The Oval - Tracking the Obama presidency
President Obama announced new leases for offshore oil drilling today with an appeal to both environmental supporters and Republican critics, saying increased domestic oil production is part of an overall approach to the nation's energy challenges.
"I know that we can come together to pass comprehensive energy and climate legislation that will foster new industries, create millions of new jobs, protect our planet and help us become more energy independent," Obama said in a speech devoted to what he called "energy security".
Traditional sources such as oil and natural gas are needed for short-term energy and economic needs, Obama said in announcing that the government will now allow drilling about 50 miles off the Virginia coast, the first new leases in two decades. The administration also said it will allow exploration of other potential drilling sites up and down the East Coast.
Addressing environmental critics of the decision, Obama described it as temporary and "part of a broader strategy that will move us from an economy that runs on fossil fuels and foreign oil to one that relies more on homegrown fuels and clean energy".
Along with Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Obama also said proposed leases in Alaska's Bristol Bay would be canceled. He would also limit any oil and gas drilling off the coast of Florida to no closer than 125 miles from the shore. Obama cast the package as "a balance" between "the need to harness domestic energy resources and the need to protect America's natural resources".
Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., an Obama political ally, said oil companies should be forced to use existing leases before they are granted new ones on "pristine" coastal areas. "Oil companies hold the offshore drilling rights to an area the size of Pennsylvania on which they aren't actually drilling," Markey said.
To Republicans and others who support expanded drilling, Obama said it will not address the energy's problems by itself. "With less than 2 percent of oil reserves, but more than 20 percent of world consumption ... drilling alone can't come close to meeting our long-term energy needs," he said.
House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said Obama's drilling policy remains too restrictive, especially in a struggling economy that needs new jobs.
"The Obama Administration continues to defy the will of the American people who strongly supported the bipartisan decision of Congress in 2008 to lift the moratorium on offshore drilling," Boehner said in a statement. "Not just off the East Coast and in the Gulf of Mexico, but off the Pacific Coast and Alaskan shores as well".
Obama's energy program has languished in Congress. Republicans and some Democrats have objected to his proposal for a "cap and trade" program that would limit the emission of greenhouse gases in addressing global warming. The critics said the plan would hurt U.S. industry.
In stressing his comprehensive approach, Obama said there are Democratic and Republican ways to improve the environment and reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil.
He said: "Ultimately, we need to move beyond the tired debates between right and left, between business leaders and environmentalists, between those who would claim drilling is a cure all and those who would claim it has no place".
Posted by David Jackson
USA Today
