A new study says Delaware can benefit from offshore drilling with minimal environmental impact,
WILMINGTON- A new study by Dr. Timothy Considine, Distinguished Professor of Energy Economics, in conjunction with the Interstate Policy Alliance, published on the merits of offshore drilling should act as a conversation starter about drilling for oil and gas off the Atlantic coast.

The U.S. Department of Interior is considering offering lease sales off the Atlantic seaboard for oil and gas production in 2018. The leases would be offered for the Mid-Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf about fifty miles offshore of states from Georgia to Delaware, with oil and gas production beginning in 2025. The study is the first to consider the environmental costs of cleaning potential oil spills, and the impact of higher carbon dioxide emission on global warming from potential drilling off the East Coast.  
"Expanded oil and gas production have boosted the economies in states like Pennsylvania, North Dakota, and Texas, creating tens of thousands of jobs, and billions in tax revenues," Dave Stevenson, Policy Director of the Center for Energy Competitiveness at the Caesar Rodney Institute, said. "The United States has become much less dependent on foreign oil production, a big advantage at a time of upheaval in many oil producing countries. New drilling off the Mid-Atlantic coast could potentially replace half the expected 2035 imports from volatile OPEC countries such as Venezuela, Nigeria, and the Persian Gulf."  
 
Depending on production levels Delaware might see between 1,000 to 6,000 jobs created. The project could generate between $90 and $500 million in royalties and taxes to state coffers over the first ten years of production. The potential to safely drill for oil of Delaware's coast has the potential to offset Delaware's loss in corporate income and personal income taxes. 
 
The study aims to be part of a conversation-starter in Dover and Washington, D.C., over the merits of allowing offshore drilling. Currently 87 percent of offshore areas in the U.S. are ruled off-limits to new oil and gas drilling.    

To read CRI's comments on the study, click HERE   
 

About Caesar Rodney Institute

The Caesar Rodney Institute (CRI) is a 501(c)(3) research, education and advocacy organization dedicated to the improvement in the quality of life for all Delawareans.
 
A preeminent non-partisan, free-market oriented think tank that through its four Centers, focuses on Education, Energy, Economy and Healthcare reforms, CRI has been a catalyst, providing quality information, solutions, and critiques to Delaware government on spending and policy decisions since 2008.