Let's remember this potential drilling area is only a 2,000-acre site inside a 1.5 million-acre coastal plain. You can balance the needs of conservation and exploration - they're not mutually exclusive.

We believe Knotty Head has the potential to be a significant development in the Green Canyon area. With continued drilling success, our plan would be to sanction a development project within the next 24 months.

We need to do a better job of explaining the potential effects of the cumulative impacts and the harm they cause.

There are no zoning controls in this area. This whole thing could be busted up into 150 five-acre lots. But as it is, he's only taking up 20 percent of the area for housing.

It's a very difficult area to develop. You need sophisticated drilling techniques to develop it commercially.

Offshore drilling could turn our beaches and coastal waters into an industrial zone. Rather than auction off our valuable coastline to oil and gas companies, Virginia should be leading the way with energy solutions that will sustain our energy needs and our economy far into the future.