Obama Administration Will Not Allow Atlantic Offshore Drilling
The Obama administration is reversing a plan to allow oil drilling in the Atlantic Ocean, after an uproar from local communities over environmental concerns.
“We heard from many corners that now is not the time to offer oil and gas leasing off the Atlantic coast,” Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said.
Georgia Public Broadcasting’s Emily Jones tells our Newscast unit that this is a reversal from a draft proposal issued in January 2015:
“The Department of Defense, environmental groups and more than a hundred coastal communities objected to the drilling proposal. They argued drilling would conflict with Navy and commercial fishing activity, and endanger wildlife.”
The Interior Department says the original plan received more than a million comments. The proposal included a lease area that started 50 miles off the coast and stretched from Virginia to Georgia. It would have allowed drilling starting from 2021.
More: Obama Administration Will Not Allow Atlantic Offshore Drilling : The Two-Way : NPR