I just heard this announcement on the news: Bush to Lift Executive Ban on Offshore Oil Drilling. (This would be the moratorium his father enacted.) He will be talking about this decision from the Rose Garden at 12:30pm today.
This move will not make offshore drilling possible in itself, but it will put the pressure on the Congress to act,
White House
press secretary Dana Perino says Bush is acting now in hopes of
spurring Congress to act. So far, lawmakers have shown no interest in
doing so.
Last week, Nancy Pelosi was still digging in her heels on domestic drilling ban, but Harry Reid and Richard Durbin showed a glimmer of interest.
But that glimmer seems to be dying in the light of Bush's probable ban lifting today,
After hearing of Mr. Bush’s proposal on Tuesday night, Mr. Reid
affirmed his opposition, saying, “The Energy Information Administration
says that even if we open the coasts to oil drilling that won’t have a
significant impact on prices.”
This lifting of the executive ban is a step in the right direction, but it's only a step. We aren't there yet by a long shot.
UPDATE: Not only did the President lift the offshore ban, but also lifted the ban in ANWR and "on oil shale leasing in the Green River Basin of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming." (From Breitbart.com)
Tuesday, July 15: I heard Sen. Jon Kyl state on a news snippet this morning, that if we would start drilling in the oil shale deposits, we could start producing oil from there in 3 to 7 years. So much for the not for 10 years gloomy outlook. (Didn't we put a man on the moon in less than 10 years?)
Click here to sign the DRILL HERE. DRILL NOW. PAY LESS domestic drilling petition and see the latest links to related oil news (updated every day).
Drill Here is now over the 1.3 million mark. The goal is 3 million signatures by the Democratic and Republican Conventions.
Links:
Brookfield7,
Fairly Conservative,
Betterbrookfield,
Mark Levin , Vicki Mckenna
