WASHINGTON D.C. — A recent report from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) further demonstrates the abysmal record of President Obama’s energy policies. Contrary to administration claims that the president’s “all of the above strategy” for energy development is working, the EIA report clearly reveals how offshore development under current policies is denying Americans access to vast coal resources on the Outer Continental Shelf.
“Once again, this administration claims one thing, but the facts tell a different story,” noted IER President Thomas Pyle. “Offshore coal production is at an all-time low, despite the abundant, affordable resources for electricity generation that federal waters could supply.
“With electricity rates skyrocketing — and given that nearly half of our electricity is supplied by coal-fired power plants — you’d think an “all of the above strategy” would look to offshore coal development where transportation costs would drop and concerns about mountaintop mining, specifically, would be mitigated. We’d simply have to haul the coal to the ocean surface, dry it out, and send it onshore. And the last time I checked, there weren’t many environmentalist elites worried about the view of the ocean floor from their breakfast bay windows.”
According to the EIA report, total fossil fuel production on federal lands is at a nine-year low. Oil production is down 13 percent from last year, and natural gas production is down 10 percent. Onshore coal production saw modest declines, down 2 percent from 2010.
Offshore coal development, however, has not produced a single short ton during the entire Obama administration. To date, no plan for developing offshore coal resources has been considered by Obama administration officials.
To view IER’s analysis of the recent report, click here.
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