GRAND BLANC -- The Obama Administration is banning offshore drilling off the east coast of the United States and the eastern Gulf of Mexico.
The burden of the BP oil spill will be carried by every American, but how we should carry it is causing controversy between economists and environmentalists.
The BP oil spill has caused the Obama Administration to ban any new offshore drilling for the eastern gulf, and off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts for the next seven years.
“To just shut our backs on developing more domestic supply could be a short-sighted mistake,” said Dan Fleckenstein, the President and CEO of RPF Oil Company.
Dan Fleckenstein is the CEO of RPF Oil Company in Grand Blanc; he says the average American will pay for the ban.
“There are several risks involved, namely economic risks, national security risks, the burden on working families, and the fact also that we are sending billions and billions of dollars overseas to countries that may not like us,” said Fleckenstein.
To sum this all up for you, Fleckenstein says to ban offshore drilling, this reduces the supply of oil, which means the demand for it will go up, and so will gas prices.
But the Sierra Club says paying more at the pump is worth not seeing these searing images again.
“Unfortunately the easy oil is gone, the stuff that's out there comes at a greater risk, a higher price, and the price of what we saw in the gulf is an example of that,” said Denny Crispell, the Chairman of the Sierra Club.
Environmentalists hope the ban will force a turn to alternative energy sources..
“Someday that oil is going to be gone, but our shore lines, our wild places, we need to save them, you know we have a responsibility to save them for future generations,” said Crispell.
For now, every American will share the burden of higher energy costs, and the loss of damaged wildlife.
Under Obama’s new plan, offshore drilling can occur in areas of the arctic, but the administration says it will "move cautiously" before approving any leases.
Government scientists say most of the oil from the BP oil spill is no longer in the gulf waters.
