Obama - 'Drill, Drill, Drill!'
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President Barack Obama's administration is proposing to open off-shore drilling along the Atlantic coastline, the Gulf of Mexico and the northern coast of Alaska for the first time to recover oil and natural gas.
The proposal would relieve the dependency of the U.S., which consumes more oil per capita than any other nation, on fossil fuel from international trade.
The move by Obama is seen as a bold move for a Democratic president, whose party has long advocated the implementation of alternative sources of energy.
The proposal should please the oil companies and drilling proponents, but residents of the affected areas of the country and environmental organizations are likely not to take the move in stride.
The exploration for oil would cover 167 million acres of ocean along the East Coast from the northern tip of Delaware to the central coast of Florida, while the coast line from New Jersey upward would remain closed along with the Pacific Coast from Mexico to Canada.
Nearly 130 million acres in the Arctic Ocean north of Alaska would be open for exploration as well, while southwestern waters of the state would remain untouched.
The first lease sale off could take place as early as next year in an area 50 miles off the coast of Virginia that was already approved for development but had been held up in court according to officials.
Development of the vast expanses that would be opened under the proposal could take years as the Interior Department could take years to conduct geological and environmental studies along the Atlantic seaboard.
The richest area that is set to be opened under the Obama plan is the eastern tract of the gulf of Mexico that is believed to contain as much as 3.5 billion barrels of oil and 17 trillion cubic feet of gas.
The official announcement on the plan is expected to come on Wednesday from President Obama at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland on Wednesday.
The proposal would relieve the dependency of the U.S., which consumes more oil per capita than any other nation, on fossil fuel from international trade.
The move by Obama is seen as a bold move for a Democratic president, whose party has long advocated the implementation of alternative sources of energy.
The proposal should please the oil companies and drilling proponents, but residents of the affected areas of the country and environmental organizations are likely not to take the move in stride.
The exploration for oil would cover 167 million acres of ocean along the East Coast from the northern tip of Delaware to the central coast of Florida, while the coast line from New Jersey upward would remain closed along with the Pacific Coast from Mexico to Canada.
Nearly 130 million acres in the Arctic Ocean north of Alaska would be open for exploration as well, while southwestern waters of the state would remain untouched.
The first lease sale off could take place as early as next year in an area 50 miles off the coast of Virginia that was already approved for development but had been held up in court according to officials.
Development of the vast expanses that would be opened under the proposal could take years as the Interior Department could take years to conduct geological and environmental studies along the Atlantic seaboard.
The richest area that is set to be opened under the Obama plan is the eastern tract of the gulf of Mexico that is believed to contain as much as 3.5 billion barrels of oil and 17 trillion cubic feet of gas.
The official announcement on the plan is expected to come on Wednesday from President Obama at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland on Wednesday.
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