WASHINGTON -Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), the top Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee, today praised the Obama administration’s Interior Department for offering a balanced five year oil and gas drilling plan for America’s oceans. The plan would continue to offer new lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico and in Alaska, but would keep the East Coast free from drilling and postpone the Alaskan lease sales so that more scientific data can be collected and the oil industry can create a spill response system sufficient for the state’s harsh conditions.
Below is the statement of Rep. Markey:
“As a time when U.S. oil production is at an 18-year high, this drilling plan is the responsible way to continue to support domestic production, while leaving time to put in place proper safety and environmental protections.
“While Republicans pass bills in Congress to give away all of our public lands available to drill within just a few short years, the Obama administration knows that an ‘oil-above-all’ policy serves no one’s interests, unless you are an oil company executive.
“By keeping the East Coast off limits to drilling, this plan also recognizes the widespread opposition to placing oil rigs up and down our Atlantic Coast."
