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Obama Administration Reverses Plan for Gulf Oil Dril

By Foreign Policy Magazine

The Obama administration announced on Wednesday that it would maintain a ban on offshore oil drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico and off the Atlantic Coast for the next five years. The new plan marks a reversal of President Obama's energy policy announced in March, and sets up a clash with Republicans and business interests.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar explained the policy shift was precipitated by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, which leaked almost 5 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico this summer. The administration's plan, he explained, was to "focus and expand our critical resources on areas that are currently active" rather than expand energy exploration into new regions. He did leave the door open to a change in the policy regarding the eastern Gulf of Mexico, which is still subject to a congressional moratorium on drilling, saying that the administration would be willing to discuss energy exploration in the region as "part of a balanced package that includes other energy priorities of the president."

The new plan also delays two scheduled lease sales for energy exploration in the central and western Gulf of Mexico until the end of next year, at the earliest. Salazar said that the Interior Department would also conduct new research on the environmental impact of drilling off the coast of Alaska, which could also delay plans to drill there.