President Obama’s new OCS plan locks up 360 million acres, or 60 percent of the OCS previously under moratoria.
According to an April 2, 2010 Rasmussen poll, 72 percent of Americans are in favor of new offshore drilling, while 59 percent say offshore drilling should be permitted off the coasts of California and the New England states—areas that the “Obama Moratorium” specifically keeps off limits.
According to the Congressional Research Service, in 2004, the Czech Republic imported 253 billion cubic feet of natural gas from Russia, which accounts for 77 percent of their domestic consumption.
Recently, due to a dispute between Ukraine and Russia, all natural gas supplies were cutoff to European Union countries.
The U.S. leads the world in natural gas imports with 3,780 billion cubic feet imported in 2007; meanwhile we have an estimated 211,085 billion cubic feet of proven natural gas reserves. The first Yemeni gas entered Everett, MA in February 2010.
In total, the new Obama OCS plan puts 13.14 billion barrels of oil and 41.49 trillion cubic feet of natural gas under lock and key.
According to a 2009 study by IHS Global Insight, natural gas supplies over 2.8 million American jobs.
The American Energy Act includes specific measures to encourage development of renewable energy sources, such as wind, solar, hydropower, nuclear and biomass, while also producing more American-made oil and natural gas.
