Offshore drilling will no longer be allowed in either the eastern Gulf of Mexico or the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, at least for seven years.
According to MiamiHerald.com, the White House will make the announcement that it will ban offshore drilling for at least seven years. The decision was prompted by the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Environmental groups are taking the news positively. Jacqueline Savitz, senior campaign director of Oceana, a Washington-based organization, said in a statement, "We are elated that the Atlantic coast and the Eastern Gulf, which were in the cross-hairs for offshore drilling, are now in the clear."
"We know there is no safe way to drill for oil and gas, and we don't want to see another spill like the one we watched all through the spring and through summer," Savitz added.
According to a spokeswoman for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the decision to ban offshore drilling for the next seven years is a big step backward for the nation's energy future, The Associated Press reported:
"The decision comes on top of the de facto moratorium the administration has imposed on production in both deep and shallow waters in the Gulf and Alaska, which is already causing significant harm to our economy and our energy security," said Karen Harbert, president and CEO of the camber's Institute for 21st Century Energy.
Habert added:
"By continuing to keep most of America's abundant oil and natural gas resources under lock and key, the Obama administration is ensuring that we will continue to increase our dependence on foreign oil, which threatens our national security."
What do you think of the decision to stop offshore drilling for the next seven years?
