Drill Baby Drill: Obama To END Offshore Drilling Moratorium

[earth mom]

Offshore Drilling Ban: Obama To End Moratorium

MATTHEW DALY | 10/12/10 09:21 PM | AP

WASHINGTON — The U.S. is back in the deep water oil-drilling business. The question now is when work will resume.

The Obama administration, under heavy pressure from the oil industry and Gulf states and with elections nearing, lifted the moratorium that it imposed last April in the wake of the disastrous BP oil spill.

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The April 20 BP spill, which was triggered by an explosion that killed 11 people, gushed an estimated 200 million gallons of oil, harming wildlife and severely cramping coastal businesses. BP sealed the well last month and expects to eventually pay at least $32 billion to handle the cleanup and damage claims.

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The action also came just weeks before midterm elections in which Democrats face widespread criticism for overextending government actions on the economy, including the health care overhaul, the economic stimulus plan and the drilling moratorium. A federal report said the moratorium probably caused a temporary loss of 8,000 to 12,000 jobs in the Gulf region.

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"The Gulf and our communities have a long road to recovery from the BP disaster," he said. Local fishermen are still out of work, effects on wildlife have not been fully assessed and long-term work is needed to ensure ecological and economic recovery, he added. "We certainly can't afford another oil catastrophe."

More:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/12/offshore-drilling-ban-dec_n_759392.html

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And they call this "Hope & Change"?! :eyes:

Here's REAL Hope & Change:

Al Gore: Stand With Me To Fight Prop 23 And The Oil Lobby
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9309447