[audio:http://www.wdde.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/carneyoil.mp3|titles= Delaware Public Media's Tom Byrne interviews Rep. John Carney.]
Delaware’s lone Congressman John Carney says he thinks President Obama’s plan to allow oil drilling in parts of the Atlantic is a bad idea.
Obama announced the move, which would open up East Coast waters from Virginia to Georgia to drilling, late last month. The plan would simultaneously restrict drilling in parts of the Arctic sea in an effort to protect the Alaskan wilderness.
Carney says because of the dramatic growth of the U.S. oil industry in North Dakota and Canada - as well as a burgeoning natural gas industry, drilling in the Atlantic is unnecessary and could damage Delaware’s beach economy in the event of an oil spill.
"We are as energy independent as we’ve been in a long, long time, and so I don’t think this exploration is justified or worth the risk given what it could do to our economy in Delaware," said Carney on Delaware Public Media's The Green.
Carney says he still supports the so-called “all of the above” energy approach, but thinks the development of energy resources should be done responsibly and sustainably.
I’m a supporter of the all of the above energy approach," Said Carney. "[My position on drilling in the Atlantic] doesn’t mean it’s not a good strategy to have, it just means as you develop all the various sources of energy, you need to be careful about that."
Carney adds that the dramatic expansion of the U.S. oil industry in North Dakota and Canada make drilling in the Atlantic unnecessary.
He’d also like to see more focus on developing wind power, and remains in favor of the federal government offering tax credits to encourage investment in those projects.