Does President
Obama's decision today to open up parts of the U.S. outer-continental
shelf to offshore drilling have any implications for foreign policy? Yes,
according to David Pumphrey, deputy
director of the CSIS Energy and National Security Program and former deputy
assistant secretary for international energy cooperation at the U.S. Department
of Energy.
The U.S. position has been to encourage a range of
countries to open up their newly discovered offshore reserves to exploration,
especially by western companies. But that didn't wash with several countries who
rightly pointed out that the U.S. was telling them, "Do as I say, not as I do."
But now that the Obama administration is showing
movement, albeit cautiously, on that front, the U.S argument that other
countries do the same is strengthened, Pumphrey said.
"Your credibility is enhanced by the stance that
somehow your offshore areas are not more protected and special than theirs," he
said. "In many ways, the policy choice that had been made to keep our offshore
out of bounds for oil development weakened our ability to go out and tell
countries to make choices that might impact them negatively."
Some countries that have recently discovered large
potential reserves but haven't yet moved to fully explore them include Brazil
and Angola, both of which are being told by the U.S. to move faster.
"We're saying, yes, develop those new reserves and
use western countries to do that," Pumphrey said, arguing that message will now
seem more in line with U.S. actions.
"It helps to close the gap between the domestic and
foreign policy."
Read More
(0)
HIDE COMMENTS LOGIN OR REGISTER REPORT ABUSE