OBAMA’S ENERGY PLAN STIRS MIXED REACTION

Abstract

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA’S surprise announcement that he plans to open a large swath of coastal waters to offshore drilling for oil and natural gas is a positive step toward a lower cost domestic energy supply, but it doesn’t go far enough, industry officials say. Environmental groups, however, see a threat to pristine waters and beaches from expanded fossil-fuel production. The President’s controversial decision comes as the White House hopes to persuade lawmakers to pass sweeping legislation that would cut greenhouse gas emissions and overhaul the nation’s energy economy. The climate/energy issue could emerge as a major battle in Congress this summer. The Obama Administration’s new oil and gas leasing plan, unveiled on March 31, would lift a decades-old moratorium on offshore drilling along the eastern U.S. coast from Delaware to Florida, in parts of the Gulf of Mexico, and in waters along the north coast of Alaska. But the coastline from New Jersey northward would ...