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May 27, 2012
 
 
 
 
 
 

Recharging debate, Obama expands offshore drilling

2 April 2010 / AP, WASHINGTON
Shaking up years of energy policy and his own environmental backers, President Barack Obama threw open a huge swath of East Coast waters and other protected areas in Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico to drilling Wednesday, widening the politically explosive hunt for more homegrown oil and gas.

Obama’s move allows drilling from Delaware to central Florida, plus the northern waters of Alaska, and exploration could begin 50 miles off the coast of Virginia by 2012. He also wants Congress to lift a drilling ban in the oil-rich eastern Gulf of Mexico, 125 miles from Florida beaches. Even with a push for cleaner energy sources and efficient cars -- and with promises of protection for ecosystems and coastal tourism -- the nation still needs more oil, Obama said.

While the first lease sale for an area 50 miles off the Virginia coast could come as early as 2012, development in other areas of the South Atlantic would still be years away, according to the Interior Department’s leasing plans released Wednesday.

 
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