AAPG GEO-DC Blog

Stunning response to MMS Draft 5-Year Program

The U.S. Department of Interior announced today that it received more than 450,000 public comments on its Draft 2010-2015 5-Year Program during a roughly 8 month comment period that closed yesterday, September 21, 2009.

According to the Department’s press release, “[T]he MMS is carefully reviewing all of the comments submitted. Following the review and analysis of the comments, which is expected to take several weeks due to the large number of comments, the next step in the process is to initiate environmental analysis and public scoping opportunities associated with the five year plan, required by law, for oil and gas development in the OCS.”

Initial estimates by the Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA), a broad-based group with membership including transportation, agriculture, manufacturing, small business, chemistry, restaurants, retirees and energy providers, suggest that more than 325,000 of those comments are supportive of expanding access to the nation’s outer continental shelf. CEA helped deliver more than 150,000 of these supportive comments.

According to a statement by CEA President David Holt, “The unified voices of Americans concerned with rising, unstable and increasingly unaffordable energy costs cannot be ignored. Thanks to the hard work of so many CEA supporters – as well as other organizations committed to advancing policies that help put our nation on a path toward energy security and affordability – Secretary Salazar will have overwhelming public support on his side if his agency and the administration decide to move forward with a commonsense plan that allows the American people to access more of the energy resources they need, demand and rightfully own.

“While the closure of this comment period marks a very early step in what is designed to be a long, deliberative process, the volume and intensity of public response on whether responsible offshore energy exploration should be part of our energy future suggests the status quo energy policies of the past will no longer be an option in the future. What we need now, and what these letters demand, is decisive action from this administration – not an effort to pocket veto these critical offshore energy resources.

The unified voices of Americans concerned with rising, unstable and increasingly unaffordable energy costs cannot be ignored. Thanks to the hard work of so many CEA supporters – as well as other organizations committed to advancing policies that help put our nation on a path toward energy security and affordability – Secretary Salazar will have overwhelming public support on his side if his agency and the administration decide to move forward with a commonsense plan that allows the American people to access more of the energy resources they need, demand and rightfully own.“While the closure of this comment period marks a very early step in what is designed to be a long, deliberative process, the volume and intensity of public response on whether responsible offshore energy exploration should be part of our energy future suggests the status quo energy policies of the past will no longer be an option in the future. What we need now, and what these letters demand, is decisive action from this administration – not an effort to pocket veto these critical offshore energy resources.

“As the process of developing a forward-looking, supply-oriented five-year plan continues to move forward, CEA will remain active in leading the charge for an ‘all of the above’ approach to securing our energy future – a future that includes renewable energy, conventional energy, and a renewed focus on conservation. CEA and its broad-based membership including transportation, agriculture, manufacturing, small business, chemistry, restaurants, retirees and energy providers will continue to provide a platform for the American people to make their views and voices heard in Washington.”