It's Decision Time for the Atlantic's Underwater Oil Reserves

At the end of February, after recieving some 55,000 public comments on the proposal, the United States' Department of the Interior will announce its decision on whether to allow seismic testing off the Atlantic coast. It would be the first step in developing the projected 3.3 billion barrels of oil and 31.28 trillion cubic feet of natural gas thought to be laying in wait under the seabed, particularly offshore of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. It's expected that those numbers will prove to be conversative, and testing will paint a more optimistic picture.

Said testing involves the firing of compressed gas into the water from shipboard airgun arrays, delivering sonic booms to the sea floor every 10 seconds or so for weeks at a time. The echos are then used to form detailed maps of oil and gas deposits. Once those maps are compiled and the above estimates are revised, then you know what. Images of oil derricks off Cape Hatteras not withstanding, the seismic testing itself is almost comically violent and intrusive. In an email to the McClatchy Tribune News Service, Oceana campaign director Claire Douglass notes that, in terms of intensity, just one of the seismic air gun bursts is equal to about 100,000 jet engines.

If you happen to be about any kind of sea life, well, that sucks. "These dynamite-like blasts can cause temporary or permanent hearing loss, which can seriously harm animals that depend on their hearing for critical life-sustaining behaviors such as feeding, mating and communicating," Douglass wrote. Of particular concern is the endangered right whale, the rarest of all large whale species.

An Oceana report found that seismic air gun use would result in some 138,500 injuries to whales and dolphins, while causing 13.5 million disturbances in vital behaviors like breathing, breeding, mating, and communicating. The same seport notes that the blast zone supports some half million recreation and tourism jobs; commerical and recreational fishing alone in the area is a $15 billion industry.

The February date was announced yesterday in Interior Department testimony at a U.S. House of Representatives energy subcommitte hearing on the proposed testing. Atlantic drilling isn't really the House's call though, nor is it that of the three state governers (of the Carolinas and Virginia) that support the testing. The ultimate decision on whether or not the Atlantic coast is opened to drilling falls to the Obama administration, which will announce next year its federal offshore leasing plan for 2017 through 2022.

Atlantic offshore drilling has effectively been banned by the administration since 2010, when it abruptly slammed on the exploration brakes following the Deepwater Horizon disaster. It was a good call that should be extended beyond its original seven year lifespan. And, arguably even more than Keystone XL, the Atlantic Coast decision will cement any sort of green legacy the president might hope to have.

@everydayelk