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Oil Spill and Coastal Drilling Updates

Latest News
Editorials
Other News Articles
Restore the Gulf Team Report
Oxfam America Report
Gulf Coast Claims Facility
State & Federal Activity
Coastal Drilling Special Report

Latest News Reports on the Gulf Oil Spill

Check out our anniversary page to see what everyone is talking about one year later.

The National Commission on the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling ceased operations on March 11, 2011. All of the Commission's documents have been transferred to the Office of Fossil Energy in the Department of Energy. The Commission released its final report on 11 January 2011. The Commission's video record of the spill is also available on-line. The Commission Chief Counsel's Report was released 17 February 2011.

The week ahead: Senate Energy panel to consider offshore drilling-safety bill (7/18/11)

BP to impose voluntary offshore drilling safety standards (7/15/11)

ExxonMobil reports huge new discovery of oil in Gulf of Mexico (6/9/11)

Offshore drilling debate persists (4/23/11)

One year after spill: 'It's not going to be normal for a long time' (PHOTOS) (4/16/11)

National Oil Spill Commission releases Preliminary Technical Conclusions (11/8/10)

A Collaborative Effort to Prevent the Next Spill (11/2/10)

Feds lift oil drilling ban in Gulf of Mexico (10/13/10)

Read the Daily News coverage of the Gulf Oil Spill

Check out the BP Florida Gulf Response page and the Defenders of Wildlife Gulf Oil Spill Response and Recovery page

Editorials

Editorial: Giving oil spill victims more time to evaluate losses (11/2/10)

Editorial: Drilling tiff tests USAF 'credibility' (1/22/2010)

Editorial: Speak up, Pentagon, on drilling (1/19/10)

Editorial: Drilling's economic impact (12/04/09)

Editorial: Florida's gulf drilling debate (12/03/09)

Pat Rice: We're taking a deep look at Gulf Coast drilling (11/21/09)

Other Articles

Get moving on compensating bay area businesses for oil spill (10/9/10)

Panel: Gov’t blocked release of worst-case oil spill figures (10/6/10)

1983 document shows Florida's oil strategy largely unchanged (7/10/10)

Offshore drilling finds opposition online (3/6/10)

Report: All of Fla.'s oil would provide nation with less than a week of gas (2/26/10)

Worth the risk? The debate over offshore oil drilling looms large (2/24/10)

Oil drilling could hurt offshore game fishing, researcher say (2/2/10)

Study says military missions, oil drilling can coexist in the gulf (1/19/10)

Commander: Offshore drilling would hurt Eglin mission (1/14/10)

Letter to the editor: Common sense (11/24/09)

Restore the Gulf Team Releases Report

On 28 September 2010, the federal Restore the Gulf team released its report entitled America’s Gulf Coast: A Long Term Recovery Plan after the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus is leading the federal government’s integrated Gulf Reconstruction Effort, which also includes the Departments of Homeland Security, Defense, Energy, Labor, Agriculture and Interior, the US Coast Guard, Environmental Protection Agency, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Small Business Administration, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Food and Drug Administration and the US Geological Survey. Their mission is to build a framework that will quickly connect local and state reconstruction plans with the resources they need to rebuild and preserve the Gulf’s unique ecosystem, to create sustained economic development, and to give opportunities back to those whose livelihoods have been shattered by the spill.

Civic & Community Groups Weigh in on Gulf Coast Recovery Efforts

On 24 August 2010, Oxfam America released a report entitled One Gulf, Resilient Gulf: A plan for coastal community recovery, which it prepared in conjunction with many other community and civic organizations. The report urges Congress and the President to move quickly to support a robust long-term recovery plan, and to better protect coastal communities by improving the safety and oversight of the use of the Outer Continental Shelf and offshore drilling. The report identifies resilience — the capacity of human, natural, and physical systems to adapt to and recover from change — as a critical defining factor in the recovery plan. According to the report’s authors, this will require additional investments to safeguard the region’s rich cultural, environmental, and economic resources, and to spur much-needed diversification in the region’s economy that will reduce its historic dependence on “extractive” industries.

Gulf Coast Claims Facility Stands Up

On 23 August 2010, the Gulf Coast Claims Facility (GCCF) replaced BP as the administrator of BP’s $20 billiion compensation fund. The GCCF is now the official way for individuals and businesses to file claims for costs and damages incurred as a result of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. All claims filed before August 23rd were transferred to the GCCF for review and determination, so there is no need to re-file existing claims. To learn what Kenneth Feinberg, the GCCF administrator, has to say about the process, watch the videos here.

State and Federal Activity on the Gulf Oil Spill

Read about the work of the Governor’s Oil Spill Economic Recovery Task Force.

On 30 July 2010, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 3534, the Consolidated Land, Energy, and Aquatic Resources (CLEAR) Act. Read the House Committee on Energy & Commerce summary, review the bill itself, check its current status and study a comparison of the current energy bills in House and Senate.

Daily News Special Report: Coastal Drilling

Much has been said and written recently about drilling for oil and natural gas in the Gulf of Mexico off the Florida coast. The Northwest Florida Daily News printed an in-depth series on the subject in November 2009. Here are the links to that excellent feature. This issue has the potential to make quite an impact on the Emerald Coast, so please take a moment to check out the anatomy of an oil rig and learn more about possible repercussions on our community. Links will be added as more information becomes available.

Part 1: November 21, 2009

Oil & Water: The debate over drilling in Florida

Oil & Water: Weighing the environmental benefits, risks of inshore drilling

Oil & Water: Question and answers about the inshore drilling issues

Part 2: November 22, 2009

Oil & Water Part 2: Energy interests have begun the push to woo legislators

Oil & Water Part 2: Experts divided on how much money Florida would earn from drilling

Oil & Water Part 2: How will drilling affect the military mission?

Part 3: November 23, 2009

Oil & Water Part 3: Do drilling advocates have the votes in the Florida Legislature?

Oil & Water Part 3: Congress enters the drilling equation; who are the players?

Database of politicians who have received contributions from drilling advocates

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