The Obama administration spurned Virginia and other east coast states Tuesday with its decision to allow offshore drilling only in Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico.
That irked Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, a Republican, and the state’s two Democratic U.S. senators, who together made a bipartisan push to include the Old Dominion in a five-year plan to begin oil and gas exploration along the country’s coasts.
McDonnell, normally more reserved in formal statements, held back no punches, calling the decision “another glaring example of the abysmal failure of the Obama administration to develop a comprehensive national energy policy.
“It also represents an embarrassing policy of quitting on an important industry and a lack of confidence in the federal government and the American entrepreneur to solve problems and drill safely,” he added.
In a fact sheet released Tuesday, the Department of the Interior said the Atlantic area was ultimately rejected because of a “lack of infrastructure to support oil and gas exploration and development, as well as spill preparedness and response.”
“Additionally, there remain complex issues relating to potentially conflicting uses, including those of the Department of Defense,” the department said.
Instead, the Obama administration will sell 15 leases in six areas, all off the Alaskan coast or near the Gulf of Mexico, where infrastructure is largely in place to accommodate oil and gas exploration. Expansion of drilling has been on hold since April 2010 when a British Petroleum oil rig began leaking into the gulf, destroying ecosystems and threatening coastal economies.
A month prior to the spill, the Department of the Interior had approved sites along the Virginia coast for the lease sale.
“This is disappointing, because the safe, responsible development of offshore energy resources has broad support from Virginians and among the bipartisan elected leadership of the state,” Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said in a statement.
Warner said he would lobby the Obama administration to include Virginia before the final draft of the drilling plan moves forward. McDonnell, Warner and Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., continue to push for a comprehensive approach to U.S. energy independence that includes offshore oil drilling in addition to wind, solar and nuclear energy.
