export issue.  Stay tuned for more information and COA action to stop energy companies from stealing our clean energy future.

Up Next: The US Is Exporting Vast Quantities of Oil Products? Yes we are - and it's driving up gas prices.

Our Annual Report is now available as a pdf!

Our Annual Report is now available in an electronic format. Take a look and see how much we’ve been able to accomplish and the broad range of work that we do to protect the ocean.

Oh, yes, and an end-of-the-year donation would help us keep up the good work!

Victory for the Atlantic Ocean! (Part 2: the Catch)

In our last post (which we're still giddy about), we told you of the recent decision by the Obama Administration to NOT Drill for oil off the Atlantic Coast (which he had planned on doing)...

(http://cleanoceanaction.blogspot.com/2011/11/victory-for-atlantic-ocean.html)

Great news, right?   Yes.  But there's a catch; several actually.

First, the President announced expansions to oil drilling operations in the Gulf and in the Arctic Ocean.  According to the Department of Interior:  “the Proposed Program includes lease sales in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas,” areas of ocean that many environmental groups in the region warn are poor choices for energy development – there are no nearby marine ports (e.g., there are no oil-spill response or Coast Guard boats), and seasonal and weather conditions exacerbate risks of catastrophe. 

Second, the President issued the following statement:

“There remain complex issues relating to potentially conflicting uses, including those of the Department of Defense. As the oil and gas resource potential in the Mid- and South Atlantic planning areas is not well understood, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is moving forward to expeditiously to facilitate resource evaluation in these areas, including conducting a programmatic Environmental Impact Statement relating to seismic surveys in the Atlantic.”

The federal government, therefore, plans on seismically surveying the Atlantic Ocean – sending pulses of sound waves at high decibels over thousands of miles of ocean habitat – in search of the most readily-available oil resources.  These activities are tied to significant impacts on marine life, affecting everything from migration patterns of whales to the feeding behavior of fish.  To top it all off, these surveys are publicly-funded expeditions that pinpoint resources that, perhaps in 2017, will be given to private companies to develop and sell for profit!

COA Staff Scientist, Dr. Heather Saffert, has been studying the impacts of seismic surveys on marine life and the coastal ecosystem and will be developing robust comments and reviews on the issue.

Clean Ocean Action has been working to keep the Atlantic Ocean seismic-survey-free for years, and will continue to do so.  The “Draft” impact assessment of these surveys is expected out in the spring.

Third, and finally, while the President has decided to not drill for oil in the Atlantic, Congress can still overrule this decision.  In fact, the House of Representatives has already passed a bill that would do just that.

(a series of bills we talked about here: http://cleanoceanaction.blogspot.com/2011/04/offshore-oil-takes-center-stage-in-bad.html)

This week, the House has two Congressional hearings on these issues, and a few more are expected.  Stay tuned to COA for more information...

Victory for the Atlantic Ocean!

Obama Reverses Course on Offshore Oil Drilling!

This afternoon President Obama issued a 5-year offshore oil drilling plan for 2012-2017, in which he doesn’t allow any Atlantic Ocean oil and gas drilling! 

To review, in the final years of the Bush Presidency, and in the initial stages of Obama’s tenure, the Atlantic Ocean was put on the table for offshore oil drilling.  Many have bought into Big Oil’s hype that drilling in places like Virginia and potentially the NY/NJ Bight would “decrease the price of gas and make us more energy independent.”  Clean Ocean Action proved otherwise – citing the government’s own reports, we spread the word near and far that you could drill every drop of oil in the Atlantic and you would only reduce prices by $0.03 (a fraction of the cost of postage)…in 2030!!  These miniscule benefits would take two decades of oil activities off our beaches to have anything to show for it!

Then, as we all know, the BP Deepwater Horizon spill happened…and continued to happen…and continued to happen.  Discharging over 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf – forever changing the ecosystem and economy of the region.   Despite the spill, President Obama continued insisting we needed to drill in the Atlantic! (read more here)

The House of Representatives went along with the President’s plan; despite the best efforts of 12 of New Jersey’s 13 Representatives, and most Democrats from New York, the House passed a bill that also would open the Atlantic to drilling. (read more here)

On the Senate side, New Jersey Senators Lautenberg and Menendez have been long-time advocates for keeping the Atlantic Ocean oil-free, and introduced multiple bills to curtail Obama’s proposed Atlantic Ocean activities. (read more here)

Governor Christie has, throughout his time in office, continuously opposed oil drilling in New Jersey’s ocean and in nearby parts of the Atlantic that would, if anything went wrong, threaten New Jersey’s coast!

Based on the outrageous disaster in the Gulf, and the then-ongoing plan to continue pushing ocean oil drilling to deeper canyons and into oceans like the Atlantic, 2010 saw the first “Hands Across the Sand” worldwide rally for no more oil drilling.  In Asbury Park, NJ, the Clean Ocean Action- and Surfrider-sponsored event brought over 1300 people to the beach to hold hands in solidarity against drilling.

Thanks to the “Hands” event, your voices, with many others across nation, convinced President Obama to reversed course. 

According to the Department of Interior fact sheet issued today, the 2012-2017 oil drilling plan for our oceans “does not include lease sales in the Atlantic region” primarily because of “the current lack of infrastructure to support oil and gas exploration and development, as well as spill preparedness and response” – essentially there is no oil in the Atlantic, so the region isn’t equipped to respond if something went wrong.

Tuesday was a good day for the Atlantic Ocean!

Clean Ocean Action will keep working with other public interest groups and state and federal government agencies to ensure that, in 2017, the Atlantic Ocean stays closed to oil drilling!

Follow us on Facebook for more information here: www.facebook.com/cleanocean