Have
some Greenies,like Bill McKibben and his friends from Wall Street
been trying to tell you that Barack Obama is serious about climate
change?
Actions
speak louder than words
Barack
Obama gives Shell go-ahead to drill for oil in Alaskan Arctic
Anglo-Dutch
oil giant to return to the Chukchi Sea in search for oil despite
concerns for the environment
31
March, 2015
Royal Dutch Shell has
received the go-ahead from the US government to restart a
controversial oil exploration campaign in the Alaskan Arctic despite
fears over the risk to the environment.
The
Department of the Interior approved the Anglo-Dutch oil major’s
request to return to the Chukchi Sea within the Arctic circle. It
comes just three years after Shell’s last attempt to find oil in
the region floundered when its Kulluk drilling rig ran aground.
"The
Arctic is an important component of the Administration's national
energy strategy, and we remain committed to taking a thoughtful and
balanced approach to oil and gas leasing and exploration offshore
Alaska," said Interior Secretary Sally Jewell.
“This
unique, sensitive and often challenging environment requires
effective oversight to ensure all activities are conducted safely and
responsibly.”
Interior's
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will now consider Shell's
exploration plan and perform an environmental assessment on it, which
could take at least 30 days.
Shell
said in a statement on Tuesday night: “Today’s Record of Decision
reaffirms Lease Sale 193 and clears the way for the Bureau of Ocean
and Energy Management to conclude its review and make a decision on
our Revised Chukchi Sea Exploration Plan. The execution of that plan
remains contingent on achieving the necessary permits, legal
certainty and our own determination that we are prepared to explore
safely and responsibly.”
The
company spent $5bn (£3bn) in its last failed search for oil in
Alaska but the company believes that the region’s vast untapped
reserves warrant the potential financial and environmental risks of
returning.
Despite
the slump in oil prices to levels around $50 per barrel, operators
are prepared to continuing searching for crude in the Arctic.
According to estimates by energy consultants Wood Mackenzie, the
region, straddling territory belonging to Russia, the US, Norway,
Greenland and Canada, may hold as much as 166bn barrels of oil
equivalent.
Shell’s
plan for the Chukchi may involve using two rigs to reach production
of around 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude, roughly half the
UK’s current output of oil from the North Sea. Tapping oil and gas
reserves held under the Arctic will be vital to meeting expected
global energy demand beyond 2040.
According
to the International Energy Agency, total energy demand will increase
by 37pc over the next 25 years and without new reserves the world
could face a catastrophic shortfall in oil and gas.
However,
the decision by President Barack Obama’s administration to sanction
Shell’s plans in Alaska has drawn immediate criticism from
environmental lobby groups.
“It’s
an indefensible decision,” said Greenpeace Arctic campaigner Ian
Duff. “The Arctic is melting rapidly because of climate change. But
instead of seeing it as a warning, Shell sees profit. It wants to
drill for more of the stuff that caused the melting in the first
place. And all the evidence shows Shell can’t drill safely in the
Arctic. The extreme conditions means it’s when, not if, a spill
will happen.”
Drilling
in the Arctic is complicated by ice, which in some areas can last for
around six months. The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has said
there is a 75pc chance of “one or more large spills” happening.
The
decision to permit Shell back into Alaska could also trigger a rush
by other nations to tap their Arctic resources.
Canada
is watching Shell’s plans closely. Imperial Oil wants to drill on
the Canadian side of the Beaufort Sea by the end of the decade. In
Russia, state-run Rosneft and Gazprom have a monopoly to explore the
country’s vast Arctic continental shelf, but work has been slowed
by Western sanctions aimed at forcing the Kremlin to back down over
its support of separatists in Ukraine
The
Guardian mentioned it the other day but without mentioning Obama’s
name. Doesn’t really fit their current narrative.
Liberals
like George Monbiot are still delivering exactly the same messsage as
they were 20 years ago when I first discovered him.
This
is from 3 weeks ago
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