This is an excerpt based on reporting by Reporting by PHILIP ELLIOTT of The Associated Press (AP) – 1st April 2010
President Barack Obama says he’s expanding offshore oil drilling along the Atlantic coast, arguing that America must break its dependency on foreign oil and rely more on “homegrown fuels and clean energy.”
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a reversal of a long-standing ban on most offshore drilling, President Barack Obama is allowing oil drilling off Virginia’s shorelines and considering it for a large chunk of the Atlantic seaboard.
Obama was set to announce the new drilling policy Wednesday at Andrews air base in Maryland. Obama’s blueprint would allow Interior to go ahead with oil and gas leases on tracts 50 miles off the coast of Virginia. The official spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of Obama’s announcement.
Obama is allowing an expansion in Alaska’s Cook Inlet to go forward. The plan also would leave in place the moratorium on drilling off the West Coast.
In addition, the Interior Department has prepared a plan to add drilling platforms in the eastern Gulf of Mexico if Congress allows that moratorium to expire. Under Obama’s plan, drilling could take place 125 miles from Florida’s Gulf coastline if lawmakers allow the moratorium to expire.
Obama also urged Congress to complete work on a climate change and energy bill, which has remained elusive.
