Oil Drilling in the Gulf: Special Report
In 2010, the Director of Mote's Marine Policy Institute, Dr. Frank Alcock produced a report to Florida's Century Commission for a Sustainable Florida called "Potential Impacts of Oil & Gas Explorations in the Gulf."
The report, co-authored with Tom Arthur, was requested by the Florida Senate to assist that body with a detailed and comprehensive review of the implications of offshore drilling.
The Deepwater Horizon oil disaster occurred during the spring and summer of 2010. This incident, combined with the potential that vast expanses of water along the Atlantic coastline, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and the north coast of Alaska could be opened to oil and natural gas drilling, have continued to feed Florida's discussion of oil and natural gas exploration.
The report was written to provide a source of unbiased information regarding what is known and not known about the potential risks and rewards of offshore drilling. The Report is structured around four topics:
- Regulatory Framework
- Resources, Economic Benefits, and Energy Independence
- Environmental Risks, Permitting and Accident Response
- Aesthetics and Opportunity Costs