The Obama administration is proposing to open vast expanses of water along the Atlantic coastline, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and the north coast of Alaska to oil and natural gas drilling for the first time, officials said Tuesday.
The proposal -- a compromise that will please oil companies and domestic drilling advocates but anger some residents of
affected states and many environmental organizations -- would end a longstanding moratorium on oil exploration along the
East Coast from the northern tip of Delaware to the central coast of Florida, covering 167 million acres of ocean.
Great, but "WTF," I though. Wasn't Sarah Palin derided in the last election for her chants of "drill, baby, drill?" But then I read this...
The proposal is intended to reduce dependence on oil imports, generate revenue from the sale of offshore leases and help win political support for comprehensive energy and climate legislation.
And there's the catch. In a bit of twisted logic that is going to cause some environmentalists to implode, Obama is willing to trade offshore drilling for support for Cap & Trade. Not a good bargain.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment