Page 10: of Offshore Engineer Magazine (Nov/Dec 2020)

9 11

OP/ED NOIA

BIDEN ADMINISTRATION

CAN ALIGN WITH

OFFSHORE ENERGY

By NOIA President Erik Milito conomic recovery. Climate change. Racial equity. and touch every American.

COVID-19. These four issues are at the core of One of the strengths of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico is how it pro-

President-elect Joe Biden’s Day 1 priorities. Sepa- duces energy. On average, Gulf of Mexico oil and gas production

E rately, each issue seems like a monumental challenge has a carbon-intensity one-half of other producing regions. Deep- with no easy solution. But there is a path forward for each water oil and gas production has the lowest greenhouse gas emis- priority offered by America’s offshore energy industry. sions of all sources of oil and gas production. The Gulf of Mexico

The continued success of U.S. offshore oil, natural gas and is also one of the best performing regions when it comes to the wind development and production paves the way towards venting and ?aring of gases, including methane. This incredibly energy security, high-paying and accessible jobs, and capital small environmental footprint also occurs miles and miles away investment and spending in every state, while our nation pro- from onshore populations areas, completely avoiding the tradi- duces vast quantities of energy with a much smaller physical tional adverse fenceline issues related to environmental justice. environmental footprint, lower air emissions, and more ef- Revenues from offshore oil and gas fund virtually the entire ?cient water use and management. Land & Water Conservation Fund. Since 1965, the Land and

The Gulf of Mexico has long been a domestic energy anchor. Water Conservation Fund has provided more than $4 billion

Prior to the unprecedented drop in energy demand due to CO- in funding that has gone towards more 40,000 conservation

VID-19, the U.S. Gulf of Mexico was producing close to 2 and environmental programs in every county in every U.S. million barrels of oil per day. In 2019, they symphony of U.S. state, territory and in the District of Columbia. offshore production involved more than 345,000 men and Along with providing recreational opportunities and pre- women across all 50 states, had a GDP impact of $28.6 billion serving ecosystem bene?ts for local communities, the LWCF and provided more than $5.4 billion in government revenues. also enables public access to outdoors areas, including in our

The industry provides opportunity throughout every cor- urban areas. One program – the Outdoor Recreation Legacy ner of the U.S. From the oil and gas companies that make Partnership Program - allocates funds to build new parks or up the fabric of countless Gulf Coast communities to buoy improve existing ones in economically-disadvantaged urban experts in Maine to software companies in Florida to concrete areas throughout the country. More than $28 million has been specialists in Hawaii, every U.S. state has businesses and em- distributed to approximately 50 disadvantaged communities ployees linked to the offshore industry. since its creation by Congress just six years ago. Offshore oil

Every barrel of oil that these men and women help produce and gas production thus promotes positive environmental is a barrel that our nation does not have to import from coun- justice bene?ts by helping to make parks and recreation more tries such as Russia or China. Not only does outsourcing our readily available to underprivileged neighborhoods.

energy needs to Russia and China send jobs and economic The importance of environmental stewardship and access is growth overseas, but it also outsources energy production to a consistent point of bipartisan cooperation, which was shown regions of the world that do not share our level of safety and through the recent signing of the Great American Outdoors environmental performance and oversight. Act. The recently signed law permanently funds the LWCF

Once offshore oil and natural gas reach American re?neries, and boosts maintenance funding for our treasured national it provides the plastic components that is used in the medi- parks through offshore revenues. cal equipment at the front lines of the COVID-19 response, Americans can be able to count on these bene?ts for de- among many other products. These bene?ts are nonpartisan cades to come. Oil and natural gas, and lots of it, are going to 10 OFFSHORE ENGINEER OEDIGITAL.COM