Oceana | Protecting the World's Oceans

It’s a Fact: Domestic Drilling Doesn’t Affect Gas Prices

Posted Wed, May 23, 2012 by Michael Craig to domestic oil drilling, energy security, gas prices, gasoline, offshore drilling, oil production

Oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. © Oceana/Soledad Esnaola

Two newly released reports shed some much-needed light onto a crucial question in Washington: Does domestic oil drilling affect gasoline prices?

That question lies at the heart of the debate over what we should do about high and volatile gasoline prices. Advocates for oil drilling call for broader and quicker access to our nation’s resources in order to provide relief at the pump – calls that the House has happily obliged by passing bills that would open up new areas to offshore drilling and undercut government oversight. Environmental groups and other opponents of domestic drilling, on the other hand, argue that this is the wrong approach, and that we should instead be investing in fuel efficient vehicles and alternate modes of transportation.

The two new reports provide much-needed objective and nonpartisan analyses of this crucial question, and come to the same, clear conclusion: providing relief at the pump to U.S. consumers can only be achieved through reducing our oil consumption, NOT through more domestic drilling.

The reports were issued by the Energy Security Leadership Council (ESLC), a nonpartisan project of Securing America’s Future Energy that’s composed of industry CEOs and retired four-star generals and admirals, and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), which provides nonpartisan economic analysis to Congress.  They join a growing list of impartial publications that refute the notion that the United States can drill its way to energy independence and free ourselves from the myriad problems associated with our oil consumption and offshore drilling.

Illinois Senate Passes Shark Fin Ban

Posted Fri, May 18, 2012 by RProkop to illinois, shark fin soup, shark fin trade

When you think of Illinois, “shark fins” may not be the first thing that comes to mind. But this inland state does have a shark fin trade, and it may soon be history.

After Oceana collected over a thousand signatures from concerned Illinois citizens this week, the Illinois Senate voted to pass a shark fin ban in the state. The bill is now heading to Governer Pat Quinn’s desk, awaiting his signature. If it passes into law, Illinois will be the first non-Pacific (and first inland!) state to ban shark fins in the United States.

Why is this an important issue for Illinois? Chicago is a hub for shark fins in the Midwest, and lawmakers are concerned. Shark fins are considered an Asian delicacy, and one fin can sell for several hundred dollars. This creates a lucrative business for shark fishermen, some of whom use a cruel practice called “finning”—cutting the fins off a live shark and then throwing the bleeding animal overboard to die. Finning is illegal in U.S. waters, but fins sold in the U.S. may be imported from countries that allow finning. And even in the U.S., shark populations are struggling, with some populations having declined by 90%.

Every shark fin sold contributes to the disappearance of our sharks. We’re so happy that the Illinois legislature is recognizing the danger to our oceans, and we hope that Governor Quinn signs the bill and makes Illinois a Midwest leader for our oceans.

BP Spill Residue Found in Minnesota Pelican Eggs

Posted Fri, May 18, 2012 by MattH to deepwater horizon, gulf of mexico oil spill, minnesota, oil spill, pelicans, pollution, wildlife

An American white pelican sits on her nest in Minnesota. [Image via Minnesota Public Radio]

The impacts of the Deepwater Horizon are being felt in -- you guessed it -- Minnesota.

White pelicans that winter in the Gulf of Mexico and have lived in an oiled Gulf have migrated to far away places such as Minnesota to lay eggs, and the contaminants inside them have traveled as well.

Preliminary testing by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources shows that petroleum compounds were present in 90 percent of the first batch of eggs tested and nearly 80 percent of the eggs contained the chemical dispersant used during the spill, called COREXIT.

The contamination of white pelican eggs is a bad sign for the developing embryos and potentially their populations. The researchers will be continuing to monitor impacts on the population for years to come, and the true impacts may not be realized for decades.

Mark Clark, a researcher helping with these studies, says, “Any contaminant that makes its way into the bird could be bad, but it could be especially bad if it gets into the egg because that's where the developing embryo and chick starts. And when things go wrong at that stage, there's usually no recovery."

The immediate loss of pelicans and other birds that were covered in oil during the spill was amazingly disheartening and graphic. But these types of sub-lethal impacts show how the next generation may be affected.

While these effects are less noticeable, they are even more concerning for the future of the population. Nearly half of all the bird species that live in the United States spend at least part of the winter in the Gulf of Mexico, and the health of the Gulf is globally significant for birds.

After the Exxon Valdez spill, more than 88% of the birds that were found dead were outside of Prince William Sound, the area immediately affected by the spill, and the number of dead birds found was only a fraction of the total killed by the spill.

The combination of those direct losses, poor reproductive success and changes in the habitat, has prevented some species from recovering, even 20 years later. Although we don’t yet know the long-term impacts of the Deepwater Horizon spill, these contaminants in eggs serve as a warning sign of things to come.

We need to make sure that BP and the other responsible parties are held accountable for the impacts of the Deepwater Horizon spill that have likely impacted hundreds to thousands of species.

Even more importantly we need to recognize that these contaminated eggs, and the ongoing damages to wildlife, are part of the overall problem with offshore drilling and spilling. We have much better options for energy, such as offshore wind, and we should use them.

Exciting News for Turtles

Posted Thu, May 10, 2012 by Amanda Keledjian to bycatch, kemp's ridley sea turtle, turtle excluder devices

Kemps Ridley sea turtle

Amanda Keledjian is a marine scientist at Oceana.

This week, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) released a proposed regulation that would help prevent sea turtle deaths from shrimp fishing by requiring all skimmer trawls operating in the Gulf of Mexico to use turtle excluder devices (TEDs).

Oceana and other concerned organizations welcome this exciting news after having asked NMFS to address ongoing sea turtle mortalities and enforce its own protective regulations that are crucial to the recovery and survival of these threatened and endangered species. Turtle excluder devices have effectively reduced the number of sea turtles that drown as a result of commercial fishing activities each year, and NMFS estimates that this new rule could save more than 5,500 sea turtles!  

When properly attached to fishing nets, TEDs act as an escape hatch and allow captured turtles to swim freely away while shrimp accumulate in the net. However, many skimmer trawl boats have been exempt from TED requirements and were instead restricted to towing nets for shorter periods of time.  Despite their proven effectiveness, it has taken many years for NMFS to require TEDs in fisheries that are known to harm turtles, with a long history of litigation surrounding this contentious issue.