Salazar delays Bush-era offshore drilling plan

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced yesterday that he "will revamp the process for writing a new five-year plan for oil and gas exploration" in waters generally three to 200 miles from shore, reports The Washington Post. "The plan, which must be in place by 2012, is intended to guide a new push for offshore exploration, made possible after Congress and President George W. Bush lifted years-old bans last year."

The Obama administration's decision indicates a departure from the "oil or nothing" approach of the Bush administration, Salazar said. A combination of offshore wind farms and drilling seems to be the approach favored by Obama.

"The Interior Department will extend the public-comment period for the new plan, which had been scheduled to close March 23, by 180 days," David Fahrenthold and Juliet Eilperin write. "But he also said the administration will look for ways to generate energy offshore by using renewable sources such as wind, waves or tides." Salazar called the Bush administration's approach "a headlong rush of the worst kind" and "a process tilted toward the usual energy players." (Read more)