WASHINGTON (AP) -- Escalating his administration's response to the disastrous Gulf oil spill, President Barack Obama plans to announce Thursday that a moratorium on new deepwater oil drilling permits will be continued for six months while a presidential commission investigates, a White House aide said. Controversial lease sales off the coast of Alaska will be delayed pending the results...
Oil sheen is seen of the surface of the Gulf of Mexico near the coast of Louisiana, Wednesday, May 26, 2010.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Escalating his administration's response to the disastrous Gulf oil spill, President Barack Obama plans to announce Thursday that a moratorium on new deepwater oil drilling permits will be continued for six months while a presidential commission investigates, a White House aide said.
Controversial lease sales off the coast of Alaska will be delayed pending the results of the commission's investigation, and lease sales planned in the Western Gulf and off the coast of Virginia will be canceled, the aide said, speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of a midday Obama news conference.
Shell Oil was poised to begin exploratory drilling this summer on Arctic leases as far as 140 miles offshore.
Those steps, along with new oversight and safety standards also to be announced, are the results of a 30-day safety review of offshore drilling conducted by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar at Obama's direction. Salazar briefed Obama on its conclusions Wednesday night in the Oval Office, the aide said.
With the moves, Obama is exerting control over the response to the five-week-old spill amid growing criticism about leadership from the White House even as BP's efforts to stop the leak are finally showing promise after a series of failures.
Read more of the AP story.
» Obama plans to cancel exploratory drilling and new lease sales off the coast of Alaska, as well as a proposed lease sale off the Virginia coast. [Washington Post]
» President cites oil spill to renew his push for alternative energy. [CNN]
» Karl Rove says Gulf Spill Is Obama's Katrina. [Wall Street Journal]
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