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The Obama administration today shelved a Bush administration plan to allow drilling off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, delaying a final decision on the controversial policy for at least six months to give states, enviros and others time to weigh in on it.

In announcing the move, Interior Sec. Ken Salazar said that more time was needed to mull offshore renewable energy alternatives "torpedoed" by Bush officials in favor of oil and natural gas. "To establish an orderly process that allows us to make wise decisions based on sound information, we need to set aside" the plan, he said in a statement, "and create our own timeline."

Salazar also ordered the Interior Department to report on potential renewable energy sources such as wave and wind on the Outer Continental Shelf (where the feds oversee 1.7 billion acres), noting that the Bush policy was based on data that is "thin" and at least 20 to 30 years old.

"We shouldn't make decisions to sell off taxpayer resources based on old information," he said.

Congress last year failed to renew a decades-old moratorium on oil and gas exploration across 85 percent of the Outer Continental Shelf, which left all waters previously off limits (estimated to hold billions of untapped barrels of oil and trillions of cubic feet of natural gas) potentially open to exploration.

But four days before Bush left office, officials issued a draft plan that called for the Interior Department to open areas off the East Coast and the coasts of California and Alaska to oil and gas exploration during a five-year period from 2010 to 2015. (Offshore drilling is already allowed in the Gulf of Mexico.)
 
Environmentalists and coastal states were up in arms, arguing that drilling could lead to spills (that could sully the waters and harm fish and wildlife) and that the feds' should shift their focus from oil and gas to renewable energy sources.

Salazar said that when he issues a final rulemaking "in the coming months," it "will allow us to move from the 'oil and gas' only approach of the previous administration."

"We must embrace President Obama's vision of energy independence," he added, "for the sake of our national security, our economic security, and our environmental security."

The move comes a week after House Republicans urged Obama to keep the Pacific and Atlantic coastlines open for (oil and gas) business.

Image credit: ccgd via Flickr

4 Comments

1. 1. Nathaniel 05:56 PM 2/10/09

   More efficient house-building techniques can reduce the electricity needs by 80%. Combined with solar panels on every roof, and a wind turbine in every backyard, you've got all the power you need. The "grid" would simply connect these houses in the case that one household's equipment fails, it is supported by the others. Distributed power is the way to go. Centralized power is a national security risk. If only a handful of plants are down, it can cause rolling blackouts across the entire country. However, if the power is created by every home, then there is no way that an enemy could knock out the power for the entire country.
   
   This would require quite a bit of reform in the construction industry. They must be taught how to build efficiently instead of simply telling them that "it can be done." It would also require that there be sufficient subsidies applied to these alternative energy solutions so that they are affordable to the consumer. The cost of these subsidies could easily be covered by an increasing carbon tax.

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2. 2. JamesDavis 07:16 AM 2/11/09

   We could also build Norway's hydrogen power plant, that is no larger than an American refrigerator, can be placed anywhere quickly, is charged by water, and place one at each home in America; that would provide more electricity than we will ever need in our existence. When those small powerful power plants are in place, we can dismantle these dangerous power and telephone lines and never have to worry about our electricity ever going out again. This would also create thousands of never ending jobs that never have to be outsourced. Now that we have a president who can actually think about something other than death, destruction, and poverty, we need to quickly get away from all forms of fossil fuel and clean up our planet. Thank God the republicans are out of power.

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3. 3. istigKite in reply to whatsup 10:34 PM 2/12/09

   politics does have a bad name true,but if guided by science,may redeem itself

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4. 4. scohn 01:15 PM 2/14/09

   Hooray!!!
   I've been signing petitions, sending emails and even "snail-mail" for a long time to try and stop Bush Inc. from selling the off-shore oil rights to the highest bidder. Using that (potential) resource now was such a bad idea.
   
   Petrolium products have many uses, some of which are still unique. To designate an untapped potential resource for energy production, when there are many other energy sources, is very near-sighted. Not to mention the environmental costs!
   
   THANK YOU President Obama!

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