Obama Proposes Offshore Drilling Plan

If you thought “drill, baby, drill!” was only a right-wing slogan, think again. On Wednesday, President Barack Obama outlined a plan for doing a little drilling for oil and gas off a few sections of our nation’s coastline, including the East Coast, Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico.  —KA

The New York Times:

Angering environmentalists and pleasing industry groups, Obama and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said the expansion in drilling would balance the need to boost domestic energy production while protecting natural resources.

“The bottom line is this: Given our energy needs, in order to sustain economic growth and produce jobs and keep our businesses competitive, we are going to need to harness traditional sources of fuel even as we ramp up production of new sources of renewable, homegrown energy,” Obama said.

The plan calls for exploration in areas from Delaware to off the coastline of central Florida, while keeping the East Coast from New Jersey northward closed to oil and gas development. But actual drilling would only take place after detailed study of the regions, which could take years.

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Wikimedia Commons / Joint Pipeline Office

Here we have Northstar Island, an artificial island designed for oil and gas drilling north of Alaska.