President Bush takes step toward offshore drilling

It will have no immediate effect on the availability of oil or, probably, the price of gasoline. But President Bush is planning to announce in the Rose Garden this afternoon that he is lifting an executive ban on drilling for oil along the outer continental shelf.

A congressional ban remains in effect, meaning that no such drilling will be possible.

Nevertheless, Bush's move puts pressure on Congress to act, Times staffer Richard Simon reports.

White House Press Secretary Dana Perino announced Bush's plans during the morning news gaggle for reporters here at the White House.

In addition to congressional action, drilling decisions would have to be made by coastal states -- on whether to drill, on how far offshore drilling can take place, on sharing of revenue, Perino said.

-- James Gerstenzang

Photo: Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Jack]

Rather than this kind of pointless showboating, why isn't George W. Doofus asking Big Oil while it isn't drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, where it can do so legally this minute?

[iH8uAll]

Bush thinks "I can get whatever I want" (FISA, anyone?, mass war-profiteering?, War crimes?) and so, he will ask his mommy, errr...ummm..I mean "congress" and Congress will spoil him. This isn't a government, it is a sickness.

Bush's oil buddies want him to do this "one last thing" in the name of terror...I mean in the name of OIL.

Lets not forget the nearly 5000 American Soldiers who have died for his OIL buddies to get contracts in IRAQ. This is blood for oil. This is murder for greed.

Drilling off our coastlines would just be the cherry on the sunday for the OIL conglomerates.

[joseph marcucilli]

Thank God the two oilmen will be out of office soon.It would take from 3 to 5 years to get any oil out of this area but whatever oil they do retrieve will produce big profits for the oil companies.

[James gutierrez]

How bad is the trucking industry feeling the high gas prices ?
How is it effecting the economy ?

[peter sterling]

There is an extremely dangerous game being played by the White House, Congress, and certain activist organizations that is placing the economy and the security of America at great risk. As a matter of national security and as a significant boost to the American economy, it makes no sense to not assure and achieve hydrocarbons energy independence.

America faces a very dark future as rapidly-increasing energy costs threaten to bankrupt the entire economy, bringing about a depression with no end.

Dr. Roy Cordato from the conservative think tank John Locke Foundation said. "This is a government driven scarcity," Dr. Cordato added. "It's driven by laws that has kept the United States off the exploration market."

With the exception of waters off Alaska and every Gulf Coast state but Florida, most of the nation's Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) is off-limits to energy exploration up to 200 miles offshore, thanks to a moratorium that Congress has inserted into an appropriations bill every year since 1982. Drilling has developed to the point that there is little danger of spillage or contamination. There is no reason to prevent drilling on our continental shelf.

The other major source of energy is the shale oil deposits out west. It has been estimated that the shale deposits contain more oil than all the reserves in the Middle East.

We need a "Manhattan Project" of energy development. We're crazy not to be using our own resources. Much has changed since the 1982 offshore drilling moratorium was enacted. Drilling technology has advanced over the past quarter-century. Oil companies can drill more efficiently in deeper water with significantly less risk to the environment. "Compared to worldwide tanker spill rates, outer continental shelf operations are more than five times safer,'' according to the Department of Interior's Minerals Management Service. Domestic drilling would also create a huge economic boost to America.

Both US political parties cling to long-standing positions on energy - then blame their colleagues across the aisle for blocking their efforts.

A real energy plan is here; http://www.strategicnine.com/STERLING-AMERICAN-ENERGY-PLAN.htm

[dude]

Why don't you people look at the facts!!! Take the paper bag off your heads. Clinton denied offshore drilling 10 years ago because he said it would take too long to drill anyway...look where we are. We can drill way more safely and cleanly than we could in the sixties...its called technology. Some estimates put production as soon as 3 years out, not 15. The rigs are 25 miles minimum off shore, you can only see 15 miles from shore because the earth is round, not flat. And another thing, why do you think we don't want to also develope other alternative forms of energy? Republicans do want to develope other forms of alternative energy, which by the way is predicted to not have any real supply effect for another 10-20 years. US companies are going down, we are turning into a second tier nation. Lets be logical and get done what we need to get done. Learn the facts!

[Dave]

This dangerous move by the present administration is an enormous step backwards and will benefit no one but the petroleum/petrochemical industry. As has been pointed out numerous times in these responses, we have had an energy crisis before – this situation is a product of big business interest controlling government policy making; the current administration promoting petroleum business interest, irresponsibly enabling U.S. oil speculators who go wildly unregulated, the lack of viable incentives for the development and deployment of alternative energy.

This is simply bad decision making and we need to expect more from ourselves and our elected officials. A more ethical and enlightened move would be to take an aggressive position on clean, efficient alternative energy sources that are much needed and long overdue. Promoting alternative energy would also provide an increase in jobs and a domestic economic boost.

[Terry B]

"asking Big Oil while it isn't drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, where it can do so legally this minute?"

Uh Jack there is drilling in the Gulf. And at this minute they have to explore water 10,000 feet deep & drill 5 miles of rock. That takes $$$.

It anazes me the real doofus' out there. Anyway you LWNJs keep your head in the sand on Oil production

[Gina]

"Dude" once again proves that no matter what problem happened during the Bush Administration, it can always be blamed on Clinton. Congratulations, dude, on parroting back those far-right talking points!

Perhaps at this year's GOP convention, the party could adopt a new slogan: "The Buck Is Always Passed Here."

(Of course, using dude-logic, that means any problem from 2009-2016 can be blamed on Bush.)

[Jay]

After the Democratic majority's poor performance in failing to block "retroactive immunity" in FISA legislation, the Administration are 99% certain of succeeding with offshore drilling, and next up - drilling in the Alaska Arctic Wildlife Refuge.

Republicans that want to vote for what they feel is right, can't vote with this team because they are too soft to be trusted in a fight.

The Bush team is also letting foriegn enemies know just how weak this team will be if they win the US Presidency.

[Wayne]

Terry, before you call someone a doofus, you might want to master the difference between possessives and plurals.

Jack is correct. Big Oil has the rights to drill thousands of new wells on the Gulf Shelf but is not doing so. Why not? Because they want to perpetuate the fraud that the American wilderness must be raped or else America will run out of oil. Sadly, folks like grammar-impaired Terry have fallen for this lie.

(And notice how Terry's parroting back the fabricated "five miles of rock" canard that has been well circulated in the far right's talking points and now entirely debunked by energy experts. This fiction is brought to you by the same folks who are trying to insist global warming isn't happening and that "intelligent design" is a proven science.)