No reason to 'drill, baby, drill'

[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/POLITICS/12/20/oil.drilling/art.gas.prices.gi.jpg]
Michael Brune
Special to CNN

(CNN) - Wednesday's speech from President Obama unveiling his new strategy on offshore drilling, which will keep some sensitive coastal areas open for drilling, hits close to home for me.

I grew up in Chadwick Beach, on the New Jersey shore. My parents took us camping up and down the Eastern Seaboard. In the summer, as a teenager, I'd spend all day every day at the beach and in the ocean, surfing and bodysurfing. Although I remember all the good times along the shore, I also remember the bad, including when hypodermic needles and frothy chemical waste from nearby plants began washing up on the sand.

Now I foresee even more of the bad for places along the East Coast shoreline, as well as the thousands of miles of coast that will be exposed to oil spills, from this latest plan to open up offshore drilling areas.

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