Drill Here-No Way

[phuloi]

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has rejected a Bush administration plan to open vast waters off the Pacific and Atlantic coasts to oil and gas drilling.

Salazar criticized what he said was "the enormous sweep" of the Bush drilling proposal announced four days before President Barack Obama took office. He said it did not take into consideration the views of states and coastal communities.

Instead Salazar on Tuesday directed studies into how much oil and gas might be found off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. He also plans to hold regional meetings to get comments from the public before proceeding with an offshore energy plan.

Congress lifted a broad ban on offshore oil and gas drilling last fall. But the Interior Department must issue the a plan for oil and gas leases.