Expanded offshore drilling plan set - Environment - MSNBC.comYou can bet the anti-drilling folks are scrambling to come up with a suitable response.WASHINGTON - The Interior Department has put the final touches on a five-year plan to expand oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and offshore from Alaska and Virginia.
Interior officials said Friday the plan will include more environmental buffer zones around lease areas and make other minor changes to a previous draft. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne is scheduled to announce the "major oil and gas development program" Monday, a department statement says.
But there's no two ways about it - if we're to be energy independent, we need a dense, easily transported energy source. Oil's the best bet for now, and we need to start drilling now. Nuclear's fine but has a long lead time - wind is too diffuse, solar's helpful but too expensive.
We'll see what comes of this. If nothing else, prices might drop a bit.
J.