Offshore oil drilling is favored
In poll, Mass. residents cite cost, dependence
Feeling the crush of high gasoline and heating oil prices, Massachusetts residents overwhelmingly support expanded oil drilling in the United States, including off the state's coastline, according to a Suffolk University/Boston Globe poll.
The poll, conducted last week, found 63 percent of residents said they favor drilling in restricted oil reserves, such as Alaska or near the shores of Florida and California. Nearly as many - 58 percent - supported drilling in restricted areas off the coast of Massachusetts, while just 31 percent opposed the idea.
Robert Bouley, 58, one of 400 people who participated in the poll, reflected the majority sentiment. "We need the oil. We are being held hostage by foreign interests," he said in an interview.
Bouley, a boat captain who gives tours of New Bedford harbor, said he used to oppose drilling off the Massachusetts coast, but soaring oil prices make it crucial to open up more areas for pumping oil, including the Georges Bank fishing grounds.
"When you come right down to it, are we going to freeze or are we going to protect the fish?" he said. Still, he believes drilling can be done carefully to minimize any potential harm.
Not everyone who participated in the poll is so sure.
Monique Turk, 43, of Medford, prefers more investments in public transportation and other fuel-conservation methods over expanded oil drilling.
"I am concerned about the environment," Turk said. "I don't understand why we don't do more with trains [and other alternatives], instead of always trying to have more oil."
The poll comes at a time when many Americans and politicians have proposed more drilling to help cope with rising energy costs. Crude oil, used to produce both heating oil and gasoline, closed at just over $100 a barrel yesterday. That's down from more than $145 a barrel in July, but still up 30 percent from two years ago.
In July, President Bush lifted an executive order restricting offshore drilling. Also, Congress allowed a 27-year-old ban on most offshore oil and gas drilling to expire today.
Regardless, it could be years before additional drilling begins off the coast.
The federal government would first have to conduct environmental studies, oil companies would have to secure permits and leases, and states and environmental groups could potentially sue to stop the work.
In energy legislation passed last month by the US House - but now stalled in the Senate - Massachusetts Congressmen William Delahunt, Democrat of Quincy, and Edward Markey, Democrat of Malden, worked to include language excluding Georges Bank from any drilling. Delahunt said there is so little oil beneath the oval-shaped area that is not worth threatening fishing grounds. Georges Bank is located 70 miles offshore - roughly between Nova Scotia and Cape Cod - and is larger in area than Massachusetts.
According to a 2006 estimate by the federal Minerals Management Service, the entire North Atlantic region, stretching from Maine to New Jersey, likely has 570 million barrels of oil, enough to fuel the country for less than a month.
"It doesn't make any sense," Delahunt said, adding that far more can be done to develop resources in terms of wind and waves than in terms of drilling.
Ian Bowles, secretary of the state's Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, said the Patrick administration is open to proposals for offshore drilling, except for Georges Bank.
"I think it's appropriate to consider all possible resources to meeting the nation's energy needs," Bowles said. But he added, "The case for exempting Georges Bank is strong."
John Quinn, executive director of the Massachusetts Petroleum Council, a trade group, said state officials are being disingenuous when they claim to be open to drilling outside of the Georges Bank.
"That's the only place where anybody has any interest in drilling," Quinn said. "That's a joke. That's not a concession."
While most political leaders have focused on the potential for oil, Quinn said Georges Bank is actually more attractive for its natural gas reserves. The Minerals Management Service, part of the US Department of the Interior, has estimated the North Atlantic might contain 7.2 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, equal to about one-third of the gas consumed in the United States each year. And the government of Nova Scotia has estimated Georges Bank alone might contain more than 5 trillion cubic feet.
Peter Torkildsen, chairman of the state's Republican Party, said it's worthwhile to consider drilling off the Massachusetts coast, including Georges Bank, to help reduce the country's dependence on foreign oil.
"It's something that should be looked at," Torkildsen said. But he added that the state should have an opportunity to weigh in on the details and share potential revenue.
The poll, which Suffolk University conducted in partnership with the Globe, has a margin of error of 4.9 percentage points.
Todd Wallack can be reached at twallack@globe.com. 