WASHINGTON, D.C. — IER Senior Vice President Dan Kish released today the following statement about the Obama administration’s proposed final plan for development of energy resources on the Outer Continental Shelf:
“President Obama’s offshore charade continues today with the formal announcement of the 2012-2017 leasing plan for the outer continental shelf. With this plan, the administration reinstates the 27 year moratorium that was lifted in 2008, and turns its back on potentially enormous energy resources that could provide jobs and energy security for America. For more than three years, the Obama administration has consistently reversed bipartisan efforts to open America’s vast offshore resources for energy development.
“The president has cancelled lease sales, delayed others, and imposed a unilateral executive embargo on the oil resources that our most promising public lands could provide. With 98 percent of the U.S. offshore currently unleased for energy exploration, Secretary Salazar has finalized this plan to continue the administration’s war against affordable energy. In the end, Americans will pay more for the energy they need.
“While President Obama and Interior Secretary Salazar claim an ‘all of the above’ energy strategy, today’s announced plan continues to give the American people access to a mere fraction of the offshore resources they own. If not for this president and his policies, Americans could access more than 200 years of oil supply under our feet and off our shores.
“Millions of Americans are still looking for jobs. The Gulf Coast economy has yet to recover from President Obama’s moratorium on offshore drilling. President Obama has signaled today that he has no regard for our energy future, nor the jobs that a sensible, long-term plan for offshore development would create.”
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