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Responsibly Expanding America’s Offshore Energy Development

In recent weeks, the Department of the Interior announced a key component of President Obama’s all-of-the-above energy strategy: a five-year program for offshore oil and gas leasing that will allow our nation to expand safe and responsible oil and gas development to help power our economy.  The five year program, which we developed after extensive input from the public, states, tribes, and others, makes more than 75% of recoverable energy resources in our oceans available for exploration and development – including frontier areas in the Alaskan Arctic. At the same time, we are also taking steps to identify additional resources in currently undeveloped areas to inform future development decisions.

The five year program we are implementing builds on the President’s strong record on oil and gas development. Nationwide, domestic oil and natural gas production has increased every year President Obama has been in office. In 2011, American oil production reached the highest level in nearly a decade and natural gas production reached an all-time high. America’s dependence on foreign oil has gone down every single year since President Obama took office. We have cut net imports by ten percent – a million barrels a day – in the last year alone.  At the same time, we have implemented comprehensive reforms in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that has made offshore development safer and more responsible.

Under the administration’s five year program, we have delivered what the American people have asked for: a smart way forward that focuses on the areas that contain the overwhelming majority of the resources rather than simply opening areas for the sake of achieving an imaginary acreage threshold.

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Major Step Forward for Gulf Coast Restoration

Today Congress took a major step in our efforts to restore the Gulf Coast and support the important communities that rely on it everyday. Earlier today, Congress enacted the Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States Act (RESTORE Act).

This Administration recognizes that a strong and vibrant ecosystem is the key to the Gulf’s future - that's why the President established the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force in 2010. As Chair of the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force and a New Orleans native, I can tell you that a healthy ecosystem is vital to the economy and the way of life for the Gulf Coast. There’s a lot at stake in this region: the economies of the five Gulf States supported more than 19 million jobs and nearly $2.5 trillion of the U.S. GDP in 2008. In addition, millions of people visit the Gulf Coast each year – to vacation, to sail, to swim, to fish, and to enjoy this great waterbody. In 2008, national and international tourists spent about $145 billion in the 5 coastal states and around 1.7 million people were employed in travel and tourism.

During the oil spill, we essentially “lost” the Gulf for a period of time, and natural resources in the Gulf were extensively damaged. We lost the use of valuable fishing grounds, incredible recreational opportunities and all of the other benefits of a thriving, vibrant ecosystem. That loss helped show folks who aren't from the Gulf Coast just how important it is to our nation.

But our goal and commitment is not simply to address the damage caused by the spill - it is to ensure the long term improvement and restoration of the Gulf Coast and its unique ecosystems.

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Illinois Team Wins Prize for Innovative Oil Spill Cleanup Technology

Last week, the X PRIZE Foundation and philanthropist Wendy Schmidt announced winners of the $1.4 million Wendy Schmidt Oil Cleanup X CHALLENGE. Launched in July 2010 in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the competition inspired entrepreneurs, engineers, and scientists worldwide to develop innovative, rapidly deployable, and highly efficient methods of cleaning up oil spills from the ocean surface. 

More than 350 teams competed from around the world. Submissions were evaluated by a panel of judges, including Hung Nguyen, Emergency Oil Spill Response Coordinator at the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement; Dave Westerholm, Director of the Office of Response and Restoration at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA); and several respected former U.S. Coast Guardsmen.  The 10 top-ranked proposals – including five submitted by teams in the United States – were subjected to rigorous field testing at Ohmsett, the National Oil Spill Response Research & Renewable Energy Test Facility, a Department of Interior facility that boasts the largest outdoor saltwater wave/tow facility in North America.

Elastec/American Marine – an Illinois-based manufacturer of oil spill and environmental equipment that uses local talent for nearly all its fabrication – won first place, recovering oil at a rate more than three times the best previously recorded in controlled conditions. This significant advance, which involved grooved, high-surface-area spinning discs that grab large amounts of oil while leaving water behind, is all the more exciting given the potential for the novel mechanical solution to have a real impact on the industry. The judges were impressed by teams’ attention to real-world application, ease of deployment and decontamination, and consistency of performance in varied conditions. (Here is an engaging video of how the team developed its solution.) In addition, the competition’s supporting partner, Shell, has committed to bringing oil experts and other industry leaders in to help move the winning technology to market and promote its use.

We congratulate the winners and all of the finalist teams on their efforts to achieve the important goals of this competition.

And while the prize itself was privately funded, kudos to the Department of Interior and NOAA for bringing their technical expertise to bear in the judging.  By strengthening the prize and its impact, these agencies advanced important shared goals, stimulating the development of new tools that can be brought to bear in future oil spills and generating a treasure trove of data by testing novel technologies under controlled conditions. 

This is just the latest milestone in the Administration’s ongoing work to increase the use of competitions and prizes to spur innovation and solve tough problems as called for by President Obama in his Strategy for American Innovation.

Tom Kalil is Deputy Director for Policy at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and Robynn Sturm Steffen is Senior Advisor to the Deputy Director