The Case Against Exporting Crude Oil

For nearly forty years there has been a ban on crude oil exports from the United States. This ban started in response to the 1973 Arab oil embargo, which sent world oil prices soaring. To shield the United States from the volatility of global oil markets, Congress enacted numerous conservation measures as well as restrictions on oil exports. Forty years later, with fracked American oil flooding the markets, voices from many corners are calling to lift the ban on exporting crude oil. But lifting the ban also has many opponents and on this episode of Locus Focus, we talk with one of them. Eric de Place, policy director for the Sightline Institute in Seattle, discusses numerous concerns being raised about the wisdom of allowing the United States to once again export crude oil.

Eric de Place, Sightline Institute's policy director, is a researcher, writer, speaker and policy analyst. He spearheads Sightline's work on climate and energy policy and is known as a leading Northwest expert on strategies to cut carbon pollution. He writes extensively on coal and oil exports and is considered an authority on a range of issues connected to fossil fuel transport, including carbon emissions, railway congestion, coal dust, water pollution and economics.