OBAMA TO UNVEIL OFFSHORE DRILLING PLANS FOR OIL, NATURAL GAS - latimes.com
The proposal through 2017 will open new areas of the mid-Atlantic region, Alaska and the eastern Gulf of Mexico for production but prohibit moves off California, Oregon and Washington.
President Obama will announce new plans to drill for oil and natural gas off America's coasts Wednesday but will rule out drilling off California, Oregon and Washington state through 2017, administration officials say.
Obama's plans will include opening new areas of coastal Virginia and other parts of the mid-Atlantic region, Alaska and the eastern Gulf of Mexico for drilling. But officials say the president will block drilling in Alaska's Bristol Bay, where Bush administration drilling plans in 2007 angered environmentalists.
According to administration officials, the plan would:
Eventually open two-thirds of the eastern Gulf's oil and gas resources
for drilling.
Proceed with drilling off Virginia, provided the project clears
environmental and military reviews.
Expand drilling off the mid- and south-Atlantic coasts.
Study the viability of drilling in Alaska's Beaufort and Chukchi seas --
areas hotly defended by environmentalists -- but issue no new drilling
leases in either sea before 2013.
The eastern Gulf of Mexico leases hinge on Congress lifting a moratorium
on drilling there. Even if that happens, administration officials said
Obama's plan included no drilling within 125 miles of the Florida
coastline.
The announcement, scheduled for an energy security event at Joint Base
Andrews Naval Air Facility, will be Obama's first major policy step into
the politically charged area of offshore drilling.
The president's drilling plans run through 2017. The likely scope and
details of the proposals represent compromises that risk angering energy
companies and environmentalists alike.
The announcement will come in the run-up to summer driving season, as
gasoline prices have begun a national march toward $3 a gallon, and
beyond that in California.
The administration is pushing expanded offshore exploration as a
bargaining chip in its attempts to enact sweeping legislation to curb
oil imports and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Energy companies and conservatives have clamored for increased drilling
since gasoline prices spiked during the 2008 presidential campaign.
Environmentalists contend that more drilling could lead to oil spills
and the destruction of fragile ecosystems.
While campaigning for the White House, Obama called for increased,
targeted drilling. In his State of the Union address in January, he said
energy security and job creation require "making tough decisions about
opening new offshore areas for oil and gas development."
But his administration has come under heavy criticism from Republicans,
who accuse it of dragging its feet on offshore exploration. Some in the
GOP accuse Obama of a de-facto moratorium on new drilling.
Shortly after Obama took office, his Interior Department retracted a
Bush administration proposal for drilling from 2012 to 2017. Later, a
court invalidated portions of the nation's existing drilling plan.
Wednesday's announcement will set out a new 2012-17 proposal as well as
more immediate plans for lease sales.
Administration officials said Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, as part of
Obama's new drilling plan, will scrap a planned lease sale for Bristol
Bay. Obama will announce that he is reverting to the policies of
Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, who both blocked drilling
of any kind in the bay.
Bristol Bay is a highly productive fishery and part of a Bering Sea
region that supplies 40% of the nation's seafood. Congress blocked
drilling there after the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989. President
George W. Bush removed the last impediments to drilling in the bay in
2007 and had scheduled a drilling lease sale there in 2011.
In California, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger opposes more offshore
drilling, his spokesman said, but supports a proposal to allow expanded
drilling off existing platforms for a set period of time. After the
allotted time, the platforms would be removed.
Other governors, including Republican Bob McDonnell of Virginia, have
pushed Obama to allow more drilling off their coasts.
Pending legislation could give state officials a stronger hand in those
decisions. The crafters of a Senate energy and climate bill are mulling
over a provision that would allow states to choose whether to open
close-in offshore areas for drilling.
jtankersley@latimes.com
Copyright © 2010, Tribune Interactive
Tags: DRILLING, FOR, GAS, NATURAL, OBAMA, OFFSHORE, OIL, PLANS, TO, UNVEIL
Views: 92
Replies are closed for this discussion.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by lotoarmy on -
I, too, understand it is about passing Cap and Trade. It will give someone like Mary Landrieu cover. She can say she is willing to vote for Cap and Trade if the trade off is more drilling offshore. Then the EPA can do the dirty work and keep offshore drilling to a minimum.
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Permalink Reply by S.H.M. on
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Not sure who said it, but sometimes a cigar, is just a cigar. It makes sense to me to drill in some of these protested places. And we do need an Energy Policy that includex nuclear. (Not sure how to write it that the way W says the word.)
Wind, solar, Ngas should all be part of the plan.
And, I for one, think there are jobs that could be created with some oversight/intervention by the Government.
I certainly don't like the idea of "r-ing" Mother Earth. But, I won't mind drilling in the National Parks if we could trust Big Oil to not foul them up. (Yeah, it's a contradiction). -
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Permalink Reply by Kat Bloomfield on
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W would say "nucular;" as Einstein rolls over in his grave.
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Permalink Reply by Dorcheated A1 on
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Caliente,
Glad to see the old crew back together for the reunion. Hey C, maybe next time you can teach Harry Reid how to vote correctly? I hate to upset Yoda (no I'm not) and resort to calling Harry Reid a moron, but you know me, I call em, like I see em.lol -
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Permalink Reply by Kevin Smith on
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President Jimmy ("Don't call me 'James'") Carter, a nucular physicist by training, pronounces "nuclear" exactly the same as President George Bush, if I recall correctly. I may be mistaken, since I haven't heard him use the word since they shut down nuclear energy in the seventies, but that's the way I recall it.
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Permalink Reply by Dorcheated A1 on
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Hey Kevin,
That makes perfectly good sense to me. If James was a nuclear physicist, I'd be shutting down the reactors too. Jimmy must have been the main designer of Three Mile island. That tragedy really mirrored his presidency. They were both manmade disasters, and they both affected people for years to come. The only difference between the two is, the people at Three Mile Island didn’t think they had the greatest nuclear reactor of all time. -
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once again, you couldn't be more wrong.
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Permalink Reply by P.G. on
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Of course we shouldn't complain. I mean he seems to be warming up to more drilling but was not always open to it.
Kind of makes one wonder if there's some kind of catch?
Is he really serious or just playing politics. That map didn't show any drilling off the west coast. Seems like if he's serious about energy independence, there'd be no shores off limits. -
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Permalink Reply by Dorcheated A1 on
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Keith,
It wouldn't let me post on Harold. You must have been reading what I was typing.lol -
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